Black Writers: Where Is The Love, Communication?
source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123645447
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Valentine's Day is one of the most anticipated, and by some, dreaded days of the year. It depends on who you ask.
Some it as a day to look forward to — with that special card, a romantic dinner. For others, it is just another reminder of what is missing in their lives.
But the day might be especially poignant for African Americans who have some of the lowest marriage rates in this country. According to a 2006-2008 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, only 30 percent of African-Americans report being married, compared to 47 percent of Latinos and 53 percent of whites.
Additionally, a 2009 Yale study indicates highly educated black women are twice as likely to have never been married by the age of 45 as white women with similar education and that, while Black men are more likely to marry outside of their race, black women are more likely to marry outside their education.
NPR host Michel Martin recently spoke with three African-American writers all of whom have written books about black love and loss — regular Tell Me More contributor and freelance writer Jimi Izrael, author of the The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can't Find Good Black Men; Hill Harper, actor on the CBS drama "CSI: New York" and author of the book The Conversation and journalist Helena Andrews, author of the soon-to-be published Bitch Is The New Black.
Harper says his motivation for writing about the perceived disconnect between black men and women, stems from something he noticed after with friends: a mere lack of communication between black men and black women.
"The sisters were saying, there are no good brothers out there," recalls Harper, who is single. "And the brothers were saying I can't find that one sister that I want to commit to."
Twice divorced author Jimi Izrael agrees and says the communication troubles in first marriage are an example of the disconnect.
As it turns out not only were we not on the same page, we weren't in the same library," he says of his ex-wife. "We weren't reading the same book. We weren't in the same league."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123645447
Some it as a day to look forward to — with that special card, a romantic dinner. For others, it is just another reminder of what is missing in their lives.
But the day might be especially poignant for African Americans who have some of the lowest marriage rates in this country. According to a 2006-2008 American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, only 30 percent of African-Americans report being married, compared to 47 percent of Latinos and 53 percent of whites.
Additionally, a 2009 Yale study indicates highly educated black women are twice as likely to have never been married by the age of 45 as white women with similar education and that, while Black men are more likely to marry outside of their race, black women are more likely to marry outside their education.
NPR host Michel Martin recently spoke with three African-American writers all of whom have written books about black love and loss — regular Tell Me More contributor and freelance writer Jimi Izrael, author of the The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can't Find Good Black Men; Hill Harper, actor on the CBS drama "CSI: New York" and author of the book The Conversation and journalist Helena Andrews, author of the soon-to-be published Bitch Is The New Black.
Harper says his motivation for writing about the perceived disconnect between black men and women, stems from something he noticed after with friends: a mere lack of communication between black men and black women.
"The sisters were saying, there are no good brothers out there," recalls Harper, who is single. "And the brothers were saying I can't find that one sister that I want to commit to."
Twice divorced author Jimi Izrael agrees and says the communication troubles in first marriage are an example of the disconnect.
As it turns out not only were we not on the same page, we weren't in the same library," he says of his ex-wife. "We weren't reading the same book. We weren't in the same league."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123645447
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