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kmritter's review
3.0
My review (3 stars) is really only for the few essays I enjoyed reading in this book. There’s something about Pinckney’s writing style that I just couldn’t get into, so I found myself skipping around, only reading a few of the essays before putting the book down.
enough_books's review
4.0
A black professor once told me, the history of black diaspora struggle can be somewhat symbolised with a blood diamond. At once beautifully rich, multifaceted and resistant, now historically obfuscated through deracination and continued exploitation.
In this collection of essays, Darryl Pickney brings his multi-generational vantage point, adroit historicisation and erudite voice to bear, in an attempt to re-present the past, infer progress and if not to put forward a utopian future, then at least reject a pessimistic one.
As Zadie Smith says in her Foreword:
The 25 essays included in this generous collection have great range and depth, whether the subject is Katrina (reportage), Aretha Franklin (biography/homage) or Moonlight (film criticism), Pickney proves to be a penman of remarkable versatility. He is like that one intelligent uncle who when questioned about something, will take you on a verbal voyage through curated references and obscure stories only to arrive at more questions. But it’s mostly worth it unless you’re expecting spoon-fed answers to age-old questions.
Personally what makes this book different to other similar African American books/essay collections I have read thus far, is the acknowledgement and treatment of class, privilege and indignity.
Pickney who grew up in a black bourgeoise environment, admits he felt somewhat exempt/protected from ongoing racial struggles as a youth. It wasn’t long before events started to impinge on his consciousness, allowing him to experience the imbedded hierarchy of Black struggle. Amongst various illuminating examples, a personal one stands out; during one encounter while hiding in the chaotic Ferguson demonstrations, we see that race and class are forever intertwined and pervasive;
He doesn’t answer. Throughout the book you get the sense that he wants to avoid finger-pointing, preferring to take a tangential path. This to me is not just a stylistic choice but one that is probably about self-preservation. I mean who am I to judge a gay African American in taking this stance?
The personal side that he does seem to share is paradoxically non-revelatory. Something not all authors can achieve. For Pickney it’s a ‘passing’ tool, he even alludes to this dualism in his relationship with his parents:
Another fascinating highlight was his various sections about the black émigré tradition (of Claude McKay, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes and James Baldwin) and his own sojourn in Europe. In doing so he dismissed Black America’s resentment at the time that emigration was an individual solution, not a mass solution. Despite his early belief in individualism he later concedes that:
In some ways, this book is the epitome of this paradox; it's seemingly created by one individual, yet the multiplicity of thoughts, experiences and writings presented, point to an undeniable collaborative conception. Thus, we have the diamond that is the African American.
In this collection of essays, Darryl Pickney brings his multi-generational vantage point, adroit historicisation and erudite voice to bear, in an attempt to re-present the past, infer progress and if not to put forward a utopian future, then at least reject a pessimistic one.
As Zadie Smith says in her Foreword:
“Respect for the history of the struggle is not erasure of the difficult present, and recognition of progress within it need not be interpreted as either capitulation or weakness...There’s more than one way to be militant.”
The 25 essays included in this generous collection have great range and depth, whether the subject is Katrina (reportage), Aretha Franklin (biography/homage) or Moonlight (film criticism), Pickney proves to be a penman of remarkable versatility. He is like that one intelligent uncle who when questioned about something, will take you on a verbal voyage through curated references and obscure stories only to arrive at more questions. But it’s mostly worth it unless you’re expecting spoon-fed answers to age-old questions.
Personally what makes this book different to other similar African American books/essay collections I have read thus far, is the acknowledgement and treatment of class, privilege and indignity.
Pickney who grew up in a black bourgeoise environment, admits he felt somewhat exempt/protected from ongoing racial struggles as a youth. It wasn’t long before events started to impinge on his consciousness, allowing him to experience the imbedded hierarchy of Black struggle. Amongst various illuminating examples, a personal one stands out; during one encounter while hiding in the chaotic Ferguson demonstrations, we see that race and class are forever intertwined and pervasive;
“I had to ask myself, not for the first time, when did I become afraid of black youth? How had I, a black man internalised white fear?”
He doesn’t answer. Throughout the book you get the sense that he wants to avoid finger-pointing, preferring to take a tangential path. This to me is not just a stylistic choice but one that is probably about self-preservation. I mean who am I to judge a gay African American in taking this stance?
The personal side that he does seem to share is paradoxically non-revelatory. Something not all authors can achieve. For Pickney it’s a ‘passing’ tool, he even alludes to this dualism in his relationship with his parents:
“To talk about things black at home was a way of not talking about myself while seeming to. I used my being black as a way to hide from my black family”
Another fascinating highlight was his various sections about the black émigré tradition (of Claude McKay, Richard Wright, Langston Hughes and James Baldwin) and his own sojourn in Europe. In doing so he dismissed Black America’s resentment at the time that emigration was an individual solution, not a mass solution. Despite his early belief in individualism he later concedes that:
“Black life is about the group, and even if we tell ourselves that we don’t care anymore that America glorifies the individual in order to disguise what is really happening, this remains a fundamental paradox in the organisation of everyday life for a black person. Your head is not a safe space”
In some ways, this book is the epitome of this paradox; it's seemingly created by one individual, yet the multiplicity of thoughts, experiences and writings presented, point to an undeniable collaborative conception. Thus, we have the diamond that is the African American.
arisbookcorner's review against another edition
3.0
IQ "Black life is about the group, and even if we tell ourselves that we don't care anymore that America glorifies the individual in order to disguise what is really happening, this remains a fundamental paradox in the organization of everyday life for a black person. Your head is not a safe space." ('The Afro-Pessimist Temptation', 224)
By now I know enough to associate Darryl Pinckney's name with the Black bourgeois. As the scion of upper middle Black parents, he is perfectly positioned to point out many of the intersections between race and class. He is also willing to call out the Black elite, in one line, “There are worse things than not having one’s high social status acknowledged by whites," he eloquently sums up all the outrage about Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr being denied entry to his own home by a white police officer. Much of that disbelieving outrage was class-based. In the grand scheme of things it was utterly inconsequential but I think Pinckney is astute in noting that this bothered rich Black people more than any other group in his 'Invisible Black America' essay. It struck me as internalized racism that is still very much present today. Many of these essays continue to draw upon the intersection of race and class and it's a thread that Pinckney expertly follows throughout the book.
The essays are ambitious in timeline and scope, a few that focus on the Bush years feel outdated. But ultimately I was pleasantly surprised at the historical depth and breadth of these stories. It is clear that he is a student of (Black) history and wonderfully well-read. Through his reporting in particular I felt like I was witnessing history as he details reporting trips about the Million Man March, Hurricane Katrina and Ferugson in 2014. I found his most interesting essay to be 'The Afro-Pessimist Temptation' even if I didn't agree with his argument regarding Ta-Nehisi Coates' work. There is also an emphasis on Baldwin, the comparison between Pinckney and Baldwin are easily drawn, both gay Black men who lived in Europe for some time and are considered public intellectuals. Pinckney succinctly sums up the appeal of Baldwin, "At the core of his [Baldwin] message was always the assertion that there was no Negro problem; there was the problem of white people not being able to see themselves, to take responsibility for their history, and to ask themselves why they needed to invent 'the nigger'" ('Under the Spell of James Baldwin, 369).
BUSTED IN NEW YORK AND OTHER ESSAYS is an honest, wide-ranging and knowledgable collection of essays combined with notable reporting features. The essays focus on Baldwin, faith, family, literary criticism, politics and being a Black person abroad. There is a sense of melancholy in all the essays as Pinckney repeatedly brings up his parents, to me it read as poignant and sad because he mentions that his entire family has passed away. But it's clear that his family had high expectations and influenced much of how he views the world through lessons his parents taught him consciously and unconsciously. 'Busted in New York' and 'Invisible Black America' were my favorite essays but this strikes me as a collection where your favorite essays might change with each re-read.
By now I know enough to associate Darryl Pinckney's name with the Black bourgeois. As the scion of upper middle Black parents, he is perfectly positioned to point out many of the intersections between race and class. He is also willing to call out the Black elite, in one line, “There are worse things than not having one’s high social status acknowledged by whites," he eloquently sums up all the outrage about Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr being denied entry to his own home by a white police officer. Much of that disbelieving outrage was class-based. In the grand scheme of things it was utterly inconsequential but I think Pinckney is astute in noting that this bothered rich Black people more than any other group in his 'Invisible Black America' essay. It struck me as internalized racism that is still very much present today. Many of these essays continue to draw upon the intersection of race and class and it's a thread that Pinckney expertly follows throughout the book.
The essays are ambitious in timeline and scope, a few that focus on the Bush years feel outdated. But ultimately I was pleasantly surprised at the historical depth and breadth of these stories. It is clear that he is a student of (Black) history and wonderfully well-read. Through his reporting in particular I felt like I was witnessing history as he details reporting trips about the Million Man March, Hurricane Katrina and Ferugson in 2014. I found his most interesting essay to be 'The Afro-Pessimist Temptation' even if I didn't agree with his argument regarding Ta-Nehisi Coates' work. There is also an emphasis on Baldwin, the comparison between Pinckney and Baldwin are easily drawn, both gay Black men who lived in Europe for some time and are considered public intellectuals. Pinckney succinctly sums up the appeal of Baldwin, "At the core of his [Baldwin] message was always the assertion that there was no Negro problem; there was the problem of white people not being able to see themselves, to take responsibility for their history, and to ask themselves why they needed to invent 'the nigger'" ('Under the Spell of James Baldwin, 369).
BUSTED IN NEW YORK AND OTHER ESSAYS is an honest, wide-ranging and knowledgable collection of essays combined with notable reporting features. The essays focus on Baldwin, faith, family, literary criticism, politics and being a Black person abroad. There is a sense of melancholy in all the essays as Pinckney repeatedly brings up his parents, to me it read as poignant and sad because he mentions that his entire family has passed away. But it's clear that his family had high expectations and influenced much of how he views the world through lessons his parents taught him consciously and unconsciously. 'Busted in New York' and 'Invisible Black America' were my favorite essays but this strikes me as a collection where your favorite essays might change with each re-read.
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