Hokum An Anthology of African-American Humor

by Beatty, Paul

• ISBN13: 9781596911482
• ISBN10: 1596911484
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-01-10
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Summary

Selected and introduced by acclaimed novelist and poet Paul Beatty,Hokumis a liberating, eccentric, savagely comic collection of the funniest writing by black Americans. This book is less a comprehensive collection of African-American humor than a mix-tape narrative dubbed by a trusted frienda sampler of underground classics, rare grooves, and timeless summer jams, poetry and prose juxtaposed with the blues, hip-hop, political speeches, and the world's funniest radio sermon. The subtle musings of Toni Cade Bambara, Henry Dumas, and Harryette Mullen are bracketed by the profane and often loud ruminations of Langston Hughes, Darius James, Wanda Coleman, Tish Benson, Steve Cannon, and Hattie Gossett. Some of the funniest writers don't write, so included are selections from well-known yet unpublished wits Lightnin' Hopkins, Mike Tyson, and the Reverend Al Sharpton. Selections also come from public figures and authors whose humor, although incisive and profound, is often overlooked: Malcolm X, Suzan-Lori Parks, Zora Neale Hurston, Sojourner Truth, and W.E.B. Dubois. Groundbreaking, fierce, and hilarious, this is a necessary anthology for any fan or student of American writing, with a huge range and a smart, political grasp of the uses of humor.

Author Biography

Paul Beatty is the author of two novels, Tuff and The White Boy Shuffle, and two books of poetry, Big Bank Take Little Bank and Joker, Joker, Deuce. He lives in New York City.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(16)
pissed off to the highest degree of pisstivity
``And a'n't I a Woman?'' (1851)	17	(2)
Sojourner Truth
``On Being Crazy'' (1923)	19	(3)
W. E. B. DuBois
``Possum or Pig?'' (1926)	22	(2)
Zora Neale Hurston
``Let Me at the Enemy---an' George Brown'' (1944)	24	(13)
Chester Himes
``Message to the Grass Roots'' (1963)	37	(3)
Malcolm X
``Pose-Outs'' (1965)	40	(3)
Langston Hughes
``Cadillac Blues'' (performed 1968)	43	(4)
Lightnin' Hopkins
from Die, Nigger, Die! (1969)	47	(13)
H. Rap Brown
from The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1969)	60	(11)
Sam Greenlee
``April 15th 1985'' (c. 1985)	71	(5)
Wanda Coleman
``Identifying Marks'' (c. 1985)	72	(2)
``On that Stuff That Ain't Nevah Been Long Enuff for No Damn Body'' (c. 1985)	74	(2)
``yo daddy: an 80s version of the dozens'' (1988)	76	(6)
Hattie Gossett
``Wise 1'' (1995)	82	(1)
Amiri Baraka
``The Cab Driver Who Ripped Me Off'' (1997)	83	(3)
Cornelius Eady
``Fifth-Ward E-Mail'' (2003)	86	(6)
Tish Benson
Presidential campaign speech delivered to the San Francisco Commonwealth Club (2003)	92	(6)
Al Sharpton
The Wit and Wisdom of Mike Tyson (1987-2004)	98	(9)
Mike Tyson
(nothing serious) just buggin'
``When De Co'n Pone's Hot'' (1895)	107	(2)
Paul Laurence Dunbar
``How Fried?'' (1913)	109	(6)
Bert Williams
Assorted jokes compiled by Alex Rogers (1918)	111	(4)
``The City of Refuge'' (1925)	115	(15)
Rudolph Fisher
``The Bone of Contention'' (c. 1929)	130	(10)
Zora Neale Hurston
from Black No More (1931)	140	(16)
George Schuyler
``Brer Rabbit, You's de Cutes' of `Em All'' (1935)	156	(2)
James Weldon Johnson
``Slim in Atlanta'' (1932)	158	(8)
Sterling Brown
``Slim Lands a Job?'' (1932)	160	(2)
``Crispus Attacks McKoy'' (1965)	162	(4)
``at the hairdresser's'' (1945)	166	(3)
Gwendolyn Brooks
``One reason cats . . .'' (1968)	167	(1)
``a song in the front yard'' (1945)	168	(1)
``Adventure'' (c. 1962)	169	(2)
Langston Hughes
``Clay Comes Out to Meet Liston'' (1963)	171	(2)
Gary Belkin
``Double Nigger'' (1965)	173	(11)
Henry Dumas
from Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down (1969)	184	(7)
Ishmael Reed
``The Lesson'' (1972)	191	(8)
Toni Cade Bambara
``Dark Prophecy: I Sing of Shine'' (1973)	199	(4)
Etheridge Knight
``Memo #9'' (1973)	201	(1)
``Rehabilitation & Treatment in the Prisons of America'' (1973)	202	(1)
``Sands of Blood,'' from The Cowboy Wally Show (1988)	203	(21)
Kyle Baker
from Do the Right Thing (1989)	224	(16)
Spike Lee
``Boy Sneezes, Head Explodes'' (1991)	240	(2)
Patricia Smith
``Lil' Black Zambo,'' from Negrophobia (1992)	242	(5)
Darius James
``Return of the Funky Man'' (1992)	247	(4)
Lord Finesse
``The Only One'' (1994)	251	(11)
Hilton Als
In the Park After School with the Girl & the Boy (1994)	262	(21)
John Farris
``Talk Radio, D.C.'' (1996)	283	(1)
Elizabeth Alexander
from Good Fences (1999)	284	(3)
Erika Ellis
from Erasure (2001)	287	(2)
Percival Everett
from John Henry Days (2001)	289	(6)
Colson Whitehead
``Should Old Shit Be Forgot'' (2003)	295	(6)
Willie Perdomo
black absurdity
``Book of Harlem'' (c. 1921)	301	(5)
Zora Neale Hurston
``Dirty Deceivers'' (1948)	306	(4)
Chester Himes
from Invisible Man (1952)	310	(5)
Ralph Ellison
from The Wig (1966)	315	(6)
Charles Wright
``Abomunist Manifesto'' (1965)	321	(5)
Bob Kaufman
``Heavy Water Blues'' (1967)	323	(3)
from The Life and Loves of Mr. Jiveass Nigger (1969)	326	(6)
Cecil Brown
from Groove, Bang and Jive Around (1969)	332	(28)
Steve Cannon
from Oreo (1974)	360	(18)
Fran Ross
``Be Black, Brother, Be Black''	378	(4)
Franklyn Ajaye
``Disneyland High'' (1977)	379	(3)
from Platitudes (1988)	382	(13)
Trey Ellis
``Any Lit'' (1991)	395	(11)
Harryette Mullen
``Jinglejangle'' (1991)	397	(7)
``Kamasutra Sutra'' (1991)	404	(1)
``Souvenir from Anywhere'' (1991)	405	(1)
Devotees in the Garden of Love (1991)	406	(21)
Suzan-Lori Parks
``Nigger-Reecan Blues'' (1996)	427	(2)
Willie Perdomo
``The Mulatto Millennium'' (1998)	429	(11)
Danzy Senna
``How to Be a Street Poet'' (1999)	440	(3)
John Rodriguez
from ``Froggie Chocolates' Christmas Eve'' (2003)	443	(10)
Darius James
``I Am What I Am'' (date unknown)	453	(4)
Prophet Omega
``Swollen Feets'' (date unknown)	455	(2)
Contributor Notes	457	(6)
Acknowledgments	463