#292 Fon- Henry Dumas

#292 Fon- Henry Dumas

Nilmon is a former police deputy, relieved of his duties due to over agreesive tactic dealing with black men. When he hurtles down the street in his car and has a rock break his back windshield, he looks to blame the nearest black person he can find, which turns out to be Fon.

He gathers a posse and comes back the area it occurred only his compadres tell him its abandoned and haunted. Nevertheless Fon is there waiting. The conflict ends with Nilmon dead, killed by his past, his transgressions and four hundred years of guilt.

Notable Passage: “He turns toward the levee where a light in the night reaches out to him and to the great distance between him and the far blinking of the stars.”

Rating: 7-8-8-8 Total= 31

#234 Lives of the Artists- Jabari Asim

#234 Lives of the Artists- Jabari Asim

It is after hours at Reuben’s sign painting shop. The fellas are “Talking John Brown Jive” or slinging B.S., playing checkers and unwinding from the day. It’s a scene that could be in a small shop anywhere. Nothing important is being discussed but that doesn’t mean nothing meaningful isn’t taking place.

Among the tall tales and bad jokes, is this gem that any New Yorker who’s ever come face-to-face with a subway rat would appreciate:

“I’ve seen better [fighters]…the best I ever saw used to skirmish in the back of my uncle’s Laundromat. They were rats, understand. Big, rowdy looking rodents. They’d actually stand on their hind legs and trade punches.”

While the night winds down, a young man bursts in. He, and many others, are being hunted down for sport by the cops. Handing out protest leaflets is their only transgression. When the cops follow uninvited into the shop, the men know better than to interfere, but that doesn’t mean they’re not wanting to fight back:

“Reuben balled his hands into fists, stuffed them into his pockets to avoid thinking about them.”

Rating: 8-7-8-8 Total=31

#109 Something Like God- Jabari Asim

#109 Something Like God- Jabari Asim

This is a very powerful story. Rex Canada, known only as Curly is was a blind man, a local man, a man known to everyone in the community. This is his funeral, he was killed by police while trying to protect two boys from their harassments.

“Like many black men of his generation, he’d come north hungry and hurried, tight-lipped and lean. Little in his pockets and even less to say about where he had been and what sent him.”

Outside the church stands Gabriel Patterson aka. The Liberator. He was leader of the Warriors of Freedom. They stand outside the church, dressed in military fatigues patiently waiting to hand out rally leaflets. Despite being next to a church, “Love was not high on his list of priorities.”

Inside the church, moved by the moment and the power of the Word, Rose closes her eyes and sings Poor Wayfaring Stranger for the congregation. The sound seeps out to the waiting Gabriel and holds him rapt for this moment is “Something like fate. Something like God.”

“Through the walls and windows of the church came a voice so lovely and pure it almost hurt to hear it. If the Liberator had not been careful, his soldiers might have seen him cry.”

The scene is put together beautifully, and the characters entwined in their fate. The foreboding is palpable and the reality tragic.

Notable Passage: “She would pay like the Lord paid, with welts and thorns and bruises and the taste of blood in her mouth.”

Rating: 8-8-10-9 Total= 35

#95 I’d Rather Go Blind- Jabari Asim

#95 I’d Rather Go Blind- Jabari Asim

A Taste of Honey is Jabari Asim’s collection of stories about the tumultuous cultural swings of 1968. I’d Rather Go Blind is the first of these tales, and takes place in the hot summer of 1967.

Crispus Jones is the middle child of three boys and watches as the world changes around him. His thoughts start out innocent and normal for a child, thinking only of the battle back and forth of brotherly co-existence:

“I was never allowed to even handle his brush, and using it was out of the question. After all, science had yet to prove that nappy hair was not contagious.”

Things change as innocent waves turn to black power fists, and chippy nicknames turn to Brother Charles and Brother Vaughn. A police stop turns into another local death as local blind man, and friend/mentor intervenes when cops harass a few teenagers. Crispus' brother Ed is involved and gets cut by glass in the ensuing unrest.

“To my eyes, Ed looked changed, battle-scared somehow. I wonder if a piece of glass could make so much difference.”

The whole collection is connecting stories and this piece seems to set the scene and mood for what comes next. Summer of Love? Maybe not.

Notable Passage: “Curly had once told me that I was sure to get my heart broken some day. When that day came, he said, it was best to have some Etta James on hand.” The story title comes from the Etta James song.

Rating: 8-8-8-8 Total= 32