Thinking Black: Some of the Nation's Best Black Columnists Speak Their Mind

Times are changing in America, and nowhere is this more apparent than in today's racial climate. In the wake of so many turbulent events--the Million Man March, the Clarence Thomas debacle, the Colin Ferguson "slaughter," the bestsellerdom of The Bell Curve, the Marion Barry reelection, the Rodney King "incident," and the O.J. Simpson decision--the racial fault line is widening. If it really is time for an honest discussion about race in America, then it will start with these original essays from the preeminent black columnists in Thinking Black.

Pulitzer prize-winner Harold Jackson; National Association of Black Journalists award winners DeWayne Wickham, Dwight Lewis, Dorothy Gilliam, and Derrick Jackson; along with Wiley Hall, Norman Lockman, Allegra Bennett, and a host of other notable writers are collectively the voice of millions of African-Americans.

Reflected in these essays are interests and opinions as diverse as the numerous hues within the black community. For instance, as Betty Bayé of the Louisville Courier Journal writes: "White columnists can criticize bad, ignorant white people all day long because bad white people, no matter how ignorant or how terrible their crimes, are still perceived as individuals. However, bad, ignorant black people are not perceived as individuals, but as representatives of their
race. The irony, of course, is that good black people are generally perceived as individual exceptions to the race."
Hauntingly introspective and painfully self-revealing work--such as Lisa Baird's rhythmic essay about her light complexion and straight hair causing her to ponder what it means to be a black woman; Brenda Payton's revelatory essay on color discrimination within the black community; DeWayne Wickham's ruminative essay on the color line; or Dwight Lewis's plaintive call to the black father--probes the soft underbelly of black America's internal and external racial conflicts.