Brown Sugar: Eighty Years of America's Black Female Superstars (A Da Capo Paperback)

Rating:
Summary: It must for all...
Review: I have had this book since I saw the PBS special several years ago. This is an outstanding book filled with wonderful beautiful pictures. Many of the stories are sad, because many black entertainers did not get their just "due" for all of the contributions they made. By reading this book, you can see what music and entertainment was, and what it really needs to be again! Great Book!

Rating:
Summary: Great Pictures! Bad Book
Review: I love my black entertainers, I love the way these women shaped entertainment, and how they pathed the way for today's black stars. But there's has to be a better book written, all he does throughout the book to me is make racist/bigot comments. He's a black man, but he sounds worse then a white person making bigot comments. All throughout the book he talks about, "Awww, because she's mulatto she drinked, oh, she did this because she was dark, she smoked, she dated bad men, oh because she was mulatto or because she was light she had a rough life, skin-color is no reason to drink and smoke, and do bad things, I know racism hurted people. But that's not a reason to do bad things. He acts like because a person was light-complected, nothing bad should of happen to them, but if their dark, he acts like the bad things should of happen. I don't care if you light, brown or dark, we're all black, we've all faced racism, we don't like it if whites think their better, because their lighter, so why should lights be better then the darker ones. Blacks need to learn how to get along first, before we stop whites from being racist. You have to understand, you found very few black truly proud of their race back then. There was no role models aying "HEY I'M BLACK AND I'M PROUD, OR BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL. Role models in those eras were just being made. So we believed back then, what whites thought was beauty, being close to their color, and now its still in the black race and some blacks still believe it after all we overcame. Blacks back then couldn't look back and be proud, now we can. If whites didn't give blacks a chance in entertainment, then that's their lose. If you read the Fredi Washington chapter, about a black woman who was light enough to pass for white, white producers and Hollywood urged her to pass, they promised her a great future, she could of been like Kay Francis, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, Joan Crawford, but she didn't pass, because she was proud, she had guts, because in the 1920s and 1930s if you were light enough to pass you did it, she didn't, he writes like he wish she would of passed or something. Or in the other chapters, he doesn't tell why some actresses and entertainers didn't go far, but he uses skin color as an excuse because he really doesn't know. Like for my favorite Nina Mae McKinney, if you look at her, you'll wonder why she didn't make it, I wondered for years, and if you read his book, you'll think because of her skin-color she didn't go far, she didn't go far because of her I'm sorry to say, bad attitude, she lost a lot of jobs because of it, she could be remembered more like Lena Horne and others if it wasn't for that. He also acts like he scared to call a dark-complected, or a brown woman beautiful. A white person could write a better book then this. I understand race had a lot to do with being in entertainment back then, but don't use it as an excuse and don't use it now. I'm sure I can speak for all of us that we want to hear, What type of people were they? Tell us about their career? Their ups and downs? Their later years? All he talks about his skin-color half through the book, we know how it was back then, we want to hear happy stuff. I hope someone come and write a better book, I might just have to do it. I wouldn't recommend this book, but I would recommend it for the pictures, there's some nice pictures in this book. This author also wrote another book called coons and mulattos and mammies, which I think is very stupid, using the names racist whites gave us in slavery. All I have to say is black is beautiful, beauty comes in all complexion, God isn't wrong, he has a reason for everything. We're all God's children. Keep an eye out on my book.

Rating:
Summary: Talk more about their lives and talent!
Review: We owe a lot to Donald Bogle for his specialities in Black Movie History. But, I'm getting sick and tried of his writing about skin color. I wish he would just talk about talent and their lives. Calling these women "Tragic Mulattos" isnt' telling us anything. These women didn't think of themselves as Tragic or Mulattos. It's like he wants them to be remembered that way. These women knew they wouldn't have much success in Hollywood and they knew it would be racism. They enjoyed the few things they did do. It wasn't racism that held these women back, a lot of times it was their own race and by being a woman is what held them back. Nina Mae McKinney who's a relative of mine is degraded by Mr. Bogle. He doesn't know what to write about her, so he writes "Oh, she was a mulatto, she was too light, she was the screen's first victim." Nina Mae wasn't any of that. Hopefully my book on her and a few others with tell the true story. Yes, Mr. Bogle introduced the world to Black Entertainment History but he's making these talented people be remembered the wrong way. You don't see white people writing about their people, the way he does. For instance, you don't see white people writing "Blondes are better, then red-heads, the brunettes are smarter"- you get what i mean? Susan Hayward had irish in her, you don't see the author referring to that throughout the whole book. Rita Hayworth was Spanish. Books that have been written on her doesn't spend the whole book talking about her being Spanish. It talks about her life and introduce the public to her. Mr. Bogle spends too much time on skin color- he makes it look as though skin color is the reason for every bad thing in their life.