Books 10 

This Round-Up keeps you updated on works reflecting the imagination and creativity, and the problems and potential, of Black writers, artists, philosophers and activists, entrepreneurs, media leaders and politicians.

Books

New and Noteworthy

The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen L Carter- (Jonathan Cape; 2002; £18.00) Yale law professor Stephen L. Carter -- widely known for his keenly insightful works of political, social, and legal commentary -- offers a stunning fiction debut that distils his observations on government and human behaviour into a spellbinding tale of one person's search for justice.

Reviewers say: "This debut novel-by a Professor of Law at Yale University made very, very rich by its publication-received a tremendous push from its publisher and couldn't help but rocket to the top of the best-seller lists. But while it comes with all the trappings of the contemporary thriller-including clunky sentences and an impossibly convoluted plot-it's most notable for providing a rare and unobstructed view into the inner workings of Black America's upper-upper-crust. At this, it succeeds brilliantly."

"A thrilling read, driven by a powerful cocktail of plot and character," The Observer.

A novel of great originality and insight: a saga of an African-American family of affluence and privilege forced to reckon with their misadventures and crimes. But Carter's novel also explores, perhaps for the first time in recent memory, a less familiar vision of the black experience in America: one of pride and optimism, and possibility. I've never read a book quite like it, and I enjoyed it very much indeed. -Gay Talese

The author deals with an under-explored aspect of American life: that of the Washington and East Coast African American middle class and the inner circle of an Ivy League school. It was bought for a record sum in the US, the highest ever paid for a first novel. Carter is one of the US's leading public intellectuals, a Professor of Law at Yale and the author of seven non-fiction books. Film rights have already been acquired by Warner Brothers. -The Chronicle.

Briefly noted

And Still I Rise By Maya Angelo - Price £11.99 (P B) + p&p£1.99 In this memorable book of poetry by a most remarkable woman a selection of memorable poems that is straight from the heart. Written in Maya's powerful and distinctive style of writing the reader will want to read the words again and again and again! Presented in hardback with an up-to date picture of the author on the Jacket, it is truly a book for keeps.

The Value In The Valleys By Iyanla Vanzant - Price £11.99 (PB) +p&p £1.99 The award winning book by this renowned Yoruba priestess and empowerment specialist, Vanzant shares her approaches for finding ones way out of the valleys of life if you have been in one or are still there. It might even provide illumination, if you have ever been disappointed, betrayed, rejected, abandoned or just scared of letting go of things that are not life enhancing.

The Four Agreements By Don Miguel Ruiz - Price £11.99 (PB) + p&p £1.50 In the four Agreements, Ruiz reveals the source of self -limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and creates needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom this little book offers a powerful code of conduct that can transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness and love.

Tracing Your West Indian Ancestors By Guy Grannum- Price £14.99 + p&p £1.99 This extremely useful book which is now presented in an expanded edition, is the foremost guide to the wealth of information from the Public Record Office that can be useful for not only those who are researching West Indians, but also those of us who would like to trace our ancestry. The important information covers documents of the Colonial Office through to records of life cycles, migration, land and property, slaves, military service and much more.

Publishers Choice

Breaking out of the race boundaries

How they made a Million: The Dyke & Dryden Story by Tony Wade, with a foreword by Bill Morris, union leader (Hansib; 2001; £7.99) Though Black people are frequently depicted as a "problem" in Britain, the reality is that many of them are businessmen, teachers, academics and professionals. This book identifies a hugely successful business established by West Indians. Drawing on his experience as marketing director, Tony Wade tells how in 1965 Len Dyke and Dudley Dryden started a small retail shop in North London selling records and cosmetics to fellow West Indians, hungry for the news and music from home.

In 25 years D&D became Britain's first Black-owned multi-million pound business supplying hair and beauty products to mainstream store outlets. Their sales turnover mounted from £1 million in the early 1980s to £5 million by 1986. They captured markets in Britain, Africa and the Caribbean in what was fast-becoming a global ethnic hair and skin care industry.

In a quarter of a century, D&D set business standards for services to the African Caribbean community. They supported Afro-educational projects for children, visited prisons, lobbied for urban renewal programs, funded cash-strapped community organisations such as the West Indian Standing Conference and launched the Afro Hair and Beauty exhibition.

In addition, Wade served his kith and kin in the Monserrat Overseas Peoples Alliance. As head of the UK Caribbean Chamber of Commerce helped other West Indians to launch their own business careers.

D&Ds unique mix of community focus and glamour was of course a perfect marketing opportunity. But, it also "gave the black community a sense of self and pride, and of purpose and achievement".

Yet, raising finance was a major problem. 'The banks didn't have faith in us. They didn't see West Indians as people who would do well in business". Then, there was a disastrous and costly sale to and buy back from the African American owned Soft Sheen and the first black-owned business listed on the Stock Exchange.

Today, the business has changed completely. Dryden has died and the business is now owned by M&M Cosmetics. Operations have been scaled down in the face of stiff competition from multinational companies. This is a common sign of the vulnerability of community-based companies once they have successfully developed a new market.

Black entrepreneurs still face major problems. One is lack of capital. Another is the lack of opportunities for business and management training. They also lack political leverage in the wider society, compared with Asians and other business-oriented ethnic groups. These are trends which must be reversed, says Wade, in order that future generations of West Indians are to overcome barriers to progress.

Nevertheless, the story of D&D shows what can be achieved when people "do things for themselves". To their credit, "Dyke & Dryden were masters of the enterprise culture. Britain's African/Caribbean community's track record in business success was pioneered by them," says Lord Herman Ouseley.

See related article Freedom's children

Black Identity in the 20th Century: Expressions of the US and the UK African Diaspora, edited by Mark Christian (Hansib; £14.99) This collection of essays by a Black British professor now resident in America is a welcome tonic for Black Studies scholars and activists. It challenges our thinking about Black identity on both sides of the Atlantic.

Part one examines the Pan-African philosophy that captured the imagination of Africans and West Indians in Britain (1900-1960). Part two considers how Black intellectuals and the concept of Afrocentricity challenged Western thought and practice. Part three looks at the continuing debate over mixed identity. It seeks to unravel the meaning of the physical, cultural characteristics of "being Black" in white host societies.

Reflecting on the continuing controversy over Black identity, Mark Christian asks, "Am I an essentialist?" His reply is "Yes". Because there is something in "essence" about being of African descent in the post-modern world, and that this can be traced back to various social histories that have profoundly influenced the twentieth century Black experience.

Notable contributions are made by Stephen Small, a Black Briton and professor in the African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, Mekada Graham, a Black British lecturer in Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Hertfordshire, among others.

Moving Voices: Black Performance Poetry by Asher and Martin Hoyles (Hansib; £16.99; 2002) If you are looking for an easy reading introduction to African oral tradition, through African American and Caribbean culture, to Black performance poetry in England, then this is the book for you. It is a treasure trove of poems, poets and poetics.

Twelve new and well-known contemporary poets are included. There are the Caribbean-born Jean "Binta" Breeze, James Berry, Valerie Bloom, John Lyons and Cuban Redd. Along side them are poets born in England - Adisa, Patience Agbabi, Michael Groce, Cynthia Hamilton, Asher Hoyles, Levi Tafari, and of course, the acclaimed dub poet Benjamin Zephania.

Uniquely, they discuss their childhood and school experiences, how they became poets and who influenced them. The reader discovers how they write and where they have performed, their favourite poets and poems, what they write about. There are even tips for budding poets. All with a CD-Rom featuring live performances of selected poems

Mervyn Morris, the Jamaican poet and critic who is often credited with coining the phrase 'performance poetry', writes that the performance poem is "dependent for its meanings on the variable interaction between text, performer, audience and occasion". Unlike actors, performance poets are speaking their own lines. Unlike poets on the page, they face their audience directly.

The authors are devoted schoolteachers in deprived areas of East London.

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