Customer Reviews

The Black List

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4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
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The Black List contains a major list of people of color who have had incredible lives and even more incredible careers. The book contains some people you know and love and some people you never knew about. All of them have unique stories and all tell them well. Guns N Roses guitarist Slash was an unexpected person in the book for me but he told some great stories. Slash Even talked about some problems he had with his band when they wrote a rather racist song.

The lineup goes from Russell Simmons to the crazy and hilarious Keenan Ivory Wayans. My favorite had to be author and Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison ("Beloved", "The Bluest Eye"). She just pulls you in with every word and she is a true writer to the core. Her words really changed the day for me. The Black List is amazing, everything is slowed down but nicely paced. It is a beautiful creation of people that bring their lives and experiences to the table to show the younger crowd what we can be in the future. I loved everything about it and would recommend it to everyone.

I ordered this book with great anticipation expecting it to be stellar for several reasons:

1. Elvis Mitchell is someone I've always respected as a New York Times film critic and commentator for PBS. This book is one of his many new ventures.

2. Timothy Greenfield is a highly regarded photographer who has taken on both safe and controversial material - the most controversial being a book of portraits of men and women in the adult film industry (a very good book that I also own), and

3. The subjects of this book, people like Toni Morrison, Colin Powell, Bill T. Jones and others, are all titans in Black America - how could any book go wrong in presenting so many great people in the same publication?

Unfortunately, I think THE BLACK LIST, a very cleverly titled work, never evolves to anything more than a superficial coffee table book. The narrative that accompanies each of the portraits is more than a bit lackluster. Even the portraits themselves seem rather mundane and uninspiring. I own the book and have every intention of adding it to my vast collection of photography monographs, but it is by no means one of my favorites. I just feel that the very impressive people profiled in it deserved so much more. Greenfield's portraits of porn stars that I mentioned earlier is actually a better book on all accounts.

This book is a beautiful tribute to African-Americans. A companion book to the HBO special "The Black List," it contains 25 interviews and photographs of a well rounded group of people who have contributed to American society in some way. Elvis Mitchell provides us with some unique insights into the life experiences of writers, athletes, politicians, activists, dancers, comedians and actors as well as many others. Each discussion is different and reflective of the personality being interviewed; some are surprises and others just pure and simple wisdom. The portraits by photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders are extraordinary. Each picture is a true vision, perfectly lit and exuding every subject's personality. I happen to love the portrait of Tony Award winning dancer, Bill T. Jones, because it isn't so much his fame here that gets him recognized, but rather his essence in fact it almost brings tears to my eyes. America should be very proud of the talented voices presented here and savor each with a simple flip of a page whenever the inspiration calls you.

THE BLACK LIST is a difficult book for me to review. It is difficult to review because on one hand I think it's the kind of book that we need. I think we need books that portray successful and influential people of African descent, and I have mixed feelings about giving a negative review to a book that deals with this topic.

Before I proceed with my review I feel the need to share some of my background. My Chicano father, who knew Cesar Chavez, was born on a migrant camp in Texas. I graduated from a high school whose student body was more than 60% African American. I took African American History, a class not offered in most high schools, during my senior year. One thing I appreciated so greatly about living in a predominantly African American community was that, despite the hardships faced by the community, there always seemed to be a love of living, a zest for life, within the community.

This love of living, zest for life, seems more or less absent from THE BLACK LIST. A look at the cover is revealing. Twelve influential people are pictured with stone cold expressions. Toni Morrison, a woman in my mind synonymous with grace, looks angry. Why? And as other reviewers have noted, the text itself often seems dry. Joyless expressions and dry writing.

THE BLACK LIST has great intentions, but I think this idea has been pursued more effectively elsewhere. The greatest joys I derived from this book were the interview with Bill T. Jones and the following statement: "With the serious attention directed at Senator Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign...." (Page 1) Obviously, this book was written before Obama was our president-elect. And come to think of it, how odd that a book which attempts to profile the most influential and successful African Americans somehow left out the person who will soon be the most influential African American in history.

The Black List features some of the most prominent African-American artists, writers, politicians, musicians, athletes and other prominent people in their field sharing the stories of how they rose to fame and what their racial identity has meant, for them and those in their lives. In some ways very straightforward (the essays are not overly wordy, but direct and heartfelt), combined with the stark, powerful photography of Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, they paint a collective portrait of power and grace.

I learned about people whose work I've admired, and also learned that Slash of Guns N' Roses fame is half-black - the book opens with him, perhaps deliberately, to remind those of us who didn't know this fact about this aspect of his life. I found that essay one of the standouts, about negotiating being black in rock and heavy metal, and the assumptions people have made about him. I also really enjoyed Zane's and Fay Wattleton's essays, both women I greatly admire who have battled stereotypes about black women's sexuality and created space for all women to own their reproductive rights and bodies in authentic ways. This is a powerful collection that I'm sure I will return to often.

New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell partnered with photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders to produce an informative and fascinating documentary on the African-American experience in the United States. That resulting film has now spawned this companion book, and it's equally worthwhile.

Mitchell interviewed a number of well-known African Americans from a diversity of backgrounds, including Colin Powell, Toni Morrison, Chris Rock, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Al Sharpton. The line-up even contained one surprise -- I wasn't aware that rock guitarist Slash was bi-racial.

"The Black List" is a bit obvious in some of its subject material -- most of the commentary and stories are exactly what you'd expect in a project of this sort. In that sense, there is little here that is new or especially enlightening. (Although those unfamiliar with the personages involved and the history of African Americans over the past half-century might find it more useful.)

Still, it is a worthy project, and Greenfield-Sanders's photos are always impressive to behold.

Today more than ever we have been inundated with the images of famous African Americans. The media would like us to believe that with the election of the first African American President - African Americans have finally discovered that we can succeed. Well, THE BLACK LIST has confirmed what I always thought ... We Always Had the "IT" factor. African Americans have always been strong leaders. They have worked hard behind the scenes making their mark on the world.

These candid glimpses of unsung African American leaders prove that we have always been a force to be reckoned with. This diverse group of leaders gives open and honest feedback on politics, culture, art, growing up in America and what it takes to be on top. There are 25 people profiled - some well known and some I've never heard of: Slash - Toni Morrison - Keenen Ivory Wayans - Vernon Jordan - Faye Wattleton - Marc Morial - Serena Williams - Lou Gossett Jr. - Russell Simmons - Lorna Simpson - Mahlon Duckett - Zane - Al Sharpton - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - William Rice - Thelma Golden - Sean Combs - Susan Rice - Chris Rock - Suzan-Lori Parks - Steve Stoute - Richard Parsons - Dawn Staley - Colin Powell - Bill T. Jones. This outstanding table book will offer hours of great conversation and is an excellent accompaniment to the HBO documentary. The information presented will encourage you to dive deeper into the lives of those discussed. THE BLACK LIST is a must have for every household, school, and library.

Deltareviewer
Reviewing for Real Page Turners

The photographs are wonderful, but above all I appreciated the broad spectrum of political and social positions portrayed in this book. African American share common threads but the unity born of these commonalities does not restrict their ability to think for themselves.

I was most inspired by Susan Rice. She has already achieved so much at such a young age. I respect her views on Andy Young's comment that "Barak Obama is as black as Bill Clinton." She acknowledges that Clinton "was a great president" and "wonderful human being" but points out that growing up in Hope, Arkansas "is not the same as growing up black in America." She feels the comment "diminishes the African-American experience".

Some interviews reveal the core/essence of the subject better than others, but all are fascinating.

I hope the authors put one of these out every year.

The Black List is a book highlighting and celebrating prominent black celebrities. I was excited to finally get the book and read the stories within. Some I knew, some I didn't. I learned and I was inspired from some of the stories and the photos are excellent. It may be a gloriefied coffee table book, but it's one that will get much deserved attention.

I liked that it was a mini biography of these african americans life. What the enbured as well as overcome. I let my teenager read it and she loved it as well. This is good for all ages.