Capital of Black America? (living, best, state, comparison)

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

As a black writer (nothing published, just boring corporate copy) this isn't as impressive as you think it is...and I'm dubious over the numbers. No way there are only 757 Black authors in Atlanta, unless you believe I've personally worked with 1/10th of all Black authors in Atlanta.

People always have a problem with Census data when they don't like what it says.

Most people are not "writers" by occupation. This is what most people think of as a "writer."

Yaa Gyasi (born 1989) is a Ghanaian-American novelist. Her debut novel Homegoing, published in 2016, won her, at the age of 26, the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Award for best first book, the PEN/Hemingway Award for a first book of fiction, the National Book Foundation's "5 under 35" honors for 2016 and the American Book Award. She was awarded a Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Literature in 2020.As of 2016, Gyasi lives in Berkeley, California.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaa_Gyasi

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

Putting aside MSE's comment about the Black intelligentsia, which is like 0.001% of the Black population in any city, I think the perception exists in part because "Hotep-ism" has been a thing in the Northeast before people were even using that term. In my experience, there are way more Dr. Umar types in Philly than there are in Atlanta, and the Dr. Umar types I have come across there tend to hail from another city. Rappers from Beanie Sigel to Ram Squad to Nas to Wu-Tang have varying degrees of "hotep-ism" in their rhymes, which is not so common in Southern artists outside of Outkast, Goodie Mobb and Scarface. Also, the music that has "fed the streets" in New York and Philly is historically a lot more lyrcially complex than Eightball MJG or Three Six Mafia.

You might note that the button inviting you into the rest of the Molefe Kete Asante Institute's website reads "hotep" instead of "enter". And I will remind you again of which Temple professor made "Afrocentrism" an idea. Marvel might not have gone Afrofuturistic with "Black Panther" had Asante not plowed the ground for it.

"Wakanda forever." (I almost bought a copy of a Wakanda cookbook when I was in Uncle Bobbie's recently. And come to think of it, UB's —a coffee shop that's also a bookstore, with a selection of titles (including lots of Black thought, LGBT-positive children's books, and political titles spanning the spectrum) curated by owner Marc Lamont Hill (this is how we became acquainted) — is a good example of what you might call a Black intellectual hangout for non-intellectuals. I also refer to it as "the place Germantown didn't know it wanted until it opened.")

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

MSEL Ibram X. Kendi is still at Boston Univeristy. He was found to have done no wrong. He’s restructuring his Research Center.

Didn't know he had been cleared, did know he was still at BU. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Sharif662

It's within the article you linked:

[ #28, #54 - Outkast and E-40

Of course E-40 is in the top 20%; he’s considered to be the inventor of many slang terms. Just a few that he’s been responsible for coining or popularizing: “all good,” “pop ya collar,” “shizzle,” and “you feel me.”

Outkast’s expansive vocabulary is definitely a function of their style: frequent use of portmanteaus (for example, “ATLiens,” “Stankonia”), southern drawl (for example, “nahmsayin,” “ery’day”), and made-up slang (for example, “flawsky-wawsky”). ]

Also:
[ I used a research methodology called token analysis to determine each artist’s vocabulary. Each word is counted once, so pimps, pimp, pimping, and pimpin are four unique words. To avoid issues with apostrophes (e.g., pimpin’ vs. pimpin), they’re removed from the dataset. It still isn’t perfect. Hip hop is full of slang that is hard to transcribe (e.g., shorty vs. shawty), compound words (e.g., king ****), featured vocalists, and repetitive choruses.]

I'm def not part of hip-hop culture, but I like wordplay and make up new terms myself (I once wrote about "ground beef awaiting meatloafication") and also use local terms in other ways (one of my Phillymag colleagues has adopted my phrase "full Gladwyne", meaning "over-the-top ostentatiousness." Another of my colleagues warns me against letting these impulses run in the writing of online headlines [I could do so in print]).

So those two get points in my book for the same reason.

Originally Posted by waronxmas

As a black writer (nothing published, just boring corporate copy) this isn't as impressive as you think it is...and I'm dubious over the numbers. No way there are only 757 Black authors in Atlanta, unless you believe I've personally worked with 1/10th of all Black authors in Atlanta.

I don't think that professional journalists get classed as "writers" or "authors" unless and until they produce a book, but if I'm wrong, then I'm one of those 1,083. (I'm certainly treated as one when I drop by the Kelly Writers House at Penn.)

It is said, however, that every journalist has a book inside them. I know what the one I'd like to write is about. Maybe I'll get around to writing it before I and the cohort I'd like to write about die.

Edited to add a trivial aside that may nonetheless say something about the connection between "journalists" and "writers": Ernest Hemingway and I both got our starts writing for a living at the same newspaper. When Phillymag still had an office, I posted on the divider at my desk a copy of The Kansas City Star's stylebook when Hemingway was a cub reporter there, which The Star identified as the most-requested item in its archives. Its first rule, which illustrates itself, is a good piece of advice for any journalist:

"Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative."

I often violate the first part of that instruction but think I do pretty well at the other three.

[waronxmas]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

People always have a problem with Census data when they don't like what it says.

Most people are not "writers" by occupation. This is what most people think of as a "writer."



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaa_Gyasi

It's not about "like". I work in the industry and i know for a fact there are more than that. In fairness to the point, this is driven largely by what people put on their 1040. While I have been a professional technical writer by trade for over 20 years, I have on more than one occasion put something totally different down on my taxes. I think for most of the time I just wrote "Training".

The not impressive part is mostly an inside joke for writers. We're prone to self-deprecating views about what we do.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

It's not about "like". I work in the industry and i know for a fact there are more than that. In fairness to the point, this is driven largely by what people put on their 1040. While I have been a professional technical writer by trade for over 20 years, I have on more than one occasion put something totally different down on my taxes. I think for most of the time I just wrote "Training".

The not impressive part is mostly an inside joke for writers. We're prone to self-deprecating views about what we do.

It has nothing to do with what people put on their 1040s. It has everything to do with how people respond to the ACS.

Occupation data describe the kind of work the person does on the job. These data are derived from responses to write-in questions that are autocoded and clerically coded by Census Bureau staff, using the Census Occupation Code List developed for Census Bureau household surveys. Beginning in 2018, this system consists of 569 specific occupational categories for employed people, including military, arranged into 23 major occupational groups.

https://www.census.gov/topics/employ...ccupation.html

Also, "technical writer" is a completely different designation.

Technical writers prepare instruction manuals, how-to guides, journal articles, and other supporting documents to communicate complex and technical information more easily.

Writers and authors develop written content for various types of media.

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-co...al-writers.htm
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-co...nd-authors.htm

The guy who writes the manual on how to use your microwave is not in the same category as the guy who writes novels for a living.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

I don't think that professional journalists get classed as "writers" or "authors" unless and until they produce a book.

You don't "get classified" as anything. You tell the Census what your job is, the same way you tell the Census what your race is.

But sure, there are many people who publish books who are not necessarily "writers or authors" and the distinction between "journalist" and "author" isn't always clear. Ta-Nehisi Coates or Thomas Friedman are good examples of this though I suppose they would both classify themselves as "journalists" if forced to choose. When I think of someone who is a "writer or author" in the purest sense, I think of someone like Octavia Butler .

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

As a black writer (nothing published, just boring corporate copy) this isn't as impressive as you think it is...and I'm dubious over the numbers. No way there are only 757 Black authors in Atlanta, unless you believe I've personally worked with 1/10th of all Black authors in Atlanta.

I'm a little dubious of it too. No way the entire Boston MSA has only has 63 black writers. That just- doesn't make sense frankly. It's a literary capital with a ton of publishing professors.

1/10th the Bay Area? I don't think it's "boosting" to say that's suspect. There are millions of black people in the Atlanta MSA ANd its the Black Hollywood...only 750 black writers? That...nah.

The movie American Fiction was excellent. Saw it in theaters last night and delves into a world I'm pretty familiar with.

.....

I do agree though with the thought that people disagree with Census numbers when it doesn't support their argument..but in this case? this just doesn't pass muster. For a Lot of cities, not just Boston or Atlanta.

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

I'm a little dubious of it too. No way the entire Boston MSA has only has 63 black writers. That just- doesn't make sense frankly. It's a literary capital with a ton of publishing professors.

1/10th the Bay Area? I don't think it's "boosting" to say that's suspect. There are millions of black people in the Atlanta MSA ANd its the Black Hollywood...only 750 black writers? That...nah.

The movie American Fiction was excellent. Saw it in theaters last night and delves into a world I'm pretty familiar with.

.....

I do agree though with the thought that people disagree with Census numbers when it doesn't support their argument..but in this case? this just doesn't pass muster. For a Lot of cities, not just Boston or Atlanta.

The Census is not going by how we classify people. Is Ta-Nehisi Coates a journalist or an author? Is Skip Gates a professor or an author? In laymen's terms, they are both, but the Census doesn't allow people to choose multiple occupations. And in their specific cases, their primary occupations would be journalist and professor, respectively.

The Boston metro area has 5,667 "writers and authors" of all races. The city of Los Angeles (city proper) has 15,802. So my sense is that the people who are calling themselves "writers and authors" are more of the literary/creative variety rather than tenured professors who publish a book every decade on particle physics.

[BajanYankee]

Writers or Authors, Journalists and Post Secondary Teachers

New York MSA - 20,212
Chicago MSA - 8,645
Los Angeles MSA - 8,362
Washington, DC MSA - 8,061
Atlanta MSA - 7,125
Philadelphia MSA - 6,846
Houston MSA- 4,441
Detroit MSA - 3,964
Dallas MSA - 3,915
Bay Area - 3,710
Boston MSA - 3,413
Miami MSA - 2,910

Edit: Added Dallas, Detroit, Houston and Miami

[BajanYankee]

Graduate/Professional School Enrollment

New York MSA - 65,282
Atlanta MSA - 42,102
Washington, DC MSA - 37,028
Chicago MSA - 26,360
Philadelphia MSA - 24,551
Los Angeles MSA - 18,929
Bay Area - 13,076
Detroit MSA - 12,052
Boston MA - 11,597

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by Sharif662

More so lyrically colloqual slang than complex. Lyrical complex would be Lupe Fiasco or Aesop Rock.

I tend to think of "complexity" in categories when it comes to mainstream rap.

Non-Sensical/Simplistic

These are songs that don't really have a story (beginning, middle and end) and don't employ much metaphor, simile or other device. The subject matter of the song is usually asinine and the lyrics are often very literal. Close to 90-95% of rap songs in history fall into this category. Most of them are just about having fun. Examples would be "I Got It Made" by Special Ed. "Scenario" by A Tribe Called Quest would also belong. And "Top Back" by T.I. Or "No Problem" by Chance The Rapper. At the base level, we're talking about Lil Jon or Gunna songs.

Shallow Subject Matter/Lyrically Complex

The majority of Biggie and Jay-Z songs belong here. Same for Lil' Wayne. The songs might not have much of a "story" but they involve Emceeing in its truest sense. The songs are mostly about clever wordplay. Drake might be the king of this category. Snoop belongs here as well. I think there are varying degrees of "complexity" among artists in this category but the bottom line is that they display more sophistication than Lil Jon or 21 Savage. Most of Outkast's work belongs here too.

Storytelling/"Heavy" Subjects

A number of Biggie and Jay-Z songs go into this category. "Warning" is a cinematic song that tells a very clear story. "Coming of Age" by Jay-Z, "Rewind" by Nas, "Retrospect for Life" by Common, "Life Goes On" and "Death Around The Corner" by Tupac, "This Can't Be Life" by Jay-Z and Scarface, "This Can't Be Real" by Freeway, "Temperature's Rising" by Mobb Deep, "Drink Away The Pain" by Mobb Deep and Q-Tip, "The Rise and Fall" by Nas and "C.R.E.A.M." by Wu-Tang are other examples. I'd wager that 80% of the songs in this category are East Coast songs. The songs are "serious" but don't necessarily contain political subject matter.

An example of a Southern rap song that falls into this category is "A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre" off the Love Below Album. "Spottieottiedopalicious" from Aquemini is another. Scarface is a legend and deserves flowers. Generally speaking though, this is where Southern rap is relatively weak compared to the East and West (Kendrick, Ice Cube, Pac).