(This is my first attempt at writing an op-ed piece (had some time on my hands with Dick gone this week); unfortunately, it was not one of the 1% of unsolicited submissions printed by the NYTimes, and so I need to look around for another outlet. But I’m kind of with Groucho Marx on this: do I want to read a publication that accepts submissions from people like me?)
Happy to Be Nappy
This is supposed to be humorous, and, judging from Ms. Evanovich?s time at the top of the bestsellers lists, it works.
?Nappy? I hadn?t heard since we lived in the Bronx five years ago. Today I took my three daughters to the library in search of the Elmo?s Potty Time DVD. Instead, I found an HBO Family presentation called Happy to Be Nappy and other stories of me. My six-year-old wanted to know what movie I was holding.
I hesitated, glancing around to see if I dared say the title aloud. She interpreted my hesitation as a lack of comprehension, and told me the cover says the movie is about people who need to go to sleep. Later I learned that Happy to Be Nappy is a children?s book by bell hooks (born Gloria Jean Watkins), a noted black feminist scholar. It is narrated in the film by Mary J. Blige.
Of course it?s different when we use a term for ourselves and when outsiders do. I might make PMS jokes that my husband would get in trouble for. But when role models as disparate as a (female) fiction writer, a (female and black) scholar/writer and a (female and black) R&B artist use the terms, how bad can they be?
I have no desire to absolve Don Imus of being a jerk, but attention should be paid to the facts. One of the facts is that the other team, the one that Don Imus referred to as ?cute,? includes at least six African-American young women (judging from the UTLadyVols.com game highlights slideshow), including Candace Parker, the 2006-2007 Honda Sports Award Winner. Of course, ?cute? is just one step up from ?babe? according to another commentator, so throw him on the pyre again.
When did America change from the land of opportunity to the land of the easily, even, eager-to-be, offended? When did it become more worthy to shed a poignant tear while decrying wounding words than to stand up proudly as an African-American woman? How can the dumb rumblings of a low-brow Larry King Live wannabe rob a wonderful Cinderella team of their magic moment?
Someone has given an outsider much too much influence, and it wasn?t the offender in question, or those in positions of power, but the media, and those who were targeted, and how they reacted. Happy to Be Nappy (the video) begins with two cute African-American girls talking about their hair and how they?ve come to like it. One of them concludes, ?Before you love anybody else in the whole world, you need to love yourself first.?
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I like it! I think you have a knack for this kind of op-ed essay writing. Really — it has the perfect tone and feel. You are both provocative and insightful. And you have a clever way of spinning your thoughts, like when you say, “Of course, ?cute? is just one step up from ?babe? according to another commentator, so throw him on the pyre again.”
I think you should continue more of this kind of writing. It’s the perfect length. Because of the timeliness of this content, it will expire in a month or so, but makes for excellent reading now. Keep doing this kind of thing.
I think you’re provacative and insightful too! So, does your husband ever call you when he’s gone, or just leave comments on your blog?