Review: Your Degrees Won’t Keep You Warm At Night

Posted on January 28, 2011 by T.

Real Talk

The Champ and Panama Jackson of the VerySmartBrothas.com go all the way in for their first book, “Your Degrees Won’t Keep You Warm A Night: The Very Smart Brothas Guide to Mating Dating and Fighting Crime.” It’s like getting advice from your older brother’s ignorant best friend. No matter how crude they are, you have to agree that they are (generally) right.

Champ and Jackson are wickedly brilliant and funny as sh*t, and they force women (and men) to take a look at the deranged things we do in the name of love, sex, and relationships. They are the Phonte Colemans of relationship blogging: they talk about relationships from a black male perspective in ways that aren’t condescending (Steve Harvey) or panty-pandering (Hill Harper). They just keep it honest.

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Review: Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self

Posted on January 19, 2011 by T.

When I first read 26 year old Danielle Evans’ new book, “Before You Suffocate your Own Fool Self,” I felt transported back to the angst and anxiety of being bright, black and young in Central Virginia. Her voice is so clear, so powerful, and so different. What’s especially refreshing is that she speaks from a place that many ‘regular’ black women come from, and she tells everyday stories that are rarely ever heard.

‘Harvest’ stood out the most and by far illuminated the struggles young black women face with sexuality and abortion. The story follows a Columbia co-ed who finds herself pregnant, and is faced with the reality that unlike her white counterparts who sell their eggs for a hefty profit, her offspring are not nearly as desirable.

Evans represents a new generation of African American writers in the ‘post-racial’ era, and she’s damn good at telling uniquely black stories in ways that are felt universally.

Check out these links for more reviews on “Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self”:

NYTimes

WashPo

NPR