3B
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/The Charlotte Post
Thursday, April 4,1996
Fulwood tackles black and middle-class
SAM FULWOOD I
By Jeri Young
' THE CHARLOTTE POST
Sam Fulwood III knew call
ing myself an "angry black
man" would cause problems.
In his new book, “Waking
from the Dream: My Life in
the Black Middle Class,”
Fulwood seeks to understand
the source of his frustrations
and those of thousands like
him - the African American
success stories.
Fulwood's book, like the
author himself, is intensive
and thoughtful. Written after
Fulwood's stint at the
Baltimore Sun's South African
Bureau, it begins in Charlotte,
with Fulwood's initiation into
integration and ends with his
reflections on how integration
affected his thinking.
Fulwood will be in Charlotte
Wednesday at the Barnes &
Noble on Independence to dis
cuss “Waking from the Dream:
My Life in the Black Middle
Class.”
Fulwood remembers a
Charlotte that most would
want forgotten, a Charlotte
fighting to integrate quietly.
Images of Birmingham and
Montgomery were burned into
the minds of Charlotte leaders
who sought to make integra
tion as swift and painless as
possible to preserve
Charlotte's image as an up-
and-coming financial and cul
tural center.
A ninth-grader when court
ordered busing was enforced
in Charlotte, Fulwood was
sent to McClintock Junior
High seeing for the first time
whites and blacks from differ
ent social classes. Integration,
in spite of its problems was
positive for Fulwood in that it
allowed him opportunities that
had long denied blacks, but it
also had its drawbacks.
"Integration is a an ongoing
experiment...we should not
give up on it," said Fulwood.
"We simply do not have the
stomach to really try."
Fulwood, categorizes his
experiences as "positive" over
all but it marked the begin
ning of what he calls his major
defense mechanisms for coping
with a world where he would
have to make all of the
advances for change.
"I, like many other blacks
developed wbat I call an 'isola
tionist courage,"' says
Fulwood, explaining his ^neli-
ness, even in a room full of
people. "I was always cau
tious...not really ever develop
ing any real friendships with
my colleagues."
Fulwood believes that many
African Americans develop the
same strategy for coping with
the pressures of functioning in
society that largely accepts
them only on the surface.
Society has integrated to a
degree, but whites have failed
to share power and make the
workplace less hostile. Faced
with subtle racism, blacks
become easily frustrated and
home becomes a refuge.
"African Americans’ move
into insulated communities
where home is comfortable,
because work is not,” Fulwood
said. “We (African Americans)
are not there, so we move to all
Book shows black man’s plight
Continued From IB
Fulwood has led a rich and
varied life and conveys it. He
never glorifies his accomplish
ments, instead concentrating
on what effect mainstream
success has had on his life.
Fulwood is caught between
two worlds, as are many
African Americans who grow
up in the middle class.
“Waking from the Dream:
My Life in the Black Middle
Class” delves into the psyche
of a misunderstood and mis
represented group, African
Americans. The book is bold,
searching and guaranteed to
make the reader think, both
about what it is to African
American and the high price
of success.
Fulwood holds nothing back
and often expresses his own
confusion about his role in
society as a black male profes
sional. He also explores bis
own male/female relationships
from his first high school love
through his marriage to
Cynthia Bell, a Columbia
native and alumna of Johnson
C. Smith University.
From beginning to end.
Waking from the Dream is
thought provoking and real.
Fulwood III will be in
Charlotte on April 10, 1996 at
Barnes and Noble to discuss
his work.
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black communities where we
can commune with others in
the same struggle.
"It is a mirror image of white
flight. The real issue is race
and the failure of integration."
Fulwood believes that suc
cess has left African
Americans discouraged.
Although many have achieved
financial success, there the
cost has been high. There is a
frustration that borders on
sadness that in spite all of the
successes, blacks still are not
viewed as equals.
Fulwood believes that the
"horrendous" failing of inte
gration is that it did not
include whites in every major
integration "project" meant
that blacks were integrating
white establishments. Whites,
as constructors of the system,
never had to take any major
steps in integration. The onus
was exclusively on African
Americans which means that
blacks are at fault for the fail
ure and success of it.
Also at fault is the media and
its portrayal of the black expe
rience.
"The media has corroded
racial relations, and reduced
blacks to card board cut-outs,"
said Fulwood. "I wrote my
book to show another experi
ence and allow for commisera
tion for other blacks wbo feel
the same since of frustration
and segregation."
"The book grew out of my
awareness that the world is
not what I thought - it is an
internal anger, a sadness."
Fulwood believes tbat the
system can be salvaged but j—-
this time whites must take *
steps to integrate as well as
blacks.
"Until this happens," said
Fulwood, "until whites give up
some of their white-skinned
privilege, there can no,t be
true integration."
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COCA-COLA “STUDENT” OF THE MONTH
Tahirah
Farrer-Bradley
5th Grader at
Brisbane Academy
Math & Science Preparatory
"^
^oca-Cola
Tahirah is 10 years old and an honor roll student at Brisbane.
She is student government secretary.
“She is hard working and willing to accept a challenge, she
always shares a smile, says Headmaster, Geraldine White.
Tahirah is a member of the “Pre-Algebra Club”, received the
1995 Math Protege Award, Citizenship Award, honor-roll cer
tificate and several others.
Her favorite past times are playing basketball and taking
karate, she is an orange belt.
She is involved in her church, Simpson-Gillespie United
Methodist, as a member of the youth choir and grades 4-6
Sunday School class.
Tahirah is the daughter of Fran Farrer & Thomas Bradley,
and has a big brother Toure.
Congratulations Tahirah From Coca-Cola
Consolidated Bottling Company of Charlotte