If there's one book you pick up this week, it has to be Who We Be: The Colorization of America by scholar/author Jeff Chang, now available on shelves from St. Martin's Press. The book, a follow-up to his award-winning classic Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation, examines the seismic racial and cultural transformation of the United States over the last fifty years.
"How do Americans see race now? ...After eras framed by words like 'multicultural' and 'post-racial,' do we see each other any more clearly?" Who We Be covers a lot of ground, offering a wide-ranging history of racialized culture debates and movements over the last half-century. The book is thoughtful, provocative and even playful, remixing comic strips, contemporary art and other media to paint a unique, timely portrait of today's America. Considering everything that's going down in our communities right now, as we speak, Who We Be is required reading.
On top of all that, it's just a cool-looking book. I anticipate that Who We Be will end up assigned on the syllabus of a lot of cultural studies courses. But instead of trading it back to the campus bookstore (what a racket!) at the end of the semester, you'll end up keeping it for your collection. It's that kind of book.
Anybody want to read it? I'm giving away a couple of copies of Jeff Chang's Who We Be to some lucky readers. Scroll down to the bottom for details. First, here's some more official information on the book:
