bookfan

One of the most interesting things about you, Kola, is that you write most of your fiction online, posting it piecemeal across hundreds of Web sites: Thumper's Corner, YouTube, Twitter, Amazon, etc. You seem to put more effort into telling stories about yourself and your work than you put into the work itself. You're not so much a writer as a performance artist. But you really shouldn't trade on Armah, or Osama, or anyone else. Be your own true self.

Makeba's first album was released in 1960 -- without your apocryphal song. You borrow the titles of other people's work for most everything you do. That's a cheap gimmick, like Tracy Chevalier calling her novel Girl with a Pearl Earring. Writers like to say that mediocre writers borrow, while great writers steal. Here's an illustration of that idea. Shakespeare didn't write a half-baked story and call it Pyramus and Thisbe to trade on the reputation of the famous folk tale preserved by Ovid. No, he stole the basic idea of the story itself, told it in his own inimitable voice, and called it Romeo and Juliet. When you merely borrow something, it's never yours. When you steal something, you literally make it your own. It takes zero creativity to copy the title of a successful work. But it got Chevalier published and got her movie rights sold, so I can see why people do it.

You have an impressive self-regard. But where's the compassion and generosity of a Life Path 9?

Armah beat you to it by several decades, Kola.

When Yvette Marie Stevens was a 13-year-old Black Panther, a Yoruba priest renamed her Chaka Adunne Aduffe Yemoja Hodarhi Karifi. Later, Chaka married a guy named Hassan Khan, who probably wasn't born with that name, either.

In Arabic, "amani" means "hope." In Swahili, it means "peace." When Billy Ray "Achy Breaky" Cyrus gave his daughter Destiny (aka "Miley") the middle name "Hope," I don't imagine he constructed any elaborate meaning for it.

I think it's pretty relevant to what informs (or doesn't inform) my perspective on this topic. Also, now that I'm finally participating instead of lurking (thanks for ignoring my registration emails at the old site), I figured it would come up sooner or later. If it turned out to be later, I wouldn't want anyone to think I had been pulling a Ward Churchill.

Madame Cynique, I have enjoyed reading your comments for years. I like the flinty pragmatism you're expressing here, but I have no idea how to reconcile this side of you with the self-confessed "new-age flake" you revealed in your review of The Lost Symbol.

Good point about how uncomfortable some whites were with Obama's name. I wish a certain teenage driver in my household had a wreck-less youth.

If you work with a population of poor people, of course you're going to see a lot of ignorant behavior. And if you worked in a school in rural Pennsylvania, you'd see a lot of little white boys named Wyatt whose moms are unmarried dropouts that give their boys mullet hairdos. The nice thing about data is that unlike anecdotes, they give you a perspective beyond the end of your nose. Here's some even better data: names sorted entirely by race, courtesy of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. I'll list the top 200 girl names from 2008 for black and non-hispanic whites at the end of my post. Check it out. You can tell by the names which is the black list, but there are none of Xeon's 20-letter, apostrophed "doofus" names in the top 200. And there are names like "Yitty" and "Pessy" in the white list. The name data shows that 1) extreme names are not a big deal with urban east-coast blacks, and 2) neither whites nor blacks in NYC adhere closely to the traditional Anglo-Saxon set of names. So if your "coonery" names can't break the top 200 among blacks in New York City, Xeon, how are those few names holding back the whole race? You might ask long-time Thumpers Corner poster Ferocious Kitty how she got to be a columnist and university instructor, and how she earned an economics degree from Yale and a masters in teaching with a name like "Deesha." The Black Writers' Conference that Troy just advertised in the literature forum will feature a writer who was a Fulbright Scholar, has won multiple awards, and is currently serving a university fellowship -- all in spite of being named "Tiphanie". If naming is destiny, how the hell did Kweisi Mfume and Barack Obama get elected? No disrespect intended to the names of any of the people I mentioned. P.S. I was wrong about Condoleeza being a black name. That's old-school Italian. P.P.S. I probably should note, before this discussion goes too much farther, that I am not black. ***************************************** Top 200 girl baby names by race for 2008 in NYC, from Deptment of Health and Mental Hygiene. In order of popularity, from highest to lowest. BLACK.................NON-HISPANIC WHITE Madison................................. Olivia Kayla...................................... Esther Makayla................................. Sarah Nevaeh................................... Sophia Jada........................................ Rachel Brianna................................... Emma Chloe...................................... Chaya Destiny................................... Ava Alyssa.................................... Leah Gabrielle................................. Miriam Imani...................................... Isabella Kimora................................... Julia Aaliyah................................... Sara Jayla....................................... Chana Abigail................................... Samantha Arianna.................................. Emily Ava........................................ Ella Fatoumata.............................. Sofia Jade........................................ Elizabeth London.................................. Mia Savannah................................ Anna Victoria.................................. Victoria Aniyah................................... Rivka Nyla....................................... Abigail Olivia..................................... Charlotte Taylor..................................... Maya Ashley.................................... Gabriella Sarah...................................... Lily Jasmine................................... Alexandra Laila....................................... Grace Chelsea................................... Chloe Heaven................................... Sophie Faith....................................... Zoe Serenity.................................. Gianna Lauren.................................... Nicole Mya........................................ Madison Nia......................................... Hannah Amaya.................................... Madeline Tamia..................................... Lila Mariam................................... Rebecca Naomi.................................... Caroline Mia......................................... Katherine Aniya..................................... Alexa Danielle.................................. Angelina Emily...................................... Faigy Leah....................................... Malka Mariah.................................... Eva Maya...................................... Amelia Paige...................................... Kayla Rihanna.................................. Natalie Samantha............................... Maria Alexis..................................... Lauren Jayda...................................... Malky Layla...................................... Michelle Mariama................................. Riley Morgan................................... Alyssa Sanaa...................................... Lucy Amelia.................................... Stella Gabriella................................. Raizy Isabella................................... Avery Janiyah................................... Devorah Rachel.................................... Shaindy Saniyah.................................. Gitty Sydney................................... Naomi Anaya..................................... Hailey Hailey..................................... Sienna Janiya..................................... Rivky Shania.................................... Sadie Alicia...................................... Sydney Aminata................................. Isabel Christina................................. Claire Saniya.................................... Eliana Amina.................................... Molly Autumn.................................. Sabrina Breanna.................................. Baila Hannah................................... Chava Khloe..................................... Isabelle Kyla....................................... Alexis Zoe......................................... Brianna Mikayla.................................. Jessica Sanai...................................... Shira Amira..................................... Amanda Elizabeth................................ Audrey Kiara...................................... Brooke Nylah..................................... Dina Shaniya.................................. Hindy Alana...................................... Julianna Amani.................................... Madeleine Ariana.................................... Mary Michelle................................. Noa Amirah................................... Talia Ariel....................................... Yitty Brooke................................... Ruby Kaylee.................................... Francesca Kennedy................................ Pearl Natalia.................................... Alice Skye....................................... Ariana Vanessa.................................. Ashley Aissatou................................. Nechama Aliyah.................................... Sasha Amiyah.................................. Catherine Angelina................................. Nina Briana..................................... Nora Janiah..................................... Valentina Skyla...................................... Violet Summer.................................. Danielle Ayanna................................... Eliza Hawa...................................... Margaret Miracle................................... Daniella Oumou................................... Eden Sade....................................... Fiona Shiloh..................................... Goldy Trinity.................................... Laila Essence.................................. Taylor Esther..................................... Gabrielle Fatima.................................... Mindy Jessica.................................... Addison Kaylah.................................... Lucia Kylie...................................... Phoebe Leilani.................................... Layla Marley.................................... Lia Peyton.................................... Rochel Samara................................... Ariella Shayla.................................... Blimy Arielle.................................... Bracha Asia........................................ Eleanor Courtney................................ Evelyn Fatou...................................... Josephine Janaya.................................... Juliana Kaitlyn................................... Lola Sariah..................................... Toby Sophia.................................... Veronica Adrianna................................ Vivian Amber.................................... Beatrice Amiya.................................... Jenna Brielle..................................... Kate Ciara....................................... Keira Emani..................................... Libby Fanta...................................... Lillian Gianna.................................... Lyla Harmony................................ Maeve Kaliyah................................... Rose Katelyn.................................. Arianna Keira...................................... Blima Kelsey.................................... Leila Kendra................................... Sury Kyra....................................... Yocheved Madisyn................................. Bella Malia...................................... Clara Princess.................................. Madelyn Simone................................... Scarlett Talia....................................... Adina Tianna.................................... Morgan Aisha...................................... Penelope Akira...................................... Perel Amanda................................. Pessy Angel..................................... Shoshana Chasity................................... Yehudis Eliana..................................... Adriana Isis.......................................... Anastasia Janelle.................................... Annabelle Jordan.................................... Eve Jordyn.................................... Gabriela Kamora.................................. Georgia Kimberly................................ Mackenzie Melanie.................................. Megan Nadia..................................... Caitlin Naima..................................... Dylan Nicole..................................... Henny Stephanie............................... Jane Taliyah................................... Laura Tiana...................................... Lena Adriana.................................. Natalia Angela.................................... Siena Bianca.................................... Tessa Cheyenne............................... Yael Crystal.................................... Christina Diamond................................ Mariam Dominique............................. Paige Eden....................................... Reese Erin........................................ Yides Grace...................................... Ahuva Isabelle................................... Chany Janae...................................... Dalia Jazmine.................................. Elena Jenna...................................... Esty Jordin..................................... Juliette Kelis....................................... Melanie Kira........................................ Michaela Megan.................................... Sima Nailah..................................... Tamar Paris....................................... Alessandra Sabrina................................... Alina Sariyah................................... Allison Skylar..................................... Annabel Tiara....................................... Brucha Zaria....................................... Daniela Aicha...................................... Diana Amy....................................... Emilia Bintou.................................... Jana

Is this why you chose Asar Imhotep? I'm curious: do you just use this as a pen name, or have you made it your legal name as well? What kind of reactions do you get when you use it at the grocery store or the Department of Motor Vehicles?

Of course it's subjective: I happen to like "Demarcus". Sounds masculine and dignified. "Condoleeza" looks silly to me, but I wouldn't call her parents coons. You want weird? M'eshell N'degeOcello. I don't think any serious person can call the name she gave herself coonery. She's probably more successful and respected in her field than you or I.

The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born is Ayi Kwei Armah’s first novel. You should come up with your own titles.

One of the stereotypes of poorly-educated, poorly-socialized whites is that they name their kids things like Billy Bob and Betty Lou, and give them the middle name Wayne (News of the Weird keeps a running list of murder suspects with that middle name). They get called "poor white trash" or "hillbillies" instead of "coons". What is the equivalent of what you call "coonery" for Latinos? Naming their kids Aztec names? Or Inca names like Tupac? Or even just calling them Pablo instead of Paul? Is Pablo Gonzalez at discrimination risk when HR reads his job application? Sure, but is giving your kid a distinctively Latino name...beanery, as you might put it? My question remains this: is name foolery a behavior that can be quantitatively distinguished among races, like teenage births? Or is it a generalized behavior that gets commented on only when blacks do it, like eating watermelon, for example? Simply claiming that blacks do it more often doesn't make it so, and certainly doesn't answer the question of whether it may be just one more black stereotype (like watermelon) and something that ticks off certain black folks because it's a stereotype. It may be a fact that blacks give weird names more often than whites do. But anecdotes don't prove that. Here's an anecdote fer ya: one of the most prominent white families in this country named their kids Willow, Piper, Track, Tripp, and Trig. I haven't heard anyone call that "self-extirpative." You betcha. [wink]

Xeon's post about what black women name their children got me thinking about the weird habit whites in the American west have of giving their boys names that start with "La-"...LaDell, LaVell, LaVern, etc. I went looking for popular names online and found that the government tracks that. That got me thinking about comparing white names and black names with some real data. So I went to a Social Security web site where you can look up the most popular baby names in each state. I pulled up the top 100 girl names from 2008 where there are the highest and lowest percentages of blacks: District of Columbia (60 percent black) and Montana (0.3 percent black). Then I crossed off the names that appeared on both lists...names like Lucy, Olivia, Natalie, Morgan, Kennedy, Victoria, Mia, Maya, Kayla, Makayla, and Nevaeh. Here's what was left: the favorite names that were unique to each place. Can you tell which were given by black parents and which were given by whites? Place A..............Place B Addison...............Aaliyah Alyssa................Alana Arianna...............Alexa Aspen.................Alexandra Aubrey................Amira Aurora................Ana Autumn................Andrea Bailey................Angel Brooklyn..............Angela Brooklynn.............Angelina Brynn.................Angie Cassidy...............Aniya Gracie................Aniyah Hadley................Asia Hailey................Camila Haley.................Caroline Harper................Catherine Hayden................Charlotte Isabelle..............Daniela Ivy...................Eleanor Jenna.................Gabriela Jordan................Genesis Josie.................Isabel Kaitlyn...............Jada Kaylee................Jasmine Keira.................Jayla Kyla..................Jazmin Kylee.................Jennifer Kylie.................Jessica Layla.................Jocelyn Lillian...............Julia Lilly.................Katherine Lily..................Kimberly Lydia.................Laila Madison...............Lila Maggie................London Marley................Madeleine Miley.................Madeline Molly.................Madelyn Mya...................Madison Mylee.................Maria Paige.................Mckenzie Payton................Melanie Peyton................Michelle Piper.................Naomi Ruby..................Nicole Rylee.................Nora Savannah..............Rebecca Violet................Sara Zoey..................Sofia There are some weird spellings in both columns, but nothing that would make me think a kid with that name was handicapped for life. Which makes me wonder: is there any evidence blacks give their kids bizarre names any more often than whites? Excuse me..."Brooklynn"? Twelve unlucky kids in lily-white Montana had that albatross hung around their necks last year, according to Social Security. Clearly, unconventional names and variant spellings aren't strictly a black thing. In fact, according to the Social Security site, naming your kid after a city is all the rage across the country. "Brooklyn" was the 47th most popular name nationwide in 2008, and "Brooklynn" was 182nd. “Boston” and “Memphis” haven't made the top 100 yet, but they have been moving up the rankings by leaps and bounds in recent years. Now that's just sad. What is up with "Brooklynn"? I bet you don't see people in Bed-Stuy or Red Hook naming their kids "Bozemann". The right-hand column has the D.C. names. Don't tell me "Aaliyah” is one of those nonsense, invented black names, though. That's a time-honored Arabic one.

Before the Ghetto: Black Detroit in the Nineteenth Century, by David Katzman. Antebellum Detroit had a feisty black community that fought the slave-catchers -- literally. When Ruth and Thornton Blackburn were arrested in 1833, female friends spirited her out of the jail by switching clothes with her during a visit. The next day, hundreds of black men laid armed seige to the jail and freed Thornton by force when the sheriff tried to put him in a cart to send him back to slavery. The sheriff received a brutal beating and eventually died of his injuries, while the Blackburns got away across the river to Canada. The guy above is the author. I didn't find a picture of his bookcover, but thought his beret was pretty jaunty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_marketing