The More Things Change...
Ineffable Records leads on Indie label
Caribbean Life, JANUARY 14-20, 2022 27
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
That’s just the way it was.
People did things differently
in times past. They were a little
more likely to judge others,
a little less apt to open their
minds. They had notions we
might think are odd; they held
beliefs that we know now are
wrong. But as in the new book
“You Don’t Know Us Negroes
and Other Essays” by Zora
Neale Hurston, times change.
Sometimes.
Throughout her career of
nearly 40 years, Zora Neale
Hurston prodigiously wrote
novels that resonate today. In
this nonfiction book, readers
get a taste of the other side
of Hurston’s career: her journalism,
essay-writing, and a
reflection of the times in which
she lived.
In the essay “High John de
Conquer,” she offers “some
help to our brothers and sisters
who have always been
white” by introducing them to
a man who “romps… clowns,
and looks ridiculous” and then
disappears. John de Conquer
is a scamp and a “mystery,”
but he also offers hope and
“the secret of Negro song and
laughter.”
If you ever imagined what it
was like to have been captured
and sold into slavery, “The Last
Slave Ship” is Hurston’s interview
with Cudgo Lewis, the last
survivor of the Clotilda. Lewis
told Hurston about a rivalry
between villages, his capture,
the cruelty of the Dahomey
king, and the eradication of an
entire tribe of people.
Here, Hurston writes of novelist
Fanny Hurst, encouraging
readers to sample Hurst’s
work. She mourns that white
publishers of her time were
reluctant to offer more diverse
works because they believed
that “the average American
just cannot conceive of it.” She
writes first with pride about
attending Howard University,
then about what led to her
disillusionment and why she
called Negro colleges “Begging
Joints.”
You Don’t Know Us Negroes author, Zora Neale Hurston.
Barbara Hurston Lewis, Faye Hurston, Lois Gaston
She writes about noses and
charm, being “a little colored
girl,” and of having no race.
With barely simmering anger,
she reveals her “Most Humiliating
Jim Crow Experience.”
And she reports on the lengthy
trial of Ruby McCollum, an
experience that left Hurston in
a dream “of fog and mist…”
For sure, “You Don’t Know
Us Negroes” isn’t a book to
take – or read – lightly.
From the beginning of the
introduction to the very last
words on McCollum, this book
demands that readers stop and
think about what’s been said.
It’s natural that you would
anyhow: much of what author
Zora Neale Hurston observed
in her day is still relevant now;
Hurston died on the very cusp
of the beginning of the Civil
Rights Movement, and so racism
and race issues feature
highly in the works inside this
book.
What’s unexpected – and
very delightful – is Hurston’s
voice. Some of these stories
ring with a wonderful sense of
sarcasm that tells you everything
you need to know about
Hurston’s mind-set. Some tales
ache with frustration. Others
spark like lightning in a jar.
This is a carry-it-everywhere
with-you kind of book,
perfect for times when you
need some introspection as
diversion. “You Don’t Know Us
Negroes” is like that, and that’s
just the way it is. “You Don’t
Know Us Negroes and Other
Essays” can be found on store
shelves Jan. 18.
“You Don’t Know
Us Negroes and Other
Essays” by Zora Neale
Hurston, edited and with
an introduction by Genevieve
West and Henry Louis
Gates, Jr.
c.2022, Amistad
$29.99
464 pages
Book cover of “You Don’t Know Us Negroes and Other Essays”
by Zora Neale Hurston.
By Nelson A. King
Independent labels are all the
rage in a society where customization
is king. Sure, the major
players have impressive rosters,
but the Indies tend to lend
the special touch where they
thrive in pockets of uniqueness
or niche categories like genrespecific
enterprises.
According to Sarah A. Freiseis,
Special Projects Management
with the Brooklyn-based
entertainment publicity company,
PlaybookMG, Ineffable
Records is “one of the pioneers
in the alternative reggae and
dancehall space.”
Freiseis said Jamaican artists
Konshens and Demarco are
both signed to the Indie label
and have been working on the
rollout of their highly-anticipated
albums.
“The latter (Demarco) recently
dropped his debut album ‘Melody’
after a decade of having his
body of work hemmed up in
contractual obligations,” Freiseis
said. “The former released his
hot new project ‘Red Reign.’”
With the two albums dropping
a few weeks apart from
each other, she said Ineffable
Records has been helping the
two artists build momentum
and visibility.
In 2020, Billboard ranked
Ineffable Records second-highest
in charting for reggae album
sales, just behind giant Universal
Music Group.
Freiseis said the Californiabased
label has been growing at
an impressive rate since launching
a few years ago as an arm of
Ineffable Music Group.
“The multifaceted music company
takes a modern approach
to the entertainment business
by including several aspects of
business management and artist
development,” she said.