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Review: Zadie Smith’s Novel "NW" Explores Black Upward Mobility

By goodblacknews on September 16, 2012

Zadie Smith, NW

Author Zadie Smith and the cover of her new novel, NW. (Photo of Zadie Smith by Henry S. Dziekan III/Getty Images)

NW, the latest literary contribution from Zadie Smith – the critically acclaimed author of White Teeth, The Autograph Man, and On Beauty – does not quake with theatrical plot twists or crackle with the suspense of a mystery or adventure, but it achieves a slow burn that captures the small disappointments, encumbrances, betrayals, and self-deceptions that make up the utter “dailyness” of tragedy.

Tracing the lives of Leah, Natalie (formerly known as Keisha), Felix, and Nathan from their working class roots in the council estate (or public housing) of Caldwell in London, to their divergent individual struggles to become “adults”, or whatever it is we mean by that, Smith renders the idea of personal identity in the cacophonous, commercial and consumerist world in which we live, a frail and exposed thing.

Review: Zadie Smith’s Novel “NW” Explores Black Upward Mobility

By goodblacknews on September 16, 2012

Zadie Smith, NW

Author Zadie Smith and the cover of her new novel, NW. (Photo of Zadie Smith by Henry S. Dziekan III/Getty Images)

NW, the latest literary contribution from Zadie Smith – the critically acclaimed author of White Teeth, The Autograph Man, and On Beauty – does not quake with theatrical plot twists or crackle with the suspense of a mystery or adventure, but it achieves a slow burn that captures the small disappointments, encumbrances, betrayals, and self-deceptions that make up the utter “dailyness” of tragedy.

Tracing the lives of Leah, Natalie (formerly known as Keisha), Felix, and Nathan from their working class roots in the council estate (or public housing) of Caldwell in London, to their divergent individual struggles to become “adults”, or whatever it is we mean by that, Smith renders the idea of personal identity in the cacophonous, commercial and consumerist world in which we live, a frail and exposed thing.

Seventy Five Year-Old Female Bodybuilder Stuns The Internet With Fabulous Photo

By goodblacknews on September 15, 2012

An image floating around the Internet yesterday got a lot of attention — and had many considering hitting the gym.”Ernestine Shepherd, age 75,” Reddit commenter Proteon posted, “wakes up at 3 a.m. every day to meditate, and then clocks up runs totaling 10 mi (16 km) before lunch. In 2010 and 2011 she was recognized by Guiness as [the] oldest competitive female bodybuilder in the world.”

Harlem Renaissance Novel By Claude McKay Is Found

By goodblacknews on September 15, 2012

Author Claude McKay in the 1920s.

A Columbia graduate student and his adviser have authenticated the student’s discovery of an unknown manuscript of a 1941 novel by Claude McKay, a leading Harlem Renaissance writer and author of the first novel by a black American to become a best seller. The manuscript, “Amiable With Big Teeth: A Novel of the Love Affair Between the Communists and the Poor Black Sheep of Harlem,” was discovered in a previously untouched university archive and offers an unusual window on the ideas and events (like Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia) that animated Harlem on the cusp of World War II. The two scholars have received permission from the McKay estate to publish the novel, a satire set in 1936, with an introduction about how it was found and its provenance verified.

Mataano Spring 2013: Somali Twins Ayaan and Idyl Mohallim Go Breezy, Feminine For New York Fashion Week

By goodblacknews on September 15, 2012

Designers Idyl Mohallim (L) and Ayaan Mohallim (R)

Designers Idyl Mohallim (L) and Ayaan Mohallim (R) walk the runway at the Mataano spring 2013 presentation during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Landmark on the Park on September 11, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

The Mataano Spring 2013 show during New York Fashion Week on Tuesday was brimming with positive vibes and packed to the rafters with fashionable people. Landmark on the Park, a remarkable old church, was outfitted with rows of seats and a performance space for singer Wynter Gordon to appear after the show — a perfect setting for blacks in culture and entertainment to convene.

Cemetery Of African Slaves Honored In Brazil

By goodblacknews on September 15, 2012

Brazil Cemetery

In this 1996 photo released by Ana de la Merced Guimaraes, bones from African slaves sit in boxes after being recovered by Guimaraes in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (AP Photo/Ana de la Merced Guimaraes)

RIO DE JANEIRO — Wearing full-skirted white dresses and turbans, the religious leaders chanted blessings and sprinkled water on the concrete floor of a modest house near this city’s port. Beneath their feet were the remains of tens of thousands of African slaves who had died shortly after arriving from their horrific sea voyage. The bodies had been dumped into a fetid, open-air cemetery, often chopped up and mixed with trash. With the 15-minute ceremony this week, the Afro-Brazilian priests were finally giving the slaves at least the semblance of a proper burial centuries later.

Poll Finds Obama Is Erasing Romney's Edge On Economy

By goodblacknews on September 15, 2012

By JEFF ZELENY and MEGAN THEE-BRENAN
President Obama has taken away Mitt Romney’s longstanding advantage as the candidate voters say is most likely to restore the economy and create jobs, according to the latest poll by The New York Times and CBS News, which found a modest sense of optimism among Americans that White House policies are working.

Poll Finds Obama Is Erasing Romney’s Edge On Economy

By goodblacknews on September 15, 2012

By JEFF ZELENY and MEGAN THEE-BRENAN

President Obama has taken away Mitt Romney’s longstanding advantage as the candidate voters say is most likely to restore the economy and create jobs, according to the latest poll by The New York Times and CBS News, which found a modest sense of optimism among Americans that White House policies are working.

GBN Quote Of The Day

By goodblacknews on September 14, 2012

“If you think nobody cares if you’re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.”
–Flip Wilson, Emmy and Grammy Award-winning comedian

Community's Donald Glover Develops New Sitcom at NBC

By goodblacknews on September 14, 2012

It looks like Donald Glover will be engaging in some extracurricular work outside of Greendale Community College. The Community star, who plays former high school quarterback-turned-air conditioning repair annex recruit Troy Barnes, is developing a new show for NBC with 30 Rock co-executive producer Matt Hubbard.