I'm a happily nappy African American mom of two biracial children. Glad to see you here. Come on in, have a seat, and I’ll fix you a tall glass of iced tea. Let’s talk about this thing called a nappy kitchen.R.I.P. Mr. Studs Terkel
I discovered Studs Terkel about 7 or 8 years ago. I was pregnant and needed something to read to help me through the sleepless nights. I drove a few towns over and went to a local thrift store. They had oodles of noodles of books, so I took my time, thinking that I had no clue what I wanted to read … My eyes fell upon a book called Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel about the American Obsession. I picked it up thinking, ‘Great, another race book…’ You see, I was carrying a Biracial child at the time. I had had my FILL of “What will you raise it as? Black or White?”
A few times I answered with an extremely serious face, “I think I will raise it as a squirrel or a prairie dog. I hear they’re pretty cool.”
The Nosy Nellies were usually not amused …
… and neither was I.
I thumbed through the Studs Terkel book, shocked that this old (and I do mean old) White guy had the gall (courage) to present more than one side of the ‘race’ issue.
I was shocked that everyone from the Jewish grandma to the young Black activist to the Klu Klux Klan member was willing to talk so openly and so honestly with Studs about such a polarizing issue.
Doing a little research on this ‘crazy old guy,’ I found out that Mr. Terkel had spent his entire life fighting and speaking for America’s uncelebrated.
Ironically, last week I went to another thift store and my eyes fell upon a book called Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith. It was by Studs. I was not going to get it because it was not on my shopping list that day, but something inside told me to “Get it!”
A couple of nights later, I started it. I stopped to say a little prayer that the 96 year old Mr. Terkel would live to see his choice candidate, if elected, fellow Chicagoan Barack Hussein Obama become President of the United States of America.
… unfortunately, that was not to be …
Mr. Studs (Louis) Terkel, Pulitzer Prize winning broadcaster and oral historian, born May 16, 1912 passed away on October 31, 2008.
Halloween
A humorist to the end.
– Nappy Kitchen
December 10th, 2008 at 11:25 am
We can learn so much from Studs Terkel and all of the major players of the civil rights movement…
I have recently gone from living in an all black community to now living in an all white town that is only 2% african american. For some reason I am so much clearer about how we view ourselves not that I am no longer immersed in our culture… In the black community so much is associated with hair type. In a recent article gathered from the 2007 census, African American spending trends reveal we spend 11% more than average on personal care products, manicures and HAIR STYLING. We spend alot of money to assimilate our appearance, because of all the hair types, ours is the most noticeably different than most hispanics, asians, native americans, or whites. The expensive weaves and extensions are beautiful, but how long can we hide our hair to fit in?? Didn’t we pay our dues with 300 years of free labor, why are we trying so hard to fit into a white culture that owes us so much! When are we going to realize this? Why is it considered so rebellious to show our naps? When are we going to start critically analyzing our view of ourselves?
The we feel about our natural hair, is further proof that America is deeply entrenched in white culture, and its racist ideologies. When we can express our hair styles to reflect it’s natural texture and look, when we can wear our natural hair, all 19 million of us, and be accepted and received in all our crowing glory, then America will have made progressive strides in its understanding and acceptance of true diversity.