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What's Going On

Author Nathan McCall
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Paperback
$16.00 US
Knopf | Vintage
5.23"W x 8"H x 0.43"D  
On sale Dec 29, 1998 | 192 Pages | 9780375701504
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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In What's Going On, McCall firmly establishes himself as a commentator for our times, drawing on personal experience and current events to deconstruct the social, cultural, and political tensions that, in clearly seen and not so obvious ways, affect us every day. With his trademark blend of honesty, originality, and insight, McCall takes on some of today's most complex and controversial issues. In the chapter "Gangstas, Guns, and Shoot-'Em-Ups," he advances the debate over violent rap lyrics with powerful firsthand evidence of the harm macho pop culture does to young minds. In "The Revolution Is About Basketball" he shows how the stereotype of blacks' sports supremacy makes a casual game between blacks and whites turn gravely serious. "Old Town" looks at the racial unfairness present in the gentrification of historic African-American neighborhoods. Whether discussing the cultural significance of Muhammad Ali, defending Alice Walker and Terry McMillan from black critics, or illuminating the strained position of the black middle class, Nathan McCall is always straight-shooting and provocative.


Also by Nathan McCall:  Makes Me Wanna Holler.
Nathan McCall grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia. He studied journalism at Norfolk State University after serving three years in prison, and went on to report for the Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before joining The Washington Post in 1989. He is the author of a memoir, Makes Me Wanna Holler; an essay collection, What’s Going On; and a novel, Them. McCall is currently is a senior lecturer in African American Studies at Emory University and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. View titles by Nathan McCall
"Sooner or later, every generation must find its voice.  It may be that ours belongs to Nathan McCall... He is a mesmerizing storyteller." - Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The New Yorker

"Filled with essays that challenge America's myths.... His easy reading style unsuspectingly pricks the conscience."- USA Today

"[These essays] reinforce the moral authority McCall [brings] to the issue of America's racial schisms." - The New York Times Book Review

"Straightforward, quick-moving [and] erudite." -Philadelphia Inquirer

About

In What's Going On, McCall firmly establishes himself as a commentator for our times, drawing on personal experience and current events to deconstruct the social, cultural, and political tensions that, in clearly seen and not so obvious ways, affect us every day. With his trademark blend of honesty, originality, and insight, McCall takes on some of today's most complex and controversial issues. In the chapter "Gangstas, Guns, and Shoot-'Em-Ups," he advances the debate over violent rap lyrics with powerful firsthand evidence of the harm macho pop culture does to young minds. In "The Revolution Is About Basketball" he shows how the stereotype of blacks' sports supremacy makes a casual game between blacks and whites turn gravely serious. "Old Town" looks at the racial unfairness present in the gentrification of historic African-American neighborhoods. Whether discussing the cultural significance of Muhammad Ali, defending Alice Walker and Terry McMillan from black critics, or illuminating the strained position of the black middle class, Nathan McCall is always straight-shooting and provocative.


Also by Nathan McCall:  Makes Me Wanna Holler.

Author

Nathan McCall grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia. He studied journalism at Norfolk State University after serving three years in prison, and went on to report for the Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before joining The Washington Post in 1989. He is the author of a memoir, Makes Me Wanna Holler; an essay collection, What’s Going On; and a novel, Them. McCall is currently is a senior lecturer in African American Studies at Emory University and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. View titles by Nathan McCall

Praise

"Sooner or later, every generation must find its voice.  It may be that ours belongs to Nathan McCall... He is a mesmerizing storyteller." - Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The New Yorker

"Filled with essays that challenge America's myths.... His easy reading style unsuspectingly pricks the conscience."- USA Today

"[These essays] reinforce the moral authority McCall [brings] to the issue of America's racial schisms." - The New York Times Book Review

"Straightforward, quick-moving [and] erudite." -Philadelphia Inquirer

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