African American authors and poets have bravely confronted societal taboos, revealed sensitive personal details, and created extraordinary creative works. Toni Morrison, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Wright, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, and others have received Pulitzer Prizes, NAACP awards, and Nobel Prizes recognition.
As Black Lives Matter protests erupted throughout the world, the publishing industry rushed to help individuals who have been “ignored by the mainstream.” So, who is the mainstream?
The publishing sector is stifled and outmoded. It is assumed that aspiring authors will understand what a literary agency is. However, most people have no clue how to write a book proposal or where to send it. Those in the know have access to this knowledge, and those in the know frequently wish to keep it to themselves. Let’s take a moment to discuss literary agents; they are, in essence, tastemakers. Editors rely on them to supply books and writers that conform to their (often narrow) tastes. And what happens if these arbiters continue to operate in the same circles as the writers they already know? The same thing happens every time: novels that follow trends look the same and are authored by the same people.
The need to hear fresh voices has always existed. The yearning to learn about previously unheard stories has always existed. Chocolate Burnout: Part One, Emunah La-first Paz’s novel in a seven-part series, welcomes multi-cultural heritage and is listed in the Mavin foundation database of works by authors that discuss interracial relationships. La-Paz, born in Montgomery, Alabama, felt the pain of racism because of her varied family’s history of ingrained intolerance. Attempting to shed the animosity associated with racial injustice became a way of life that evolved into many issues dealing with self-loathing and insecurity among men and women of all origins.
Chocolate Burnout is seen as a brief examination of a subject frequently disregarded in certain sectors of society. We would want to believe that we live in a world that welcomes all people of color and all partnerships, but this is not the case. Chocolate Burnout brings to light that we are still fighting relationship acceptance in various cultures and social settings. Even if we witness more mixed couples and children in our culture, on television, on social media, and so on, this does not indicate that everyone openly embraces bi-racial children of interracial partnerships. Chocolate Burnout argues that couples who dare to love beyond their cultural or racial identities have chosen a love that defeats them.
The publishing sector is stifled and outmoded. It is assumed that aspiring authors will understand what a literary agency is. However, most people have no clue how to write a book proposal or where to send it.
Even if we witness more mixed couples and children in our culture, on television, on social media, and so on, this does not indicate that everyone openly embraces bi-racial children of interracial partnerships.
Attempting to shed the animosity associated with racial injustice became a way of life that evolved into many issues dealing with self-loathing and insecurity among men and women of all origins.
Conclusion
Black author’s work offer much-needed insight into the facts and concerns at hand. These tales deserve every bit of attention they get. However, it is equally critical to realize that all types of Black tales matter. We need to read stories about Black characters who go on adventures, fall in love, solve mysteries, become heroes, and go about their daily lives just like everyone else. Black readers need to recognize themselves in storylines that aren’t about racism, slavery, Jim Crow, or police violence. Non-Black readers feel the same way.
