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4 oeuvres 123 utilisateurs 3 critiques

A propos de l'auteur

Cora Daniels is an award-winning journalist and the author of two books, Ghettonation and Black Power Inc. She was a staff writer for Fortune magazine for almost a decade and is currently a contributing writer for Essence. Her work has also been published in The New York Times Magazine, Fast afficher plus Company magazine, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Men's Fitness, among others. John L. Jackson, JR., is an anthropologist, filmmaker, and writer. At the age of thirty-four, he was named the first-ever Richard Perry University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and has served as a visiting professor of law at Harvard. He is the author of several books, including Harlemworld, a Publisher's Weekly notable nonfiction book; Real Black; Racial Paranoia; and Thin Description, an honorable mention for the 2016 Jordan Sehnitzer Book Award. afficher moins

Œuvres de Cora Daniels

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Sexe
female
Lieux de résidence
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Professions
journalist

Membres

Critiques

This book attempts to answer the question, "What is ghetto?" There is no clear definition it seems, but most people certainly know it when they see it. Daniels was born and raised in Bed-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, moved away for college, and came back to the ghetto to live and raise her children. She is a straddler, as harsh on her fellow ghetto neighbors and ghetto celebrities as she is on herself as she delves into the ghetto phenomenon that has become rampant in society today.

Ghetto, far from the traditional definition as a place, has become a verb and a mindset. A way of thinking that can be described as hopeless (high school students taking pride in under-achievement, happy to not have summer school and never attempting to excel), self-defeating (excuses parents give when their children commit horrendous crimes, denying culpability because their kids are "not in the system," therefore good kids that could not have done what they obviously did), and ridiculous (mothers using baby strollers to help them maneuver to a seated position while wearing miniskirts as their babies suck on soda and Kool-Aid filled bottles).

Ghetto can also be described as profitable (the ghetto image sells and many of those famous "gangstas" are actually educated and middle class) and atrocious (fourteen year old pimps and prostitutes that sell themselves after school so they can buy clothes, jewelry, and video games). And do not make the mistake in thinking that ghetto is a race or a class thing; ghetto is happening in all walks of life (from famous baby-daddies demanding paternity tests to jail-bound socialites and businesspeople). The ghetto mindset is now so all-pervasive that society has seemed to have lost its grip on right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate.

I found Daniels' analysis interesting in its simplicity. She has tapped into a dialogue that is constant but taken for granted; a way of life that is becoming increasingly common, yet sadly disconcerting. Although I certainly do not attribute all of the happenings in society to a ghetto mindset (because let's face it, a lot of it is nothing new), ghetto is enhancing and reinforcing many long-lasting problems. Having spent a considerable amount of time in the ghetto myself, this discussion of the topic has helped me to better understand my surroundings. The strangest part of this mindset is that it is disrupting the ability of the most vulnerable to escape their negative conditions. Ghetto is being exploited and touted as something to emulate, rather than something to rise above. It places material objects and violence as the goal to obtain respect and credibility while love, education, and commitment are scoffed at and deprecated.

Daniels, as a ghetto straddler, has a unique perspective on the phenomenon of the ghetto. She is critical, yet realizes that she has quite a few ghetto quirks herself. Mostly, she is providing a voice against low expectations and is calling on people to stop celebrating ghetto and its dearth of education, its lack of equality, and its perpetuation of stereotypes. Writing as an insider and a reporter, Daniels has brought to the fore the idea of ghetto as mindset to the general public. My only criticism of the book was the occasionally confusing writing style that disrupted the reading flow. More strategic punctuation would have helped with readability and mass appeal. All in all, it was a good read - insightful and critical without finger-pointing or blame in any one direction.

So "What is ghetto?" In Daniels own words (and those of many others), "We be ghetto."
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Signalé
Carlie | 1 autre critique | Mar 28, 2008 |
Minority 018
Are you black and looking for a career in business? If so, this book is for you. Fortune magazine writer Cora Daniels will explain how to make it in the business world not by “checking your blackness at the door,” but by using your identity as an asset, both for yourself and your entire community. The advice Daniels provides applies to other minority groups as well.
 
Signalé
BarnardCareerLibrary | Dec 7, 2007 |
This book takes a somewhat historical look at the term ghetto and charts how society responds to this culture. The book is chock-full of historical tid-bits and entertaining stories from the author's childhood. She investigates how it shifted from a culture created through oppression to a shameless image. This book is a very good read.
 
Signalé
kimajone | 1 autre critique | Nov 11, 2007 |

Statistiques

Œuvres
4
Membres
123
Popularité
#162,201
Évaluation
3.2
Critiques
3
ISBN
7

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