by Paul Beatty
Malcolm X (1925-1965) was a prominent Muslim minister and founder of the Organization for Afro-American Unity. His book The Autobiography of Malcolm X was cited by Time magazine as one of the ten most important works of nonfiction in the twentieth century.
Harryette Mullen was born in Florence, Alabama, and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. Her volumes of poetry include S*PeRM**K*T, Muse & Drudge, and Sleeping with the Dictionary, which was named as a finalist for the 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award. She is a professor in the UCLA English Department.
Suzan-Lori Parks (1964- ) is a playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. Her play Topdog/Underdog won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for drama. She recently published her first novel, Getting Mother's Body.
Willie Perdomo (1967- ) is the author of Where a Nickel Costs a Dime, Postcards of El Barrio, and Smoking Lovely, which won the 2004 PEN America Beyond Margins Award. His work has appeared in several publications including Bomb, Urban Latino, and the New York Times Magazine.
Prophet Omega (date of birth unknown) is the founder and overseer of the Peaceway Temple in Nashville, Tennessee. He is what he is.
Ishmael Reed (1938- ) is a novelist, essayist, and poet. He teaches at the University of California at Berkeley and has written well over a dozen books, including Mumbofumbo, Reckless Eyeballing, and Another Day at the Front.
John Rodriguez (1973— ) is a teacher and writer who lives in the Bronx, New York. He is the author of the chapbook Purple 5, and his work has appeared in many anthologies.
Fran Ross (1935-1985) was raised in Philadelphia and lived in New York City. Oreo is her only novel.
Journalist and novelist George Schuyler (1895-1977) was the editor of the Pittsburgh Courier from 1924 to 1966; he is most noted for the novel Black No More.
Born in Boston, Danzy Senna (1970— ) presently resides in New York. She's written two novels, Caucasia and Symptomatic.
The Brooklyn-born civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton (1954- ) was ordained as a minister at age nine and sermonized under the moniker
"The Wonder Boy Preacher." He was a candidate for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination.
Patricia Smith (1955- ) is a four-time winner of the national poetry slam;her volumes of poetry include Lfe According to Motown, Big Towns, Big Talk, and Closer to Death.
Sojourner Truth (c. 1797-1883) was born into slavery. She escaped to Canada in 1827, then later returned to the U.S. to become a celebrated activist in the women's rights and abolitionist movements.
In 1985 Mike Tyson (1966— ) defeated Trevor Berbick to become the youngest heavyweight champion of all time. He held the title until 1990, when he was knocked out in the tenth round by the then unheralded James "Buster" Douglas.
Colson Whitehead (1969— ) is a prize-winning novelist and essayist. He's written two novels, The Intuitionist and fohn Henry Days, and a travelogue, The Colossus of New York. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Charles Wright (1932—) has written three novels: The Messenger, The Wig, and Absolutely Nothing to Get Alarmed About. He lives in New York City.
acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following folks for their guidance, encouragement, and assistance: Lydia Offord, Steve Cannon, Oscar Villaron, Lou Asekoff, Kofi Notambu, Eugene Redmond, Nichole Shields, Sonya Abrams, Tracy Sherrod, Bert Ashe, Danzy Senna, Josslyn Luckett, Darius James, Natalie Moskovich, Reginald Dennis, James Bernard, and especially, the incredibly patient Jin Auh.
Franklyn Ajaye: "Be Black, Brother, Be Black" and "Disneyland High"from Don't Smoke Dope, Fry Your Hair, copyright © Little David Records, 1977. Used by permission of the author.
Elizabeth Alexander: "Talk Radio, D.C," from The Body of Lfe by Elizabeth Alexander. Copyright © 1996. Reprinted with permission of Tia Chucha Press.
Hilton Als: "The Only One," previously published in the New Yorker. Copyright © 1994 by Hilton Als, used with permission of the author.
Kyle Baker: "Sands of Blood (The Cowboy Wally Show)," from The Cowboy Wally Show © 1988, 1996 Kyle Baker. All nghts reserved. Used with Permission of DC Comics.
Toni Cade Bambara: "The Lesson," copyright © 1972 by Toni Cade Bambara, from Gorilla, My Love by Toni Cade Bambara. Used by permission of Random House, Inc.
Amiri Baraka: "Wise 1," from Wise, Why's, Y's, copyright © 1995 by Amiri Baraka, reprinted by permission of Third World Press, Chicago, Illinois.
Gary Belkin: "Clay Comes Out to Meet Liston," written by Gary Belkin for recitation by Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali on "I Am the Greatest!" Columbia Records LP, 1963. Reprinted by permission of Gary Belkin.
Tish Benson: "Fifth-Ward E-Mail," from Wild Like Tlmt, copyright © 2003 by Tish Benson. Reprinted by permission of Fly By Night Press, New York, New York.
Gwendolyn Brooks: "at the hairdresser's" copyright © 1945 by Gwendolyn Brooks. "One Reason Cats" from In the Mecca, copyright © 1968 by Gwendolyn Brooks, "a song in the front yard" copyright © 1945 by Gwendolyn Brooks, reprinted by consent of Brooks Permissions.
Cecil Brown: From The Life and Loves of Mr. fiveass Nigger, copyright © 1969 by Cecil Brown, used with permission of the author.
H. Rap Brown: Die, Nigger, Die!, chapter 2, by H. Rap Brown, Copyright © 1969, 2002. Used with permission of Lawrence Hill Books.
Brown. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Inc. "Crispus Attucks McKoy" from The Collected Poems of Sterling A. Brown, edited by Michael S. Harper. Copyright © 1980 by Sterling A. Brown. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
Steve Cannon: From Groove, Bang and five Around, copyright © 1969 by Steve Cannon. Used with permission of the author.
Wanda Coleman: "April 15th 1985," "Identifying Marks," and "On That Stuff That Ain't Nevah Been Long Enuff for No Damn Body," from Heavy Daughter Blues. Copyright © 1990 by Wanda Coleman, Ballantine Books. Used with permission of the author.
W. E. B. DuBois: "On Being Crazy," from The Crisis, June 1923. Public domain.
Henry Dumas: "Double Nigger," copyright © 1965 by Henry Dumas, reprinted by permission of Eugene B. Redmond for the Henry Dumas Estate.
Paul Laurence Dunbar: "When De Co'n Pone's Hot," copyright © 1895 by Paul Laurence Dunbar, used with permission of Hakim's Bookstore, attn: Yvonne Blake.
Cornelius Eady: "The Cab Driver Who Ripped Me Off," from Autobiography of a fukebox by Cornelius Eady. Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Carnegie Mellon University Press.
Erika Ellis: "Blackflight" from Good Fences, copyright © 1988 by Erika Ellis, reprinted by permission of International Creative Management, Inc.
Trey Ellis: Platitudes, copyright © 1988 by Trey Ellis. Used by permission of the author.
Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, copyright © 1947, 1948, 1952 by Ralph Ellison. Copyright renewed 1975, 1976, 1980 by Ralph Ellison. Used by permission of Random House, Inc.
Percival Everett: Erasure by Percival Everett, copyright © 2002 Percival Everett. Reprinted by permission of Hyperion.
John Farris: "In the Park After School with the Girl and the Boy" by John Farris. Copyright © 1994 by John Farris. Used with permission of the author.
Rudolph Fisher: "The City of Refuge" from Atlantic Monthly 135, Public Domain.
Sam Greenlee: The Spook Wlio Sat by the Door by Sam Greenlee, copyright © Allison & Busby, 1969. Reprinted by permission of the author.
Chester Himes: "Let Me at the Enemy—an' George Brown" and "Dirty Deceivers." UK rights: Reprinted by permission of Allison & Busby. US rights: From the book The Collected Stories of Chester Himes, copyright © 1990 Lesley Himes; appears by permission of the publishers, Thunder's Mouth Press.
Lightnin' Hopkins: "Big Black Cadillac Blues" aka "Black Cadillac."Written by Sam "Lightnin'" Hopkins, copyright © 1970 (renewed).Published by Tradition Music (BMI)/Administered by BUG. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Langston Hughes: "Adventure" and "Pose-Outs" from Simple's Uncle Sam by Langston Hughes. Copyright © 1965 by Langston Hughes. Cop
yright renewed 1993 by Arnold Rampersad and Ramona Bass. Reprinted by permission of Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.Reprinted in the U.K. by permission of Harold Ober Associates Inc.
Zora Neale Hurston: " 'Possum or Pig?" "The Bone of Contention," and "Book of Harlem" as taken from The Complete Stories by Zora Neale Hurston. Introduction copyright © 1995 by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Sieglinde Lemke. Compilation copyright © 1995 by Vivian Bowden, Lois J. Hurston Gaston, Clifford Hurston, Lucy Ann Hurston, Winifred Hurston Clark, Zora Mack Goins, Edgar Hurston, Sr., and Barbara Hurston Lewis. Afterword and Bibliography copyright © 1995 by Henry Louis Gates. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
Darius James: "Lil' Black Zambo" from Negrophobia, copyright © 1992 by Darius James, Citadel Press. Used with permission of the author. Froggie Chocolates' Christmas Eve by Darius James, copyright © 2003. Used with permission of the author.
James Weldon Johnson: "Brer Rabbit, You's de Cutes' of'Em All" from Saint Peter Relates an Incident by James Weldon Johnson, copyright © 1917, 1921, 1935 by James Weldon Johnson, copyright renewed © 1963 by Grace Nail Johnson. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Bob Kaufman: "Heavy Water Blues" from Cranial Guitar: Selected Poems. Copyright © 1967 by Bob Kaufman. Copyright © 1996 by Eileen Kaufman. Reprinted with the permission of Coffee House Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, www.coffeehousepress.com. "Abomunist Manifesto" by Robert Kaufman, from Solitudes Crowded with Loneliness, copyright © 1965 by Bob Kaufman. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.
Etheridge Knight: "Dark Prophecy: I Sing of Shine," "Memo #9,""Rehabilitation and Treatment in the Prisons of America" are from The Essential Etheridge Knight, by Etheridge Knight, © 1986. Reprinted by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press.
Spike Lee: Do the Right Thing, copyright © 1989 by Spike Lee, Fireside.Used with permission of the author.
Lord Finesse: "Return of the Funky Man," published by Technician Tunes, copyright © 1992 by Robert Hall, used with permission of the author.
Malcolm X: From "Message to the Grass Roots" by Malcolm X, excerpt pp. 21-24 (Pathfinder Edition), copyright 1965, 1989 by Betty Shabazz and Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission.
Harryette Mullen: "Any Lit," "Jinglejangle," "Kamasutra Sutra," and "Souvenir From Anywhere" from Sleeping with the Dictionary, copyright © 2001 by Harry ette Mullen, used with permission of the Regents of the University of California and the University of California Press.
Suzan-Lori Parks: "Devotees in the Garden of Love" from The America Play and Other Works by Suzan-Lori Parks, copyright © 1991, used by permission of the Theater Communications Group.
Willie Perdomo: "Nigger-Reecan Blues," from Where a Nickel Costs a Dime by Willie Perdomo. Copyright © Used by permission of W.W.Norton & Company. "Should Old Shit Be Forgot," from Smoking Lovely by Willie Perdomo. Copyright © 2003 Rattapallax Press. Used by permission of author.
Prophet Omega: Public domain.
Ishmael Reed: Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down, Dalkey Archive Press.Copyright © 2001 by Ishmael Reed, used with permission of the author.
John Rodriguez: "How to be a Street Poet," copyright © 1999 by John Rodriguez. Used by permission of the author.
Fran Ross: From Oreo, copyright © by Fran Ross, 1974. Reprinted with permission of Gerald Ross Jr. and Richard Ross Sr.
George Schuyler: Black No More by George Schuyler, copyright © The Macaulay Company, 1935. Public domain.
Danzy Senna: "The Mulatto Millennium," copyright © 1988 by Danzy Senna. Used with permission of the author.
Al Sharpton: Reprinted with permission of the Commonwealth Club of California.
Patricia Smith: "Boy Sneezes, Head Explodes," from Life According to Motown by Patricia Smith, copyright © 1991. Reprinted with permission of Tia Chucha Press.
Sojourner Truth: Public domain.
Mike Tyson: Various sources including BBC Sport, ESPN.com, CNN, Sports Illustrated, Fox News, and the Nevada State Athletic Commision.
Colson Whitehead: fohn Henry Days by Colson Whitehead, copyright © 2001 by Colson Whitehead. Used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.
Bert Williams: Bert Williams Jokebooks, n.d. Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.
Charles Wright: From The Wig, copyright © 1966. Used with permission of the author.
a note on the editor
Paul Beattyis the author of two novels, Tuff and
The White Boy Shuffle, and two books of poetry,
Big Bank Take Little Bank and foker, foker, Deuce.
He lives in New York City.
a note on the type
The text of this book is set in Bembo. This type was first used in 1495 by the Venetian printer Aldus Manutius for Cardinal Bembo's De Aetna, and was cut for Manutius by Francesco Griffo. It was one of the types used by Claude Garamond (1480-1561) as a model for his Romain de L'Université, and so it was the forerunner of what became standard European type for the following two centuries. Its modern form follows the original types and was designed for Monotype in 1929.
