Responsive Reading

Rodney

The tears fall relentlessly as I write this email. It is a profound and moving critique of my work and I so appreciate your ability to see beyond "the gossip" to what is truly a sociological study of a subculture of people with their own brand of childrearing, mindset, kinship, and yes, even love. I have not read anywhere such a moving rendition of the work I have done, and the labor of love associated with it.

Long Branch is full of small minds and unfortunately many were unable see beyond their own limited interpretations. I do not fault the people who saw this book as nothing more than gossip and a "tell all" as one member of my family dubbed it. Limited exposure produces a limited mindset; lack of formal education creates a world dictated by a highly circumscribed environment. So I endured the negative comments, the stares, the "rolling of the eyes," the whispers, the lack of eye contact when I tried desperately to connect and explain myself to people I considered friends and family.

Yet, believe it or not, there were more supporters than naysayers. Many, many people in Long Branch supported and embraced my book. I received numerous emails with comments that closely parallel your commentary (though not as eloquently articulated as yours).

Your cousin

Leslie

And my reponse to that...

Lift up your head, sister! You're in good company. They talked about Jesus.

Lazy people don't care to be challenged, as a rule. They can become quite vexed when told their house is dirty, mainly because they already know and believe having it pointed out is rude. The ignorant get mad when told they're beautiful and question why they should believe you? All you did was challenge some lazy folks and pay some ignorant ones a great compliment.

I am profoundly grateful that someone else recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of our parents and grandparents. Though exhausted and not completely sure of what they were doing, they made a way for us. They had to be terrified, but did their level best. Sometimes the effort met with disappointment, but more often the outcome was favorable. Life, for them as Langston Hughes wrote, was certainly "no crystal stair," but they put on some hard-bottomed shoes and stomped across splintered floorboards. They made it possible for us to dance barefoot on the same. We must pay homage and you have.

My pastor in Chicago always said, "Don't hate. Celebrate. Then you might be able to participate." I wish it were on a sampler in every African American home. Somehow we must learn to find joy in the success of others and move out of that limited mindset. Unfortunately, history has cultivated a people so perfectly damaged we lack the motivation to clean a dirty house and capacity to recognize our own beauty.

Someone once told me that we [Black men] don't see God in ourselves, which is why we so easily kill each other. The statement left me with one of those stunning moments of clarity that is life changing. For years we sat in church and fanned ourselves with that image of a pale man with golden curls, praying at a rock. More than thirty years after JJ painted Black Jesus on Good Times, we still don't get it. Therefore, the message continues to go forth in many forms. You've presented yet another.

I'm sure no one considered what pain they inflicted by not celebrating the simple fact that you published a book, regardless of what was in it. I would be proud if you'd written a Dick and Jane primer because I'd know that you put something wonderful in there for our children; the same as you've done with How Ya Like Me Now!