Ok, it’s truth time. Deep down inside I secretly despised the tragic mammy. I know, my rage about the image was totally wrong, illogical, and unlike the normal me. I’m usually very accepting of all types but the whole Black mammy thing pissed me off. I was the kid who stared at the Aunt Jemima pancake box. I didn’t like that little woman with the red head rag. I ate my pancakes better when Quaker gave her a perm. And, that woman from Gone with the Wind, uggh, I wanted to slap her. She should’ve known how to birth a baby…
So, there I was in Borders several years ago, enjoying the Urban Fantasy section when this little white dude came up and questioned me. “Are you in the right place? Do you need help finding a book? Oh, I have this terrific book for you called ‘The Help.’” I politely told him that I most certainly WAS in the right place. I’d almost reached the section with Laurell K. Hamilton and I turned my back but that little dude would not leave me alone. I took the Help. I took one look at that yellow cover and read the back. Umm, no, this ain’t the book for me. I know, the Librarian judged a book by the cover.
To read more visit: http://www.aliciamccalla.com/blog/50-a-black-woman-sci-fi-writers-unfounded-rage-towards-the-help
Comments