Read A Book
no, seriously, i mean it.
2007-10-02
By Reginald Hudlin

Editors' Note: The "Read A Book" video that surfaced a few months ago might not have inspired a run on the local book-mobile, but it sparked a ton of controversy.  With an N-word here, and a mutha f***ah there, the animated short used a hip-hop hook to urge literacy, land ownership, hygiene and parental responsibility.  Blogs blew up with comments from both sides of the issue, but those who got the satire were few and far between. We felt it high time to go to the force behind the juggernaut, so we asked BET entertainment prez Reginald Hudlin to start us off with a list of 10 books Black people must read.

INVISIBLE MAN – Ralph Ellison
One of the greatest novels of all time.  This book so informed my aesthetic and political sensibilities, I can’t imagine myself without having read it.  It’s easy just to be caught up in the beautiful metaphors and cinematic visuals, but to top it all off, the final showdown between the unnamed protagonist with Ras the Destroyer must be considered one of the great “action set pieces” in literature. If you’ve never read it, it’s a must read. If you have, can’t hurt to read it again.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X – Malcolm X with Alex Haley
I don’t know what the young kids are into today, but there was a time when this was the one book every black man read. Just on storytelling merits alone, it’s as good as the New Testament.

WILD SEED – Octavia Butler 
Some snobs put down science fiction, but Octavia Butler can make anyone a believer.  The fantastic world she writes about is grounded in a very real understanding of human pain and all the different ways it can be expressed; her writing is terrifying but mesmerizing.

STANDING AT THE SCRATCH LINE – Guy Johnson
This is without a doubt the most kick ass book about ass kicking in the pantheon of black literature. In fact, there’s so much foot-to-ass action in this book you get tired, like you were the one opening all those cans of whup ass.  I recommended it to a friend who was reading it on the bus and suddenly felt self conscious about who was around.  Did they know how deep and subversive the book was in his hands?  

MUMBO JUMBO – Ishmael Reed
If you’re a George Clinton fan, this is the literary equivalent of P. Funk. It’s a Romare Bearden painting in prose. It’s about a voodoo detective in New Orleans and a beat so funky it might take over the world.   If you need more description than that to pick it up, I don’t want to know you.

THE WIND DONE GONE – Alice Randall
Alice Randall did the literary equivalent of painting the White House black – she took a piece of old south nostalgia and turned it into a revolutionary tract.  She explains the hidden motivations of all the black characters in GONE WITH THE WIND from the point of view of Scarlet O’Hara’s black half sister. 

THE DEATH OF RHYTHM AND BLUES – Nelson George
Nelson George has written so many books that I like he could take up several slots on this list.  WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO?  THE RISE AND FALL OF MOTOWN and HIP HOP AMERICA almost took the top spot, but DEATH OF RHYTHM AND BLUES is such an important book, not just for what it says about music, but also the broader implications for black culture.  Start here, and then read the other two I mentioned, I’m sure you’ll be hooked on Nelson’s writing after that.

KATHERINE DUNHAM: DANCING A LIFE – Joyce Aschenbrenner
This book makes the list because the late great Ms. Dunham had such a powerful effect on my life.  Her seamless blend of intellectual curiosity, respect for black folk culture, artistic excellence and political activism is a constant inspiration to me.   Her efforts transformed many lives in my home town of East St. Louis, myself included.

THE BLACK PANTHER – WHO IS BLACK PANTHER? – Reginald Hudlin 
You know I had to list my book here.  It’s fun and it’s got pictures!  The Black Panther is the world’s first black superhero, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1965.  He’s an African king of a technologically advanced nation, and he’s totally fly.  This book introduces the character, then read in other collections where you can see him hang out with other black superheroes like Luke Cage and Blade, and eventually marry Storm of the X Men. 

OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO – Dr. Seuss
I was given this book before I had kids, and was grateful to read it.  It’s a very profound book about life, and the fact that the author could distill that much wisdom into a few pages a child can understand is amazing to me. 

Black Panther Photo: Marvel Comics