Street Literature: A Historical Analysis



Street Literature: A Historical AnalysisSusannah GoldsteinRutgers UniversityReading Interests of Adults, Fall 201217:610:585:90November 18, 2012Introduction- What is Street Lit?Street lit is a relatively new genre on the scene, and attracts a lot of attention. A street lit novel is typically one where an inner city resident (usually a young person) faces obstacles—often violence, poverty, drug use, or other related issues. (Brooks & Savage, 2009, p.49) The books are “high-stakes dramas” that offer “explicit sex and frequent violence.” (Wright, 2006, p.42) The genre goes by many names, including hip-hop lit and gangsta lit, and there are debates as to whether it is synonymous with urban lit or separate. Many librarians use the terms interchangeably, while Vanessa Irvin Morris, the librarian at the forefront of street lit, sees street lit as a distinct subgenre within urban lit—urban lit can mean books set in any major city, which includes books set in cosmopolitan major cities, and not only in the inner city (2012, p. 27). Urban lit also contains genreblending, such as urban science fiction and urban romance (which also includes the wildly popular subgenre of urban erotica). Finally, urban lit can feature wealthy city-dwellers as protagonists (2012, p. 50). Street lit, by contrast, is always set in the gritty inner city and confronts the issues of poverty head-on. Street lit includes some nonfiction titles, such as memoirs by former gang members, street lit poetry, and sociological works about inner city life.Street lit exists outside of the traditional publishing world, as many titles are self-published or independently published. (Honig, 2011, p. xii) As such, data on the scope of street lit readership is incomplete. The majority of street lit readers are young African-American women. (Honig, 2011, p. ix) This is the same profile of the most common street lit protagonist—the protagonists of many street lit novels are African-American women between the ages of 16 and 24. (Brooks & Savage, 2009, p.49) That said, more than half of the books reviewed for this paper featured male protagonists and seemed intended for male audiences.History of Street LitWhile Morris traces the historical roots of street lit to classic tales of urban poverty like Maggie: A Girl of the Streets or books by Charles Dickens (2012, p. 27), street lit with the currently recognized formula appears as a nascent genre in the 1970s with the rise of pulp fiction written by and for African Americans. Many of these books could be described as the literary counterparts to “Blaxploitation” movies. These books were among the first to feature realistic depictions of inner-city life, as well as protagonists who had previously been antagonists—drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes, and drug addicts. (Morris, 2012, p. 41) Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines are the most popular authors from this genre. Iceberg Slim (Robert Beck)worked as a pimp throughout the Midwest in the 1930s through 1960—he published his first book in 1969, a memoir of his years as a pimp, and went on to write six more books. (Osborne, 2001, paragraph 1) Donald Goines was inspired by Iceberg Slim’s books, and began writing in a Michigan prison in the late 1960s and early 1970s. A prolific writer, he completed 16 novels in 5 years. (Franklin, 2008, p.645) Goines was hugely successful—and we don’t even know the extent of his success. Franklin argues that the reported sales of his books—between 5 and 10 million copies—are low, given how many readers reported lending his books. (2008, p. 645) Goines and Slim are still relevant, and inspire today’s street lit authors. In Gangsta, Lou-loc (loosely based on K’wan’s own life) says “I’m going to be bigger than Goines, Slim, and any of them other muthafuckers out there.” (p. 12)Street lit lagged in the 1980s and early 1990s, but was resurgent at the end of the 20th century. One editor, Earl Cox, has explained this lag and resurgence as correlated to the rise of incarceration among the African-American community- “In the ‘80s and ‘90s, a lot of folks got locked up and wanted to write about it.” (Rosen, 2004, p. 31) Indeed, some of the most popular street lit authors of the early 2000s—Vickie Stringer, Wahida Clark, and Shannon Holmes—wrote their debut novels while in jail on drug-related charges. (Morris, Agosto & Hughes-Hassell, 2010, p. 61) Stringer in particular was inspired by Goines and his career when she followed his model of writing in prison—and as she later grew into a publishing magnate after leaving prison, cultivated several authors who were still in jail. (Franklin, 2008, p. 646) The growth of rap music as a cultural force in the 1980s and 1990s also influenced the resurgence of street lit in the late 1990s. (Morris et al, 2010, p. 61) Gangsta rap, the hard-core form of rap that chronicled life in the inner city, was directly influenced by street lit of the 1970s. The raw honesty and realistic portrayal of inner city life of 1970s street lit inspired rappers in the 1980s and 1990s, who in turn inspired the next generation of street lit authors at the turn of the 21st century. Popular artists such as DMX, Tupac Shakur, and Nas have all cited Goines and Slim as major influences. (Franklin, 2008, p.646) Rapper Ice-T’s name was a tribute to Iceberg Slim, whose works he idolized. Hip-hop was the musical voice of urban youths, speaking to the issues that they saw in daily life, such as violence, drugs and poverty, and street lit is the literary equivalent.The book that marked a turning point in modern street lit’s resurgence was The Coldest Winter Ever, which has sold more than a million copies since its 1999 release. Sister Souljah is both a rap artist and an author, bridging those two worlds—she has been called the “godmother” of street lit (Weeks, 2004). After that point, street lit exploded, although off the mainstream grid (Brooks & Savage, 2009, p.49). Some of today’s most popular street lit authors sold tens of thousands of copies of their books on the actual street, such as Teri Woods, K’wan, and Vickie Stringer. After the entrepreneurial success of Vickie Stringer’s Let That Be the Reason, she founded Triple Crown Publishing, which has become one of the most prominent names in street lit. In fact, many library patrons will simply walk into a library or a bookstore and ask for a Triple Crown book instead of a specific book by title or author (Morris, 2012, p. 34) Triple Crown and similar publishers still rely on word-of-mouth to sell books—selling wholesale to street vendors, as well as bookstores (Brooks & Savage, 2009, p.49) Marshall, Staples & Gibson argue that the prevalence of self-publishing in street lit “further underscores how the genre is less a literary than a social phenomenon.” (2009, p.30) Peach & Tate point out that the trajectory of street lit has been very similar to the trajectory of hip-hop, creating yet another parallel between the two art forms—both began at the street level, building popularity long before the mainstream establishments caught on. (2011, p. 17)Today, street lit is hugely successful. Independent publishers, such as Triple Crown, Q-Boro, and Urban Books still house some of the most notable authors and have cache, but major publishing houses, such as Simon & Schuster, have also developed imprints for urban lit and street lit, and have some prominent authors and titles as well. Rap stars are also expanding into street lit, further signifying both its legitimacy as a successful market and the marriage between rap music and street lit—Snoop Dogg is co-author of the “Doggy Tales” series, and 50 Cent is both a co-author and publisher of books under the G-Unit Books imprint.Structural Elements of Street LitStreet lit is frank, accessible, and gritty. The books are filled with explicit sex, drug use, violence, vulgarity, and consumerism. Street lit authors have lived through the situations they are writing about, and their novels are often thinly veiled accounts of their own lives. The books are usually written in first-person, adding to their immediacy, and there is little copy editing. If there is one catchword for street lit, it is “survival.” (Morris, 2012, p.26) In the preface to Gangsta, K’wan wrote “Whether you hustle, pimp, whore or pull heist, I feel you. It’s all in the name of survival.” (p.1) All of the books reviewed for this paper feature survival as a central theme, whether it is surviving drugs (Dopefiend), family trauma and resultant homelessness (The Coldest Winter Ever), a rough childhood (Pimp), or violence (Gangsta). In the midst of flashiness, the novels address the hard reality of life in the inner city. In one passage from Pimp, Iceberg Slim prayed to God and said “Surely you know, if you’re up there, what it’s like to be black down here.” (p. 127)In street lit, the street itself is central antagonist and an “interactive stage.” (Morris, 2012, p. 27) The street is ominous, alluring, unforgiving, and cruel. As a metaphor, “the street” refers to the lifestyle of hustling—pimping, gangbanging, boosting, dealing, and other forms of illegal activity to make money. Some protagonists are conflicted about this lifestyle, while others are at ease with their choices. As Lou-loc says, “But for every table we put food on, we take it off three more.” (K’wan, 2002, p. 50) In many of the books, the protagonist has a goal of leaving both the neighborhood and the lifestyle, and it becomes a central conflict of the book. Sadly, this goal proves unattainable for many of the protagonists. Gangsta’s Lou-loc strives to leave the streets, only to be killed at the end of the book—on his way to the airport to escape. Some protagonists are conflicted about the street lifestyle, while others are at ease with their choices. Consumerism is a prevalent theme in street lit. Throughout the four decades of the literature, protagonists are motivated to succeed primarily to acquire name brand clothing, valuable jewelry, and expensive cars. Characters in the books judge each other partly based on what they own, and are often singularly obsessed with their own appearances and their own goods. In every single book reviewed for this paper, characters either trade sex for goods (either formally, or informally, via a relationship maintained entirely to receive expensive gifts) or steal goods. Tracy (Flyy Girl) and Winter (The Coldest Winter Ever) both engage in sex for the promise of expensive clothes or jewelry, and one of the antagonists in Gangsta does the same. Protagonists steal clothing and jewelry in all of the books reviewed, and in every book, the clothing and cars are referred to by brand name and descriptions of how expensive the goods are.One of the most controversial issues in street lit is the use of language in books. Street lit novels contain what Morris describes as “unapologetic use of AAVE (African American Vernacular English), regional dialect, and slang.” (2012, p. 27) It is this combination of AAVE and slang, including the many variations on the word “nigger” that are prevalent in street lit, that leads many critics to label the genre as nonliterary. However, that same slang makes the work feel current and relevant, giving it “immediacy.” (Rosen, 2004, 32) The controversies, however, go beyond the surface language, and into the sentiments behind the language. Brooks & Savage contend: “Rightly or wrongly, values of nihilism, misogyny, homophobia, physical abuse toward women and violence circulate within and around a number of artists who claim membership in the hip hop culture, such as some street lit writers.” (2009, p.51) For this reason, much of the criticism of street lit comes from within the African-American literary community, such as authors Terry McMillan and Nick Chiles—the authors feel that it is a narrow and unflattering depiction of part of the community.The construction of femininity in street lit is complicated. Marshall, Staples & Gibson argue that femininity is constructed “as a tool that can be used to trap men and reduce them to objects of conquest…[and] infused with trickery that purports to supplant men and masculinity.” (2009, p. 34) Many of the female protagonists have one ultimate goal—to become attached to a successful man in order to be financially secure, not to become financially secure in their own rights. In the books reviewed, there was a divide on how women were written. Male authors like K’wan, 50 Cent, Iceberg Slim, and Donald Goines all wrote women as untrustworthy, unintelligent, deceptive, and in need of control through goods and violence. Female writers wrote women as female hustlers and thus still deceptive, but at least have street smarts and some agency. Another hallmark of street lit that adds to both its appeal to its audience and angers its detractors is in the paratext of the books—specifically, the cover art and title. Street lit books have catchy titles that utilize double entendre, slang, and sexual references. For example, some of the books on the October 2008 Essence Bestseller list included: How to Duck a Sucka, Payback with Ya Life, and The Enemy Between My Legs. (“October 2008 Bestsellers,” n.d.) Street lit covers are very provocative—salacious photos of scantily-clad women are the norm.Many authors contend that street lit novels are intended to be cautionary tales, which is why the books are so graphic. (Brooks & Savage, 2009, p. 48) Megan Honig argues that street lit novels should not be read through the lens of excess and its benefits, but as “morality tales in which desperate people make desperate choices, and, more often than not, reap harsh punishments.” (2008, p. 207) No reader with any sense would read Dopefiend and then consider using heroin. In fact, many rehab patients use Dopefiend as bibliotherapy and inspiration to stay sober. Additionally, many teens report reading street lit as cautionary tales, and use the stories to stay on track. (Morris, 2012, p, 59) Nikki Turner said “I want young girls to be forewarned about the vicious street life. They only see the glitz and glamour. They don’t see the dark side.” (Weeks, 2004, paragraph 43) However, at the end of some of these stories there is very little redemption. Some protagonists that survive seem mostly unrepentant, and unwilling to help others to make it out of similar situations. Winter (The Coldest Winter Ever) sees her sister falling into a similar pattern, and actively decides not to intervene, declaring that her sister can figure it out for herself. DJ (The Diamond District) is appreciative that his friend took the rap for him so that DJ could still join the army, but does not appear to feel any guilt that a friend will be serving part of his prison sentence, or that his brother was shot as a direct result of DJ’s actions. Selection of Street LitPimp: The Story of My Life (1969), by Iceberg Slim, is the book that started it all. The memoir traces Iceberg Slim’s rise and fall as a pimp, starting with his unhappy childhood and his first encounters with the streets. Slim details his beginnings in the business, from learning at the feet of his mentor, Sweet Jones, to becoming a highly successful pimp in a handful of cities—including a few stints in jail, drug abuse, and finally redemption via quitting the streets and starting a family. Iceberg Slim holds nothing back. He details exactly how to beat prostitutes in order to keep them in line, how to maintain the emotional upper hand in the pimp/prostitute relationship, the applications of different drugs for different purposes, and how he escaped from prison. Dopefiend (1971) has all of the features of a classic Donald Goines novel. It is raw, incredibly graphic, and written from personal experience with heroin addiction. The book follows a young, attractive couple from their initial dabbling with heroin, into the depths of addiction a short time later. Terry and Teddy are a lovely young African American couple in Detroit—Teddy is a semi-regular user of heroin, and Terry accompanies her boyfriend to the heroin den run by the disgusting Porky. Porky works to get both of them addicted, and within short measure, Terry is a prostitute, and Teddy is committing armed robbery. By the end of the book, Terry is in a mental institution and Teddy is dead. The book closes with new addicts cycling through Porky’s, emphasizing that for every addict who is gone, there are two more lining up to partake. Goines describes the harrowing effects of heroin in excruciating detail—the sharing of rusty needles, the abscesses, the willingness to trade sex for drugs—written with authority, as Goines struggled with his on-and-off addiction to heroin for 20 years.Flyy Girl (1996), by Omar Tyree, tells the story of Tracy Ellison, a middle class African-American girl in Philadelphia, and her growth from a child to a young woman. On her journey to adulthood, Tracy confronts issues of drugs, sex, friendship, parental relationships, and criminal activity. In distinction to other street lit protagonists, Tracy is not involved directly with many of the illicit behaviors—she is often associating with people who engage in the behaviors, and is adjacent to the behaviors, but aside from consensual sex, engages in very little. For this reason, Flyy Girl is a bit different than the other titles. Additionally, Flyy Girl ends with Tracy in college, very happy and well-adjusted. If the majority of street lit titles are seen as cautionary tales, this one is more aspirational than anything else—sending the message that youthful indiscretions need not keep protagonists from their chosen paths. While Flyy Girl is consistently on lists of street lit classics, it seemed to fit more into the realm of urban fiction. Tracy is middle class, and does not face many of the same issues that other protagonists face. However, the language is similar, and Tracy’s friends face some common street lit issues. In a public shift, Tyree wrote that he is no longer going to write street lit, as he is uncomfortable with the direction of the genre and its audience’s preference for “grit over polish.” (“Omar Tyree on ‘An Urban Street Lit Retirement,’” 2008)The Coldest Winter Ever (1999), by Sister Souljah, is a street lit classic. The book focuses on Winter Santiaga, the teen daughter of a Brooklyn drug kingpin, and how she copes when her father is arrested. Her father’s arrest sets in motion a series of events including a drug war and rival drug dealers shooting her mother in the face. As a result, her family is separated by social services, and Winter goes into survival mode—she relies on boyfriends for housing and money, and eventually lives in a group home while running several hustles, and then striking out on her own again. Eventually, Winter goes to jail for her boyfriend’s drug crime. In an original twist, Sister Souljah herself appears as a character in the book—Souljah interacts with Winter and tries to reform her, but is ultimately unsuccessful. Gangsta (1999), by K’wan, is a street lit Romeo & Juliet. Lou-loc is the leader of the Harlem Crips, who falls in love with the little sister of the leader of the Latin Connection, a Blood gang. Lou-loc treads a familiar journey in street-lit novels—desiring to leave street life, but continually being pulled back in. His dream is to leave his beloved Crips to become a professional writer. As is expected in Romeo & Juliet, there is no happy ending—Lou-loc and the rival gang leader are both killed by gunfire, and Lou-loc’s fiancée ends up in a mental institution. The Diamond District (2008) is part of a new publishing imprint by rapper 50 Cent, where he co-writes with popular street lit authors—in this title, however, 50 Cent teams up with a novice writer who is an army veteran. The Diamond District is the story of DJ, an Ivy League graduate who returns to his hometown for the summer between college and joining the army, and ends up running a hustle of stealing jewels and reselling them on the black market. There is some redemption, but not before his brother is shot and a friend goes to jail to save DJ. Natural Born Hustler (2010) by Nikki Turner, is the tale of Desember Day, an 18 year old hustler, and her boyfriend, Fame. Desember is the ultimate hustler—she sells consumer goods, drugs, and nearly everything else—partly to become independent from her mother and drunk stepfather, and partly because she enjoys the rush. Her boyfriend, with whom she has an explosive relationship, is shot, and Desember tries to figure out how to keep them safe and how they got in this situation. The short book serves as an introduction to Desember- the story was continued in Turner’s next book, Heartbreak of a Hustler’s Wife. Based on the 6 novels reviewed, the writing style has followed a bell-curve trajectory over the years. Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim possessed similar writing styles—incredibly graphic, rife with punctuation errors, violent, sensationalist, and rambling. Both Goines and Slim wrote pulp books, and part of the appeal of the books was that they were written by people who had lived through experiences, and weren’t varnished by authors who were looking to craft a story. The authors use slang throughout the whole books, not just in dialogue—almost as if the authors are telling stories directly to the readers. The narrative structure is loose, with incorrect grammar and spelling. The street lit novels of the mid-to-late 1990s were written by professional authors for publishing houses. Books like Flyy Girl, Push, and The Coldest Winter Ever, while still graphic, had polished writing, clear narrative structures, and professional copy editing. The wave of independently published street lit that came on the heels of those books served as a revival of the Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines era—raw books by people who were telling their stories of hard living. As the majority of titles were self-published by untrained authors, the writing is elementary and filled with spelling and grammatical errors. This is another controversial issue—whether or not a piece of work that has poor grammar and spelling can be considered literature.In the trajectory of street lit, the treatment of domestic violence has changed slightly over time. In the Goines/Slim era, violence against women is not only common, but constantly justified by the authors as necessary to correct behavior. In the modern street lit books, violence against women still exists, but is less frequent, and the women fight back. In Nikki Turner’s Natural Born Hustler, lovers Desember and Fame come to blows during a fight, but readers are meant to see it as an overflow of passion, not a pattern of violence. Turner writes, “The difference between her and Angie [Desember’s mother] was that Desember was nobody’s punching bag or whipping girl; she gave as hard as she took…In their minds, they fought hard because they loved even harder.” (p. 16-17) We as readers are meant to see Desember as a strong, confident woman—and Turner’s message is that relationship violence is acceptable as long as it is reciprocal and within the bounds of an otherwise loving relationship. A positive change throughout the years has been an emphasis on strong friendships. In the early years of street lit, protagonists were loners, and when they did rely on others, they were usually betrayed. Characters in Dopefiend betrayed their parents, siblings, and friends for even a dollar or two, or a hit of heroin. In Pimp, the hustlers who pretended to be friendly were setting up elaborate revenge scenarios, and were either stabbing each other in the back, or constantly fearing a knife in their own backs. The prevailing message to readers was that hustlers were all on their own in the streets. In the 1990s, this message was softened a little bit, but the protagonists were still alone in the world. Winter (The Coldest Winter Ever) was betrayed by everyone she knew, including her friends—and she did the same to them. Tracy’s girlfriends in Flyy Girl were always gossiping about each other, and trying to show each other up. In the 2000’s and beyond, friendships and gangs provide an important source of peer support. Lou-loc, Snake Eyes, and Gutter (Gangsta) have a tight bond from their gang, but it goes beyond normal gang allegiance. All three men look out for one another, support each other in relationships, and encourage each other to leave gang life. Desember (Natural Born Hustler) serves as godmother to her best friend’s baby, and uses a large amount of her hard-earned money from hustling to set up the baby with the best gear and furniture..Current State of Street LitAs street lit is a grass-roots literary movement, it would hold that the community of readers is of the utmost importance. Authors are very connected to their readers, and vice versa, given that street lit authors are from the same communities as their readers, and share life experiences. They speak to their readers frankly. K’wan wrote “I feel you because I am you.” (p. 1) When discussing her personal history in the preface to Natural Born Hustler, Nikki Turner wrote “I didn’t mean to get so personal but if I can’t share this with you, my loyal readers, then who can I?” (p. 9)Teens are drawn to street lit for obvious reasons—the stories are both salacious and true to life, and the edgy content is appealing. The street lit industry has responded in kind by producing many new YA titles, with popular authors overseeing YA street lit imprints. However, teens still read the adult titles. This is the crux of the controversy—is the racy material suitable for teens? Morris argues that the genre allows inner-city teens to “validate their own lives” and comprehend their surroundings. (2011, p.22) Furthermore, to sway teens away from these gritty portrayals of the familiar is to deny their reality and pretend that it doesn’t exist (2011, p. 23) As one mother told the New York Times, “He lives it every day. This is cotton candy compared to what they hear out there. And it shows him that there are consequences to living such a fast life.” (Barnard, 2008, p. 14)Given that street lit is a new genre that’s been largely ignored by both publishers and libraries, there was no dedicated street lit award until recently, when Vanessa Irvin Morris convened a committee to award the Street Literature Book Award Medal. The committee consists of selected public and school librarians who serve in urban areas. (“SLBAM” n.d.).?The committee awards honors to both nonfiction and fiction titles, and the most honored fiction authors are K’wan and Teri Woods. In the nonfiction category, the majority of winners have been hip-hop or rap stars who have published poetry or memoirs, such as Eminem, Tupac Shakur, DMX, and 50 Cent. Librarianship was a little slow to catch on to the popularity of street lit, and as is consistent with the history of street lit, the demand was grass-roots. In urban libraries like the Queens Public Library, patrons were asking for specific street lit titles, and the librarians had to find out more about this new genre—and in some cases, purchasing the self-published books on the street to include them in the library. The spokeswoman for the library said “If there’s some cultural phenomenon going on out there and it’s not in here, we want to know why.” (Barnard, 2008, paragraph 9) While there are some prominent librarians who are lending voice to the need for inclusion of street lit, the genre is relatively ignored by the library community beyond the occasional controversy. For example, Genreflecting contains no genre category for street lit or urban fiction. New genre guides such as Urban Grit and The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Street Literature have come out in the last two years, but they are the first guides since the genre’s resurgence 13 years ago. Brooks & Savage note this omission: Rather than research- or practitioner-based literacy or literary journals, writers for magazines, newspapers and web sites sit at the forefront of this literary trend. On the whole, literary scholars, educational researchers and classroom teachers remain at the periphery of emerging debates surrounding street fiction’s popularity although the demand for these books continues to increase. (2009, p. 54)Awareness in the library community is on the rise, which should further the inclusion of street lit in collections. Several years ago, only librarians who were familiar with the literature knew where to go to find the few resources with book reviews and publishing information, such as the Essence bestseller list, whereas today there are good resources, and the field is steadily growing. The ALA has a helpful wiki titled “Street Lit Collection Development Resources,” Library Journal has a regular column titled “The Word on Street Lit,” and the new readers advisory guides from Honig and Morris are great additions to any library. Morris’s website “Street Literature” is packed with book reviews, interviews, publishing news, and essays about the politics of street lit.As street lit is a controversial genre, librarians can be hesitant to include it in collections. Some librarians shelve it behind the circulation desk or don’t purchase it at all, for fear of upsetting patrons. However, Morris contends that there is more self-censorship than formal challenges of street lit materials. (2012, p. 80) Librarians conducting searches for street lit often don’t know how to find relevant titles in OPAC, partly because it is a fairly new genre. For example, Dopefiend is catalogued in the New York Public Library as a mystery, and The Coldest Winter Ever is catalogued according to specific location. Morris worked with the Library of Congress to create an “urban fiction” subject heading, with cross-references including street lit, ghetto lit, and others. (2012, p. 60) This change, once books are re-catalogued, will allow librarians who are unfamiliar with the genre to conduct effective searches on behalf of patrons. ConclusionThe debate over street lit is a troubling retread over the debates over other forms of popular literature in the nineteenth century—wherein some librarians and authors see their role as reformative, and prescriptive—and do not think that this literature is suitable for the masses. Additionally, there is an implied cultural hierarchy in the debate, even among many supporters of street lit, that the books are acceptable because they move readers towards other African-American authors like Toni Morrison or James Baldwin. Not only is this reminiscent of the 1850s when popular literature was only allowable as a gateway to “better books” (Garrison, 1979, p.90), but it implies a troubling cultural hierarchy between authors and books, wherein the ultimate goal is to have every urban patron reading Baldwin instead of K’wan.Amidst all of the controversy over street lit, one fact remains true and central—street lit turns reluctant readers into readers. Peach & Tate argue that street lit touches many readers who otherwise felt ignored—it is “uniquely suited to make eager readers out of nonreaders, particularly African Americans, who may have felt previously marginalized by the traditional literary canon.’ (2011, p. 18) Nearly every academic article reviewed for this paper cited at least one reader who had never read a book cover to cover until reading Dopefiend or The Coldest Winter Ever. For readers who are unfamiliar with the world depicted in street lit, the genre gives them “insight into another world, race, and class.” (Franklin, 2008, p.648) For young people growing up in the inner city, street lit is a validation of the issues that they face daily, and for some of those people, street lit gives them motivation to stay on the straight and narrow. And for many readers, street lit is simply a good story and an enjoyable book. None of these reasons is more valid than another, but they all show that street lit satisfies the goals of good literature—to transport readers to another world, to give insight, to make readers think, and to allow readers to enjoy themselves.ReferencesSecondary SourcesBarnard, A. (2008, October 22) From the streets to the libraries. The New York Times, p. A1.Brooks, W. & Savage, L. (2009) Critiques and controversies of street literature: A formidable literary genre. The ALAN Review, 36(2), 48-55.Franklin, H.B. (2008) Can the penitentiary teach the academy how to read? PMLA, 123(3), 643-649.Garrison, D. (1979).?Apostles of culture: the public librarian and American society, 1876-1920. New York: Macmillan Information.Honig, M. (2008) Takin’ it to the street: Teens and street lit. Voices of Youth Advocates, 31(3), 207-211.Honig, M. (2011).?Urban grit: a guide to street lit. Santa Barbara, California: Libraries Unlimited.Marshall, E., Staples, J. & Gibson, S. (2009) Ghetto fabulous: Reading black adolescent femininity in contemporary urban street fiction. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(1), 28-36.Morris, V.I., Hughes-Hassell, S., Agosto, D.E. & Cottman, D.T. (2006) Street lit: Flying off teen fiction bookshelves in Philadelphia public libraries. Young Adult Library Services, 5(1), 16-23.Morris, V. I., Agosto, D. E. & Hughes-Hassell, S., (2010). Street lit: Before you can recommend it, you have to understand it.?Urban teens in the library research and practice?(pp. 53-66). Chicago: American Library Association.?Morris, V.I. (2011) The street lit author and the inner-city teen reader. Young Adult Library Services, 10(1), 21-24.Morris, V. I. (2012).?The readers' advisory guide to street literature. [EPUB version] Chicago: American Library Association.?Retrieved from 2008 Bestsellers List | . (n.d.).?Essence Magazine | . Retrieved November 16, 2012, from , G. (2001) Old school masters of Blaxploitation lit: The lives and works of Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines. Black Issues Book Review, 3(5), 54-55.Peach, A. & Tate, D.F. (2011) The big payback: Making a case for urban lit in Kentucky’s libraries. Kentucky Libraries, 75(3), 16-20.Rosen, J. (2004) Street lit: Readers gotta have it. Publishers Weekly, 251(50), 31-35.Street Lit Collection Development Resources - Professionaltips. (n.d.).?ALA- Street Lit Collection Development Resources. Retrieved November 14, 2012, from Literature: SLBAM. (n.d.).?Street Literature. Retrieved November 11, 2012, from , O. (2008, June 19). Omar Tyree on "An Urban 'Street Lit' Retirement".Eisa Nefertari Ulen. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from , L. (2004, July 31) New books in the hood: Street lit makes inroads with readers and publishers. The Washington Post, p. C1.Wright, D. (2006) Streetwise urban fiction. Library Journal, 131(12), 42-45.Primary Sources50 Cent & Pledger, D.R. (2008) The diamond district. New York: G-Unit Books.Goines, D. (1971) Dopefiend. Los Angeles: Holloway House.K’wan. (2002) Gangsta. Columbus, OH: Triple Crown Publications.Souljah, S. (1999) The coldest winter ever. New York: Pocket Books.Turner, N. (2010) Natural born hustler. New York: One World Books.Tyree, O. (1993) Flyy girl. New York: Simon & Schuster. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download