Monday, January 25, 2010

On to the Wimmens...?

So far, it sounds like the film discussion thing is winner. Hobbs, I can't see scheduling anything for this-coming February---too soon, man, way too soon. But I do think we might be able to do something for February, 2011, particularly if we have a successful film-discussion session in the summer---which we do have time to schedule. I'm going to assume those of you who may have read the post but haven't responded are expressing, er, quiet agreement with the idea. If not, speak now with whatever problem you might have. Otherwise, I'll get back with y'all about the choices for the whens and what not.

Now. Last Sunday, Hobbs and I were chatting after church and he suggested that it might be fun to approach the women’s group we met with last time specifically to discuss Joan Morgan’s When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My Life as a Hip Hop Feminist. I’ve read that book—I’ve taught that book, actually—and I hope you guy's'll trust me and Hobbs when we suggest that that specific book would be a terrific book to discuss at a joint men’s/women’s book group meeting.

Here's the problem: I HATE the idea of voiding one of our regular meetings in order to have a joint meeting with the women! While I am good for saying that the fact that we meet five times a year is a huge plus for us, I also very much feel like I want ALL FIVE of those meetings to be for US, y'know? Personally, I like the idea of shoehorning into our schedule an additional meeting with the women if, indeed, you guys want to go back there at all.

Discuss.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Second Anniversary

Gentlemen:

Congratulations. On this very day, January 20, 2007, a collection of black men met in Ryland Hall for an organizational meeting with the intent of beginning a book group in the Richmond area called Black Men Read?! We’ve been meeting regularly ever since, and from my perspective the future looks blazingly bright. Our members show up having uniformly read the book; they show up on time (well, most of us—ahem [trying not to look at a certain someone who’s always late]); and they cheerful arrive ready and eager to discuss the book pointedly and interrogatively, and yet with open minds. It’s that last I value almost as much as the first. Nothing is more wearying than a rigid ideologue, and a loud one at that. Being trapped in a room with one for a couple of hours would be more than I could bear, and I’m so happy we don’t have one. May it ever be thus.

No, I like our group; I like it a lot. I would change nothing about our group, and that’s why I’m wary of what I’m about to suggest, but will suggest it nevertheless. I hope we can have a good, long, sustained chat about it. And I especially like the blog format for this discussion, because it’ll hopefully allow us to hear a point and then immediately respond, or think for a while and respond. Or both.

Now, the bottom line reason I think our group is a successful? Simple: we meet every other month. That, more than anything else, is key. It allows us to jam a book that we may or may not look forward to reading into our regular reading rotation. I don’t know how those every-month groups do it, but just thinking about meeting every month makes me tired. Even if we eventually decide---sometime in the future---that we’re big enough to meet and discuss a book in the summer, we’ll still be meeting every other month.

But here’s the thing:

I keep having this impulse to occasionally meet—including our wives or friends or whoever we want—to discuss a FILM. After the November meeting, me, Nate, Hobbs and Daniel Selby kicked around the idea of meeting to discuss, for instance, Precious. I loved the idea, but did nothing with it because I knew the frantic Christmas season was staring us in the face, glaring at us—daring us; and trying to organize a meeting in December while Precious was still a hot topic of discussion seemed foolish and unrealistic. But I remain intrigued about the idea of inviting you brothers and your selected others to discuss a film. That sounds like big fun to me.

My question to you brothers is this: what do you think of the idea?

Other questions: if you do like the idea, can we set up some more or less standardized way of doing it? Suggestions on how we do this would be terrific. (I can handle “where” just fine: we’ll do it on campus in a bigger room.) Obviously everyone would go see the film on their own and then we’d meet and discuss. Now, me? My impulse would be to say something like, “I’m reserving a room at UR for Thursday, February 18 at 7 p.m. Show up and we’ll talk about the film.” It wouldn’t be until later, talking to my wife, that all sorts of questions would have to be confronted. I can hear her now: “How’re you gonna know how many people you’ll have? What if the room’s too small? What if it’s too big? Unlike you rough and tumble guys, women might like a little something to drink or munch on while they discuss the film—are you going to do anything to make these people comfortable? What about people who have kids? What about--- What about….?“

Well. Nothing is scheduled; there are no imminent plans. I like the idea of discussing this idea without the pressure of a specific date in the offing. I repeat: no film-discussion is scheduled, or about to be scheduled. I’m not suggesting you should confront questions of the sort my wife would ask—although she will likely ask all of the above, and more, should we decide to move forward. No, beyond the initial question—Do you want to?—is this all-important, subterranean question: Do you feel we’re strong enough as a group, after two solid years and heading into an ascendant third year, that we have such positive inertia that we can add an occasional film discussion including significant others and/or interested friends to what we have now? [‘Cause it the answer is “No,” then let’s call the whole thing off…]

But if the answer to that is, indeed, “Yes,” then I’d like to open a discussion of how: how often is “occasionally”? Would it be cool to schedule a film discussion for Black History Month every year? Might it be fun to have an opened-up film discussion during the summer, so that if a third or even half of the group can’t make it due to vacations or other summertime distractions, we could still meet and discuss a film sometime in between May and September?

What do you guys think of the above? Speak on it...

Friday, January 15, 2010

Come Ready to Vote...

Everyone has voted, folks,

and the result is a spectacular three-way tie: Joan Morgan's When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost, James McBride's The Color of Water, and Cornel West's Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, A Memoir are the finalists, each getting four votes each.

Come ready to vote your preference on Saturday at 5 p.m.---

easy,

B.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

TIME TO VOTE!

Brothers,

This is our new selection schedule:

January: topical or “issues” nonfiction

March: memoir

May: wide-open, wild card, genre-free

September: novel

November: wide-open nonfiction

We’re still getting used to our selection schedule, so I’ve had to sift through the nominations in order to make sure that only those books that come close to memoirs comprise the nominations below (in alphabetical order). Some suggestions were novels, some were “issues” nonfiction, and while we’re only selecting memoirs for March, the good news is that ANYTHING can be nominated in May, as it’s our “wide-open, wild card genre-free” selection.

This is a good crop of nominations; depth and breadth, lots of choices. Each brother has two (2) votes, and we'll vote for the next two days, and if it’s close we’ll vote in person on Saturday, when we meet to discuss The Hip Hop Generation, our first “issues” nonfiction selection. Usual time, usual place. Peace.


David Carr, The Night of the Gun

George Dawson, Life Is So Good

Tony Dungy, Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life

James McBride, The Color of Water

Joan Morgan, When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost : My Life as A Hip Hop Feminist

Tracy Morgan, I Am the New Black

The Rza, The Tao of Wu

Anna Deavere Smith, Letters to a Young Artist: Straight-up Advice on Making a Life in the Arts-For Actors, Performers, Writers, and Artists of Every Kind

Karrine Steffans, Confessions of a Video Vixen

Cornel West, Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, A Memoir

Friday, January 8, 2010

NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN

Nominations are hereby open, gentlemen,

for the “memoir” selection for the Black Men Read?! March meeting. Members are, as always, invited to nominate three (3) books for consideration, and then next Wednesday vote for two (2). We’ll tally them up, and if it’s too close to call, we’ll vote for the winner at Saturday’s meeting.

Good weekend,

B.