Sag Harbor & The Post-Black Rhetoric

I’ve been hearing a lot about Sag Harbor: A Novel by Colson Whitehead and the Post-black movement. I bought the book and have all these thoughts churning in my head.

In the NY Times review of the book, TOURÉ, refers to both Obama and the “Colsonesque 15-year-old Benji,” who is the protaganist of the book, as post-Black.

The ideology of post-black refers to being black and yet dispelling the notions of race, labels and stereotypes or negative associations.

The idea is intriguing. I mean how many of us have heard “you don’t seem [insert race, ethnicity here]” or “I would’ve never guessed you were [x,y,z]?”

It’s rather hard for society, it seems to embrace the dichotomy of those who exist in both realms; like Obama, Tiger Woods, Oprah, or Sonia Sotomayor.

Yet at BEA, Cornel West spoke against embracing the idea of living in a post-Black era. Racism continues to exist he argues while others note that post-black within itself is a parodox, both a “hollow social construction and a reality with an indispensable history.”

* Image: from Freedom: A fable – A Curious Interpretation of the Wit of a Negress in Troubled Times by Kara Elizabeth Walker

Spread the love

More Articles for You

Basque, Portuguese & Noble Families of Puerto Rico: The European Roots You Didn’t Learn About

Explore how Basque, Portuguese, and noble European families shaped Puerto Rico’s southern towns (like Ponce) through surnames, migration paths, and hidden ancestral histories.

Spread the love

Puerto Rican Surnames with Taíno & African Roots: Origins in Ponce, Juana Díaz & the Southern Highlands

Many of the names we still see today (Montalvo, Negrón, Fontanes, Rivera, Chamorro, Zapata, Maldonado) carry the intertwined legacies of Taíno survivors, Africans and European migrants who moved through the island. This guide unravels those lineages with care.

Spread the love

I, Medusa by Ayana Gray: A Myth Retold with Power and Humanity

Ayana Gray’s I, Medusa reimagines the mythic villain as sister, priestess, survivor. Read Valerie M. Evans’ review of this bold, haunting retelling.

Spread the love

Brooklyn’s Jane Doe: A Shocking True Story of Assault, Media Betrayal, and Delayed Justice

Book review and critique by Valerie M. Evans: Brooklyn’s Jane Doe reveals how one woman’s assault became a public smear, and why her fight for justice still matters today.

Spread the love

Other Inheritances: Scent Memories from a Childhood at Fat’s Pet Shop in East Harlem

Before I ever knew what a perfumer was or that someone could make a living decoding and remixing scent, I …

Spread the love

Ghosts of the Palisades: Threads between memories, places and time

Somewhere tucked away, high on the Palisades, on lovely, dead end street, in the ether of the internet and Google …

Spread the love