Many literary scholars see the Harlem Renaissance as the golden age of African-American literature. With writers like Zora Neal Hurston, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay and Nella Larson, it would be hard for any one to argue against the literary merit and credibility of the movement. This is the way that the Renaissance is seen now, but within the period during the 1920's-1930's, the artistic integrity of these writers were questioned, most notably by African-American scholars.
W.E.B DuBois, the father of the movement, often looked down upon the writings of Hurston and Hughes, calling them unsophisticated and tacky. To DuBois, the goal of the Harlem Renaissance or of the "New Negro Movement" as it was called then, was to put African Americans in the best light possible. Stories of black men beating their wives or of voodoo priests, such as the work of Hurston, were seen as playing into the dominant cultures view of Blacks. Hughe's "Red Silk Stockings," and "Mulatto" were described as putting Black's dirty laundry out for the world to read. In a pre-civil rights world, it is easy to understand the concern of "race leaders" such as DuBois.
The question was and still is, "where should artist draw the line between personal responsibility and artistic inclinations." We find ourselves asking this today with the onslaught of "Urban Fiction." Urban Fiction or Street Fiction is loosely defined as fiction that involves the culture of black inner-city youth. This so called culture includes violence, the glorification of murder, drug dealing, prostitution and so forth. Erotica is often a component of some of the best selling titles such as the work of Zane. In today's world of African-American writing, the question is if this new movement has any legitimacy or merit to it, or if it is just born out of mercenary interest?
This is a good place to introduce Convict's Candy. Convict's Candy is a novel co-written by Damon "Amin" Meadows and Jason Poole. Candy easily fits into the genre of street literature, and is as good of an example as anyone can find. Candy was written by Meadows and Poole while they both sat behind bars at an unidentified state penitentiary. It is the story of a black teenaged male to female (mtf) pre-op transsexual who is sent to a male prison.
After meeting the publisher, HICKSON (one name like Madonna), at a local Borders, he persuaded me to purchase the novel by giving me the above description. I took it home and was not disappointed. Candy is a ground breaking novel that does not easily leave the reader's psyche, long after the novel has been read.
The story begins with a pre-pubescent Andy Sweets who is born to a drug addict mother and pimp father. After the death of both parents, Andy is sent to live with his abusive Aunt Joyce and female cousins Lisa and Tammy. Andy would rather jump rope and dance to New Edition with his cousins than play ball with the boys. Because of this behavior, he is harassed by his classmates and beaten by Aunt Joyce. When Andy becomes a teen, he is kicked out of his Aunt's home after she reads his diary and discovers his homo-sexual attractions. Andy then moves to his best girlfriends home, where he will become a she and christian herself Candy. From there, the story follows Candy from a tragic love affair to her eventual prison sentence.
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