The Compass Friday, April 26, me 11
Book Review
Belton book explores
psyche of black men
Photo hy Jamie Jordan
NIkkI Fayton, Miss ECSU for 1995-96, gives It all she's got during the Miss
ECSU Showcase.
New Spike Lee film
probes underground
world of phone sex
Film Review
Speak My Name
Don Belton
Beacon Press, 1995
271 pages
by Jean Samuel
Speak My Name is a collection of vari
ous black writers speaking out on is
sues faced by African-American men.
Many authors contributed to this ex
cellent work, including Amiri Baraka,
Jerrold Ladd, and William Henry.
They focus on such issues as the de
clining black family, relationships be
tween men and women, and media
images of the black male.
Speak My Name provides clear, hon
est views of the psyche of black men
from young to old. With its many
variations on a theme, readers are
given a full spectrum of ideas, dreams,
and a sense of the anger that black
men feel.
In the chapter "How Does It Feel to
Be a Problem," Robin Kelly attacks ex
amines the way the media treats black
men.
He is highly critical of the strong
media portrayal of the "hardened, hos
tile" black man, so popular in films
and the evening news.
In Kelly's view, young black men
"feel the need to adopt hardened,
threatening postures merely to survive
in a Doggy-Dogg world. Not that black
men ought to become colored equiva
lents of Alan Alda. Rather, black men
out to be whomever or whatever they
want to be, without unwarranted criti
cism or societal pressures to corrform
to a particular definition of manhood.
They could dress down without sus
picion, talk loudly without surveil
lance, and love each other without
sanction. Fortunately, such a transfor
mation would also mean the long-
awaited death of the 'nice Negro.'"
In chapters with titles like : "How
I love you more than the sun
that rises.
For you Eire my warmth and
my sensation
You are my happiness, my
heart realizes.
I love you more than the water
I swallow.
For you quench my every
thirst and curiosity.
You are the soul light I follow.
I love you more than the air I
breathe.
Does It Feel To Be A Problem?,"
"Shades," and "Confession of a Nice
Negro, why I shaved my head," each
author deals with a personal issue and
explores not just the how but the why.
This collection also has something
for women as well. In the chapter "The
Sexual Diversion: The Black Man/
Black Woman Debate in Context" Der
rick Bell explores the relationship be
tween black men and women. Bell
seeks to understand the anger that
black women have toward black men.
"For a generation now, a host of writ-
ers-many of them black women-have
been telling the world about the inad
equacies of black men...And while
there are many, many black males who
do iK)t fit the woeful patterns, we know
from statistics and personal experience
that these criticisms are based in real
ity as well as myth. Rather than con
done or condemn, I want to examine
this phenomenon in the context of a
society where the deflection of oppres
sion is the norm."
In his forward, Belton provides a
tin\ely political and sociological con
text to the insights provided in the
book:
"At the 1992 Republican National
Convention, presidential candidate Pat
Buchanan atmounced there is a cul
tural war going on in America.
Buchaimn's dispatch had all the sweep
and dimension of news that remains
news. Indeed, America has been the
site of cultural warfare for a veiy long
time."
Speak My Name is diverse in its writ
ing and subject matter making it easy
to relate to and understand. Belton
hopes that America will read and un
derstand, but most of all put a stop to
the violence that is destroying black
men.
For you are the source of my
life.
You are the one thing against
edl others I need.
I love you more than the
words I use
For you are the A In my
alphabet, my first.
You are the love I cant refuse.
I love you more.. .
I love you more than you will
ever know.
James Perry
by James L. Peny
Girl 6, Spike Lee's latest and lone
awaited fum explores the undergroxmd
world of phone sex, raising eyebrows
among many Spike Lee film buffs.
This controversial drama/comedy is
a dramatic departure from Lee's usual
issue-pounding flicks, like Do the Right
Thing, which focused on the racial ten
sion in a New York City neighborhood.
Unlike his other works Girl 6, doesn't
give the viewer any social issue to
wrestle with. Instead Lee takes a light
hearted look at phone sex solicitation.
The film stars Theresa Randle, who has
^peared in such films as Malcolm X,
Sugar Hill, and CM. Randle does a great
job as in her role. Her cool-calm atti
tude and her sensual voice add to the
movie.
Randle plays a struggling actress who
stumbles upon the ^ or a phone sex
operator, when her other three jobs
don't pay the bills. In one scene, Randle
is put to through a sample phone call
test which called for a qui«-minded
sensual re^nse. Her res^nse: "I have
blonde hair, big blue eyes, and clear
white skin, anomy name is "Lovely."
It is clear that Randle didn't possess
any of these physical attributes, hav
ing large mocha brown eyes and
cappuccmo colored skin.
Randle's character also fantasizes about
playing lead actress in popular Afri
can-American films, such as Dorothy
Dandrigde in Carmen ]ones and Pam
Grier in Foxy Brown. In this scene
Randle goes to battle with three strong
men who approach her.
TTiroughout the film Rcmdle struggles
with her concem of being true to the
art of acting, while settling for a non-
traditional acting job. Randle also to
struggles to keep her feelings at bay
about getting attached to some of her
phone customers. In one instance
Randle gets emotionally involved with
a caller who calls to discuss his mother
who is dying of cancer. Randle gets
attached and arranges to meet the guy
only to get her feeungs hurt when he
doesn't show.
Also appearing in the film is Isaiah
Washington wno starred in another
Spike Lee film, Clockers. Washington
plays the dead-beat ex-boyfriend/
suitor, who seems to have a problem
with Randle's job as a "call girl." In a
humorous scene, Washington is sur
prised when Randle displays her sexual
conversation qualities as the two talk
over coffee.
Lee plays Randle's unemployed neigh
bor who makes a living collecting base
ball cards and occasionally seUing the
cards to pay his rent. Lee also acts as
the confidant to Randle in her times of
trouble.
Many other well-known actors make
cameo appearances in Girl 6, including
Halle Berry, Rolanda Watts, Naomi
Campbell and Madonna, who plays the
owner of a phone sex operation.
Poetry
I Love You More...