Touré

The book is equals parts social commentary and autobiographical musings from a cadre of Black stars in the sky of American Africana. Post-Blackness as a definable thing is constantly changing and based on a generational set-point—for example, being born in the 80’s, I am not familiar at all with critical ‘white gaze’ or could never imagine being afraid to eat friend chicken or watermelon in front of a White person—these thoughts have never crossed my mind. My parents never told me I had to be better, do better, than any White person or other any person; just to do my best and to be myself. Blackness was never considered a stumbling block, nor has other people’s ignorance based on my melanin ever become my own personal issue. Is this post-Black thinking? Racism is shocking in the sense of “Damn, people still on that dumb shit?” not that it affects me constantly; classism and homophobia constitute the microagressions in my life. Would this also be a post-Black problem?
I wish he went into more details of his own personal experiences before adding in his interviews. His life sketches were interesting enough on their own. However, Touré completely lost some cool points—and needs a whole punched in his Black card—for allowing the “How to Build More Baracks” or rather as it should have been titled “How to Be Sellout Magic Negro to Gain Power and Influence People”. That chapter was a painful read. Basically to gain this nebulous power—not sure it is political, economic, or social; maybe a combination of all three—in America as a post-Black person you need not to strike fear in the hearts of White(supremacist) folks, have any human failings, possess a baby face (seriously!?), and be the best Uncle Thomas you can be! Sorry, but if anyone of any race holds White supremacist ideals then they should be exposed and feel guilty for holding such ignorance—at the very minimum. If my melanin, words, and actions arouse guilt in a White supremacist then I am doing my job. Other than that one chapter of pure treacherous (traitorous ) fuckery, the book ends on good note—the idea that American Black people now have the emotional and personal space to define themselves as themselves for their own benefits or detriments like any truly free group of a people.
… (mais)

A very bad book about my favorite person. Toure is trying to be some sort of hip cultural critic who does heavy thinking but is also in with the cool kids of today. and just nope.

Most frustratingly, the book contains brief kernels of really good ideas and plenty of false starts towards interesting analysis, but nothing is ever fleshed out or developed or thoroughly argued.

Prince is an "icon" for Gen-X because...divorce.

Prince is the most important religious artist in the history of American music because...he was an overtly-sexual pop star.

I feel like there should be criteria for allowing people to go by one name. Prince meets those criteria, Toure does not.

Also, someone should tell this guy that the Talking Heads and Sonic Youth should not be included in his list of like 10 bands that are "all one race and one gender."… (mais)

With Prince's unfortunate recent passing, my library had this on their recommended shelf, so of course I jumped on it for my next entry in my Read Your Library project.

Not a biography, Toure instead takes a look at Prince the unforgettable icon and how he came to be. Toure looks at the generation Prince resonated with the most, Generation X, and explored exactly why we (I'm on the young-end of the Gen X spectrum) were so enraptured by the man.

The book is in three parts. First Toure explores Prince's early days and connects them with things that many Gen Xers could relate to. Next he takes a look at the hypersexualization of the 80s and Prince's brilliant manipulation of that to create his image. Finally, we get to read about Prince's very strong religious side and how he incorporated his faith into his music.

Overall, this is a fascinating read. It really makes you think, and explains a great deal about both Generation X and Prince that many may not have thought of before now.… (mais)