ms scribe had the most interesting observstion during super bowl halftime:
the stones have come a long way...since altamont...
went to a play this weekend...has me thinking...what denotes a body of work...
august wilson's ten plays...written over thirty years...all focused on chronicling the black american experience...
i don't know much about playwriting...and ten full length works in any field of writing is respectable...but what makes wilson's work extrordinary...
tennessee williams wrote nearly a hundred plays...and a handful of movies...mamet, over twenty, a couple of books, and a solid collection of movies...neil simon, 28 plays...suzan-lori parks, 10 and counting...arthur miller, over twenty...
you get the point...
wilson's achievement is certainly not about the numbers...while there is a tendancy in some critical circles for an ambitious attempt to be hearlded as great work...simply because it's by/about Black Folk...by all standards of technique and style...wilson's work warrants notice...
if quantity is irrelevant...and critical favoritism is balanced by the law of averages...it then becomes a question of content...
before wilson's ten play cycle, there was scant examination of the black american experience...from a black american perspective...okay, there was raisin in the sun...
to look at that experience as it has evolved across a century...the so called american century...is an achievement...and wilson has been honest...imaginative...thorough...and a consumate craftsman...which is paramount...
all of this leads me to an examination of...personal goals/creative values/objectives...yes...there is a specific number of books i want to write...minimum...don't ask, i won't tell...again, that's irrelevant...more to the point...what is my role as a...Black Writer...
sure...i want to write about the experience of being a young black male in america...especially...but lets be clear...im not interested in writing the next native son or invisible man...it's been done...and by better writers than me...
besides...i don't want to be defined only by the color of my skin...isnt that what the civil rights movement was all about...im more than just Black...the world is bigger than race...yes it is signifcant...but i refuse to be boxed in by it...that's a trap...and better people than i have been laid low by it...
[ramblings about the baseball off-season and the upcomming season...postponed...for a later date...consider this your rain check...]
Johnny Cash Loves You!
