Zane Helping to Lynch Millenia Black!
Why is Zane of all people joining in on the lynch-fest against Millenia Black? She posted a comment over at Thumper's board that surprised me - it would freeze ice! She's spitting ridicule at Nadine (her real name) because she claims 'Millenia Black' is a "nigger" pseudonym (not in those exact words, but basically) and that she pitched her books to black imprints so shouldn't raise dust because the white imprint that she landed wants to subject her to "nigger treatment".
Huh?
First off, how does Zane know she personally pitched AA imprints? (And I can't help but wonder why she feels the need to make that known.) It stands to reason there must be more to the back-story of this situation because that doesn't fit -- let's not forget that Millenia says she penned The Great Pretender very specifically to avoid designating the characters' race and put it on the market as mainstream fiction. So why (according to Zane the publisher vs. Zane the AA author) does a publisher's check give them the right to take a mainstream book with no black characters and slap black faces on it and peddle it as AA fiction because the author is black? They would not have done this if Millenia was white. That's the bottom line and I can't wait to see what the court has to say about it if the suit gets that far.
Zane starts off by saying she could write a book about this, but will keep it brief.....then she proceeds to write a piece so long it would make Tolstoy proud! After reading it once and feeling the overt vibes, I read it again very carefully, and was left with three questions gnawing at me:
1) Why did Zane choose to express this on December 6th? The same day the Wall Street Journal article printed? Was it because she was interviewed but her comments didn't make the cut? Just askin'.
2) Why is she so angry with Millenia? It's clear her post is ridiculing, and thisclose to being an all out attack, inferring that MB's ungrateful because she wanted her manuscript handled for what it was, not for HER race. And why? Why would that position get Zane's goad up in this way?
3) What's really behind Zane's (and others who feel just like her) obvious need to defend HERSELF as an author, to produce a magnifying glass to point out the number of non-black readers who show up at her signings (yes, we'd need a magnifying glass to see them. The fact is, they're a miniscule number in comparison to her bread and butter. Face it, Zane would NEVER make a living off the number of non-blacks that are in her audience)......has Millenia Black insulted Zane some how with her objection against NAL's treating her like a BLACK author as opposed to an AUTHOR? Just askin'.
It seems to me that Zane has chosen to ignore the real issue in favor of defending HER choice to write for, and target, AA readers vs. Millenia's choice NOT to. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
And to underscore: Publisher's SHOULD NOT be allowed discretion to treat an author by their race because they're taking on all the risk. That's bullshit. That's like saying an employer can treat its employees by race just because they're paying their salaries. More bullshit.
I'm still behind Millenia (Nadine) 1000%. The principle is what's at stake here. Let's not forget that. People died so we could have the liberty this brave girl is fighting for. Let's not be so quick to join the lynch-fest folks. Think about what you're really supporting if you do. Shame on it all.....and shame on you, Zane.
Huh?
First off, how does Zane know she personally pitched AA imprints? (And I can't help but wonder why she feels the need to make that known.) It stands to reason there must be more to the back-story of this situation because that doesn't fit -- let's not forget that Millenia says she penned The Great Pretender very specifically to avoid designating the characters' race and put it on the market as mainstream fiction. So why (according to Zane the publisher vs. Zane the AA author) does a publisher's check give them the right to take a mainstream book with no black characters and slap black faces on it and peddle it as AA fiction because the author is black? They would not have done this if Millenia was white. That's the bottom line and I can't wait to see what the court has to say about it if the suit gets that far.
Zane starts off by saying she could write a book about this, but will keep it brief.....then she proceeds to write a piece so long it would make Tolstoy proud! After reading it once and feeling the overt vibes, I read it again very carefully, and was left with three questions gnawing at me:
1) Why did Zane choose to express this on December 6th? The same day the Wall Street Journal article printed? Was it because she was interviewed but her comments didn't make the cut? Just askin'.
2) Why is she so angry with Millenia? It's clear her post is ridiculing, and thisclose to being an all out attack, inferring that MB's ungrateful because she wanted her manuscript handled for what it was, not for HER race. And why? Why would that position get Zane's goad up in this way?
3) What's really behind Zane's (and others who feel just like her) obvious need to defend HERSELF as an author, to produce a magnifying glass to point out the number of non-black readers who show up at her signings (yes, we'd need a magnifying glass to see them. The fact is, they're a miniscule number in comparison to her bread and butter. Face it, Zane would NEVER make a living off the number of non-blacks that are in her audience)......has Millenia Black insulted Zane some how with her objection against NAL's treating her like a BLACK author as opposed to an AUTHOR? Just askin'.
It seems to me that Zane has chosen to ignore the real issue in favor of defending HER choice to write for, and target, AA readers vs. Millenia's choice NOT to. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
And to underscore: Publisher's SHOULD NOT be allowed discretion to treat an author by their race because they're taking on all the risk. That's bullshit. That's like saying an employer can treat its employees by race just because they're paying their salaries. More bullshit.
I'm still behind Millenia (Nadine) 1000%. The principle is what's at stake here. Let's not forget that. People died so we could have the liberty this brave girl is fighting for. Let's not be so quick to join the lynch-fest folks. Think about what you're really supporting if you do. Shame on it all.....and shame on you, Zane.
posted by Bestselling Author, Pontif. at 12/07/2006
12 Comments:
BSA, I concurred:
Zane said:
"I could write an entire book on this alone but will keep it brief. When Millenia first published The Great Pretender, she attended the grand opening of my bookstore in Baltimore so I knew that she was black right off the break. She was trying to get a publishing deal with a traditional house at the time and ended up with my agent because of my recommendation. She is still her agent. All of this law suit stuff has taken flight without everyone knowing the majority of the facts. Someone from the Wall Street Journal even called me to discuss it".
=======
This is unbelievable representation by a renown publisher/author as Zane.
She's ill-advised to make such disclosures of unsubstantiated remarks concerning author Millenia Black. The whole posit made has merely revealed that though she's successful in a literary esoteric field, yet still naive to the realities of racial discrimination in America. Insensitive to efforts all should make in eradicating the practice completely.
Really, only an uncritical thinker would find it necessary to attract someone else in such a context as she has done. It would be wiser if she kept her mouth shut, and not unwittingly damaged her own image by the things said expressed, attracting Ms. Nadine Aldred... Wrong and unnecessary.
Hey, it's alright that Zane got lucky on the plantation, how many others have? Most will have to get off of it you know to find good living,? Open your eyes Madam Zane!
Well she has proof of giving Millenia Black, (Ms. Aldred) her agent, proof that she had self-published first novel, TGP... but Zane, do you have proof that she personally submitted her work to black-imprint/s? If so, where's the proof? How can you allow yourself to bite into skin of peer authors like that, without the facts or good cause?
Ultimately Ms. Zane came across like author Black has hurt her, and if so, why haven't we first been told about that, which would definitely illuminate our understanding of the reason for her umbrage.
Sorry to say this admission, however Zane has made the "White Wicked Witch, Scanlon and Ed Champion look pale and forgivable.
Why don't Zane address the real issue instead of senselessly chopping another struggling minority author? I observed that the real issue is about whether or not... publishers treat white authors differently than they do minority, on the count of "genre and classification".
You're right, Ancient Reader. Zane has personal reasons for throwing Millenia under the bus. It's the plantation mentality at play. "How dare you be tryin' to sit anywhere on the bus you ungrateful nigger! You forget you a nigga just like the rest of us and ain't entitled to be up in the fronta no bus? If you want a good seat, you betta pick the best seat the BACK of the bus has to offer!"
Yes Zane can go on about how she's published in a handful of foreign languages and has whites showing up at her signings, but she's greatly overstating the situation. The black marketplace is Zane's bread and butter. The majority of white readers out there buying the NYT Bestsellers still don't even know who Zane is. How long do her books sit on the list? One week, maybe two if she's lucky. That's hardly a blip from the white majority marketplace. I wish she'd take a step back and re-evaluate her position on this. As it is, she's supporting racism for reasons she needs to admit to herself and do away with.
BSA,
I was nodding in agreement while reading your entire post. Zane's post at the Thumper message board is puzzling. I had an interesting exchange with some folks there yesterday and it's obvious that the lynch mob is comprised of both blacks and whites.
I think it's obvious there's more to this with Zane. She definitely has an ax to grind and it appears she is determined to link herself with Millenia Black by making it known that she got her an agent and then trying to sully the woman's credibility and declaring a public challenge, getting people riled up to go attack her as well. Everything's on her sleeve. There's beef there. No doubt about it.
J....and I don't get the point. So what if MB queried AA imprints? Her book still had no black content. Maybe she was desperate and willing to put some in? Who knows? Right now, it boils down to whether Penguin treated her differently because she is black. So let Mama Zane add some more feelings to her sleeve and address that.
It just pisses me off when folks try to cover up their real feelings. Why doesn't Zane just spit it out, say what's really stuck in her craw? "Who da hell she think she is? Tryin' to write for white folks! An I'm da one gave dat bitch my agent, too? I'm gon put dat uppidy nigga in her place!"
BSA,
Absolutely. It's so amazing to me that a black woman is calling a conglomerate on their "everyday" racist practices by and so many BLACK people would be helping to string her up for lynching. But I guess it's just as you've expressed above. Sad though, isn't it?
Shouldn't all authors have the same creative rights? What other race of people get told they can only write about characters that are the same race as they are? It makes no sense to me that BLACK people would be berating MB for fighting for the right not to be treated that way because of her race.
I've been following the thread over at thumper. Zane would've been well-advised to keep her mouth shut. All the woman did over there was expose her weakness. She's really not as intelligent as she tries to express herself to be. Now that Ancient Reader person came about and landed a blow right where she exposed herself, and it's bad>>>>>The ability to amass wealth really doesn't buy you intelligence or virtue. People like some of those dummy can't-speak-worth-a-damn rappers, are proof of that aren't they? Zane just exposed what many people already knew to some degree. She only got successful because sex sells. Doesn't take too many brain cells to figure that out.
Unsigned.
Word, Anon.
Do you guys see what happened over there at Thumper's board? Zane was wounded. Badly. If I were her, I would've dropped it after the first post. All she did was make it worse by trying to do damage control for the mean-spirited diss toward Millenia. Obviously she knows it's not a good look for herself, and she knows it didn't come across as an innocuous observation. It was meant to get it out there (since she was not quoted) that she, too, was interviewed for the WSJ story. That she got Millenia Black her agent, that MB's being woefully ungrateful, etcetera, etcetera.
At the end of the fray, what do we have? We have an AA author saying that it's okay for AA authors to be FORCED by publishers to write AA content while white authors enjoy creative liberty. What's next? Dennys gets to FORCE their AA employees to enter through the back doors while the whites get to use the front?? And the AAs should just be grateful somebody wanted to hire their nigger asses....Is that it?
I'll say again: Shame on Zane. A woman in her position should be setting a much better example.
BSA:
Though Zane may not appreciate my acts of amelioration, I do have a separate spot of respect for her which is the only reason I have not blown her away with my pen the way I'm able to.
Poor Zane. She should have known that by talking about everything else except her reason/s for vomiting up on Millenia Black, on the day of the WSJ would result in a show of guilt on her part.
The fact that she's acting oblivious to her un-comeliness would mean she is lacking in something money can't buy.
Well, now I'm beginning to think that she and her followers may be feeling somewhat intimidated by MB's powerful intelligence. Thinking quietly. Don't let that girl get too far, she'll throw a thick blanket over us.
Am I good at guessing or what? On the other hand, Am wondering what MB thinks about Zane. I'd guess it could be nothing but good things, seeing Z gave her the first brake.
It seems like Z wants the world to know that fledging great "Millenia Black" got her start from Me, Zane.
Ancient Reader,
How come these people think they're so smart, but can't reach the smarts for the dumbness? I think it's a wrap over there on that message board. Stevie Wonder could see the obvious malice being spewed from those who are just plan upset with Millenia Black for filling her books with white characters rather than black; it's just as in the examples BSA gave above: pick the best seat in the back. Think only in terms of the color of your skin.
J. Hanks:
The time has come for us to separate the real elite of us from those of lowing flying black ducks. To wipe out race distinction is important and benefits all.
There's that part of human nature that drives many of them to crave a higher distinction of themselves over others. And when discipline is not applied they will most definitely walk in unfitted error. Of the many errors that exist, we're now witnessing a black people crave to distinguished themselves from white people.
If we begin to intelligently assimilate ourselves properly here in the US, in times ahead there will be no need for things like a black history month, etc. Instead it should rather be called, accordingly me, "Human history month". I know that even sound better already, right? Though some might feel like I'm going too far into their private parts.
The perpetuation of black emphasis no mater what, as in the case of AA classification to be had regardless of genre, only perpetuates the racial divide. (with general acceptance by one another we don't need those racial emphasis at all. So why fight for stuff that only further and sustain the apartheid). This is unacceptable by any intelligent measurement. That's the reason we've to give much praise individuals like BSA, Monica, MB and yourself Hank, with many others here who have stood guard against this nonsensical indiscriminate AA niching.
We must never accept the ignorance of those who foolishly compromised and block real triumphant progress in removing today's traditional, business as usual racism practices. I'll be always standby to execute judgment on those endeavoring to sell out for a little marcel... or even when they have achieved enough to leave the plantation just can't find their way to main street.
Dear BSA:
I just stop by to wish you, yours and participants on the blog happy holidays and wonderful experiences for the coming exciting 2007.
Best of everything, love for all mankind. "All" "Peace"...
Thank you, Ancient Reader! The same to you and yours. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! Thanks for stopping by.
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