So I go into Target and look for the children's books...I find them towards the back of the store, that's already unsettling...so I'm looking at the 3-4 shelves of books...another unsettling fact...so I'm scanning the books, basically all are geared towards either babies or towards girls. And the few books that were geared towards boys didn't have boys in them! My son cannot relate to a fucking monkey or a damned anteater!
So I went back home defeated, my son asked
"Where are my books mom?"
"I couldn't find any good ones babe, I tell you what...we'll go to the bookstore tomorrow and you'll pick out the books that you want. Deal?"
"Deal."
So we went to the bookstore the next day and we're walking around looking at the books discussing what we should or should not take home and why or why not. He gets 3 books...I get 3 books as well...while we are perusing the aisles looking for books we are getting and I notice that we are the only black people in the bookstore...a sad fact. But it seems the white patrons are quite shocked by this as they keep staring at us as if we are zebras walking through the bookstore instead of black people.
And then another thing that made me a tad upset is the fact that our Barnes and Noble does not have an african american fiction section...there aren't that many black authors, there are a few I do like to support seeing as though I am black and the characters are usually black as well I can relate to them. I read white authors as well but I can't relate to Becky as well as I could to Tasha. They do however have a non fiction african american section filled with what looks to be conspiracy theory books on blacks and black history written by convicts from jail or just self published...nothing against that at all but is black smut the only thing that large publishing companies will back up?
In the end the "baby" got a thick bedtime story book and 3 "readers" that he can read himself, I got the Art of War and two black fiction novels (not smut mind you) and we walked out happy as larks.
PS: Any good book recommendations? I need them....I'll read a bit of smut here and there but I'm not a fan of the "black urban thug saga" that has overwhelmed the market. Leave that info in the comments section, shoot me an email, get at me on twitter, or hell, leave it in the formspring box...I check all daily.
7 comments:
*applause to you*
society is trying to dumb down everyone in general, it's ridiculous. like you observed with the toy section dwarfing the book section in target. in that type of retail setting i'd expect there to be more toys than books but not THAT many.
and the media basically exterminated good wholesome family shows and replaced them with all these "reality" shows now, ugh. it's up to the parents to really stay on their kids and uplift them, and from what i can tell you are doing fabulous at that :)
great post!
I don't even think I've seen good adult books in general for me at Target. I've never really associated target with buying books. Sure they have those leapfrog things but I don't buy into that. Where do you live that they don't even have an AfAm fiction section? But then again if you are the only black ppl in the store that may be why there isn't an entire section devoted to it.
Unfortunately people expect us as black women to rear ignorant aint shit men and there are alot of women who prove them correctly.
Continue doing what you are and let your work speak for itself.
As for smut: I can't read it. Won't read it. I stayed away from afam fiction for years after reading Fly girl/coldest winter ever and am now getting back into it. So far, I read by authors: i'll read anything by kimberly roby lawson, Victoria Christopher Murray, Mary B. Morrison,ReShonda Tate Billingsley. I'll have to peruse books by Carl Weber and Darrien Lee. So far so good but they're not automatic pick ups.
I just can't do smut.
I read a good book called Voodoo Love however teh author had SOOOOOOO many grammatical errors and timing issues I won't ever recommend it to another. I say that its a good book b/c it was the right book for me right now (in terms of content)
Oh and I don't know Who wrote the book but Million Dollar Divorce was great. I could not put it down
Well target isn't a book store so I wouldn't expect the sell many in there. They don't promote books in their weekly flier. It's toys, clothes, electronics, ect. But never books. But I understand you were in there on some last minute stuff for little man.
The bookstores out here have the African american section and I love that because it keeps me from having to look lost when that's what I do in there for. I also don't do bookstores much. I order my books from amazon for really cheap and they always have what I want. I recommend you look there if you want a large selection. If you type in someone you like they'll give you names of people who write similar stuff. I really dig that feature.
I recommend you read " Some love, Some Pain, Sometime" By J. California Cooper. It's an awesome book and she's one of my favorite authors.
Yeah I wasn't expecting a grand display of books to be in Target, but I've been to Walmart (which also doesn't advertise books) and they have a decent little section of books, hell they even have an african american section! I was thinking I might scoop up a dan brown book for me and a lil something something for the bambino but came up empty handed on both accounts. It just shocked me that the toy to book ratio was THAT great. There was maybe 30 books in total in there for children in general, maybe 2 geared towards my sons age...and really, the bookstore wasn't much better, there are no books with little boys (much less little black boys) as the characters, made me really upset.
Girl I gave up on books at Target while I was pregnant. I find a few good ones at Walmart, but I also have a baby baby. I love an author by the name Francis Ray.
I thought I was the only one who felt that way. Target and alot of other locations have all these toys and non educational item but nothing geared to better a child's future and better yet an African american child. I have to go a manhunt to find books geared to him, i can always find books for little girls but never boys I drives me crazy. Do we not have anybody who wants to educate and inspire the future men of the world.
One thing good thing did come out of my whole finding book for him is I met an African american man who writes books for young black boys I gotta send u his website. My sons has alot of his books.
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