Brown Sugar: Over One Hundred Years of America's Black Female Superstars--New Expanded and Updated Edition

By Donald Bogle

Book Overview

With a wink or a nod, a shake of their shoulders or hips, America's "Dark Divas," "Sepia Sirens," "Black Beauties" have acted out fantastic stories full of whispers and secrets. They have played with the myths, created legends, turned the social order topsy-turvy. One thing is certain: in 20th- and 21st-century America, an impressive lineup of African American women have dazzled and delighted the world with their energy and style.

Who are these great women of the stage and screen? the singers, dancers, comediennes, actresses? In this groundbreaking book, Donald Bogle narrates a sweeping history and describes a remarkable tradition that was largely unknown or not understood - or simply unacknowledged.

Each of the women in Brown Sugar has a perfected public personality uniquely her own - Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Fredi Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Katherine Dunham, Marian Anderson, Moms Mabley, Eartha Kitt, Dorothy Dandridge, Leontyne Price, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Cicely Tyson, Tina Turner, Donna Summer, Whitney Houston, Whoopi Goldberg, Angela Bassett, Oprah Winfrey, Mariah Carey, Halle Berry, Queen Latifah, Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Lil' Kim, Alicia Keyes, Beyonc Knowles, and many others.

Diva style has sometimes been part put-on, part come-on, part camp, and part reflection of an authentic African American cultural tradition. Haughtiness, control, shrewdness, energy, extravagance, optimism, and humor are all a part of it. "Dazzle your audience," they seemed to say, "but never lose your cool."

Yet, there are often the tears behind the mask, the hideous realities of racism and exploitation, the pain hiding behind the smile, the concealed anxieties, private lives in ruins: all the obstacles and pressures involved in making it to the top.

Always, however, there is the redemption through these women's art.

In these pages are the incandescent women who have lit up Broadway and movie screens; turned clubs, caf s, concert halls, and televisions aglow with their particular brand of black magic; sold millions of cds and dvds; and are the subjects of endless fascination in the tabloids and on the Internet.

Onstage and off, the lives of these captivating women, their follies and fortunes, trials, tragedies, transformations, and triumphs, their inimitable style, have become a cherished part of our own.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826416756
• ISBN13: 9780826416759
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Continuum
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.7" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A wonderful treasury on Black American women!

I purchased this book during the mid-80's, in hardback. I still have the original edition. It remains one of my keepsakes along with my family photo album! Every black woman should have this book. Whenever you think you are having a hard time, this book shows each lady's up and down. The Black woman tries to distinguish herself and positively represent other Black Americans under the evil Hollywood eye of racism in the entertainment industry from the 1920's to present.This book really enlightened me about early performers such as Ethel Waters, Lena Horne, Moms Mabley, Bessie Smith and many others. Thank you so much Donald Bogle for tackling a tough and inspiring subject with excellent journalism and research.