Well my first two readings were wonderful. I’ll start with M is For Mystery. I’ll admit that I’ve never been to the store before but I guarantee you I will be back to visit in the not too distant future. It’s a charming place and their selection of books is surprisingly eclectic. But mostly it was the staff that impressed me. They are a warm, welcoming and intelligent group of people and I truly enjoyed talking to them before and after the event. The event itself went spectacularly well. For one thing in the audience was Trisha, blog reader and fellow sucias who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time. For those of you who don’t know what a sucias is (or for those of you who speak Spanish and think that I’m being disrespectful) the sucias are the women who post on Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez’s message board. I also had a couple of friends show up along with a small but nice group of readers who I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time. I was thrilled to see that there was a pretty even mix of both men and women at the event. I love the cover of my book but the bright pink packaging is bound to alienate a large faction of the male market so I am particularly flattered by the praise I get from men who enjoyed my novel.
Then there was the Capitola Book Café. Capitola is right next to Santa Cruz which is my home town. I drew in a huge crowd. Friends, family, teachers who knew me when I was “just this tall,” they were all there to cheer me on. Many of them had already purchased the book before the event but at least 30 of them bought it there. Speaking with me that night was fellow mystery author Denise Osborne who seems like a lovely woman.
So hopefully this weekend will be equally successful. I will be reading at San Francisco Mystery Books at 2:00 on Saturday and at Marcus Books also in San Francisco on Fillmore Street at 6:30 Saturday evening. In addition to that I will be signing at Borders Express at the Capitola Mall between 1 and 3 on Sunday. I am nervous about the readings in San Francisco for two reasons:
1) These are two of possibly four events that I will be holding in San Francisco and while I will probably have a few friends attend each of the readings I doubt I’ll have a lot of people at any one of them.
2) Marcus Books is a Black bookstore and the reception my book has been met with within the Black community has been mixed.
Allow me to explain. Like my protagonist my father was Black and my mother is White of Eastern European descent. I don’t speak in “black slang” I don’t braid my hair, and I only listen to moderate amounts of hip-hop. This doesn’t make me less Black any more than a Sunday school teacher who doesn’t wear a crucifix around her neck is less Christian. But there are those in both the White and African-American community who disagree with me on that point. As far as they’re concerned my father betrayed his race when he procreated with my mother (and vice versa). There are many people within my own race who look at me and see an outsider. It’s disconcerting to put it mildly. People tell me that it seems like Sophie identifies more with her Jewish heritage than her Black heritage. I find this to be a false and disturbing observation. Sophie’s mother is ethnically Jewish but Sophie doesn’t use Yiddish expressions. She doesn’t light the candles on Friday night, in the book we don’t meet any of her Jewish friends (although she does meet a guy at Starbucks that turns out to be Jewish, but it’s a minor point) and at no point during the story does she visit a synagogue. There are easily as many references to her skin tone as there are to her inherited religion and yet people say that she seems more Jewish than Black. Why is that?
The answer is simple: as a society we have come to accept that while there are some Jews who fit the “Jewish stereotype” there are many who do not but for some strange reason we are unable to accept that there may be the same diversity within the African American community. It doesn’t matter how many examples we see to the contrary many people still can’t wrap their minds around it. Worse yet, many people within the community refuse to accept it.
In her book Dirty Girl’s Social Club Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez helped break down the stereotypes that exist regarding the Latino community. She wrote about Black Latinas and blonde ones; rich and poor, Jewish and Catholic, straight and Gay and so on and so forth. I hope that some day the stereotypes that are attributed to African Americans are broken down in a similar fashion and if my book helps bring that day a little closer than I will be one happy Black Jewish woman.
Kyra Davis
www.kyradavis.com
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8 comments:
Yes, my sister, continue to break down those barriers. I would say that response to my novel has been excellent as far as readers emailing me. But I have been asked why I have so many racially mixed/diverse characters. I think the question unasked is why aren't they all the same race? Because that's not the world I see or the world we live in.
Keep doing what you're doing, Kyra!
Kyra--
I can so identify with you on much of what you wrote. I've been told by ignorant Mexicans that I'm not really Mexican because I'm part Black...and if you're part Black you can't be Mexican, right? Dumb. I've been told by ignorant Blacks that my Blackness trumps all others. Dumb.
As both a matter of respect and pride, I embrace BOTH parts of my culture but it hasn't been easy. One of the reasons I fell in love with my husband is that he never asked the question that has haunted me all my life, "So what are you?"
I love what Sophie represents. Your grandmother and my mother both share the name Sophia. I suppose Harpo said it best, Sophia, Sophia, Sophia, that sho' is a purdy name.
Keep writing Kyra!
Trina
I write about diverse characters because I am a big mutt and growing up my friends were all mixed race.
Everytime I read a book, I'm wondering why no one is talking about nationality??
It's good you write about it. Thanks for sharing.
Kelly & Shelley---I’m so glad to hear that you use multicultural characters in your novels. We really need to see more of that in literature.
Tina—I find it amazing how difficult it is for people to accept the fact that many of us are multiracial. In the last California census more people registered as multiracial than any other ethnic group other than white. Yet there is still very little acknowledgment of our unique experience and many find our very existence baffling. I hope that as we are exposed to more characters like Sophie in mainstream media the general population will begin to accept the fact that many of us are part of two (or more) different cultures that we equally identify with.
Kyra,
I'm sorry you have to deal with morons. Thanks for mentioning me in this post. You're changing perceptions, just by existing.
Love to ya
Kyra, like most of the posters I come from a multicultural background. I've been told that people treat me different because of the way that I look, and that I don't act black enough. Both my parents came from mixed backgrounds and my godparents were Jewish.I try to embrace all three races (Black, White, American Indian) that I come from, but I realize that most people will see me as black, or Latina (I get that alot). I once had an agent tell me to change my name to something Hispanic, so he could send me out solely for Latina roles!!!! My books have main characters of all races, in fact my next book has a character like yours who is black and Jewish.
Okay, Kyra, this is
Okay, Kyra... I know this is really late, but I completed the book on last evening. I thought it was a great read. This blog caught my interest, and although I am not what you would technically deem as someone of mixed race, racial subjects nevertheless catch my eye. I grew up and still am growing up in the South, a place where race plays an enormous role. Although I am an African American female and my culture is quite African-American, I explore different worlds, especially through reading. But, I must say that in the South, you are taught very quickly that you must identify with one race or the other, that you must live up to a certain stereotype. Now, let me explain what I mean by that... Well, I am the daughter of retired educators - a principal and an English teacher. So, I did not grow up speaking slang. My mother would not allow it; however, whenever I speak even today, white Americans constantly remind me that I don't fit their general stereotype. They exclaim of how articulate I am, and yada, yada, yada. Why wouldn't I be articulate? Why wouldn't I do well in school? So at least on the West Coast, there is an ability to be just what you chose to be, regardless. Here, in the South, please, you get it from both sides... Why? Mainly because the African American Southerner has bought into the stereotypes presented to him by the majority. So, you're acting white when you talk a certain way. You're acting white when you make good grades. You're acting white when you eat sushi. (Remember, I'm from the state that elected Jesse Helms. So, I'm thankful that I'm not completely off the deep end.) I think it's a travesty to allow anyone to define who you are, how you should act, and what you're supposed to do based upon your race. I admired the culture that you expressed in your book. I even enjoyed the way you wove the hip-hop generation into the storyline. It really shows your ability to accept even if you don't agree, admire even if you don't indulge. See what I mean? That's really what being human is all about... Not, making someone fit your mold, your concepts, your beliefs, but their own. But, please know Kyra, that many of the ridiculous statements that are made about your "not being Black enough" is only the result of persons feeding into a definition that they did not craft or design, but adopted from someone else. Again, I enjoyed your book. Glad I ran across it, and will pass it on. It was awesome, funny and well written. Will there be a sequel?
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