Mother Speaks...

NCBC’s Brief Bits

Adrian launched January with an exuberant discussion of Coates’ Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy and our optional read, The Origin of Others by Toni Morrison (opened with a foreword by Coates) sustained the intellectual vibe into its second meeting of the year.

Mother Toni, also affectionately referenced as ToMo in literary and social circles, has always taken on themes at the forefront of our society and in this release she addresses race, fear, and the concept of borders; specifically focusing on what race is and why it matters. It is a collection of six essays based on her Harvard Lecture series, "The Literature of Belonging," where she questioned if there is a divide on who fits under the umbrella of society and who does not.

She chose to bound the scope to her area of expertise – literature – and bolstered her belief that it has played a significant role in racism by citing sources/authors throughout history and used her own personal experiences to back her ideas. She specifically refers to Hemingway, Faulkner, and Beecher Stowe to strengthen her argument that these and other authors used "brute force" and romance to lighten the degradation of slavery. We also discussed her comments on the romanticizing of slavery and the effects it had on the enslavers and enslaved.

We also covered the overarching theme that permeated each essay: American culture tends to "separate and judge those not in our clan," stating that "others" are "vulnerable and defiant." We also mentioned and agreed that the concept of "others" is not just practiced by white people in America; all groups of people exclude as a means of control, but we must do better and look at the individual, content of character, and celebrate rather than condemn our differences.

Final Thoughts & Ratings

• Ty: Did not read

• Channel: Did not read, but upon hearing the discussion will/would read it

• Lynn: 4 – Thought the novel was timely as it was released and focused on the national frustration among entitled people; liked that she shared her personal experiences and used historical references to promote future change(s).

• Adrian: 3 - Enjoyed “otherness” observations and her ties/links to literary works. Liked how she tapped into the subject and referenced the mastery of “literary art” and how it was used as a tool in subconscious ways (specifically referencing Harriet Beecher Stowe). ToMo's train of thought was vague at times, and she as a reader lost her at certain points making it difficult to tie in the “otherness” concepts to some passages.

• Juliet: 3 – Agreed with Adrian; felt ToMo covered all the bases of “othering”, thought it was a bit choppy in places

• Phyllis: 4 – Agreed with all comments mentioned above; loved the frankness and low/no-filter of ToMo’s remarks and observations. At age 86, she’s still telling the stories, speaking her truth, and getting a lot off her chest before she puts the pen down for the final time - I absolutely LOVE it!

NCBC Group/Average Rating: 3.5