Stop Being Niggardly: and Nine Other Things Black People Need to Stop Doing

In this “tough love letter to my people,” Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Hunter proscribes 10 things for African-Americans including complaining, tearing down our heroes, devaluing yourself, disrespecting your money, being fat, and letting people destroy our images. Hunter's advice comes in as an item-by-item commentary upon Nannie Helen Burroughs's early 20th-century essay, “Twelve Things the Negro Must Do.” Though Burroughs (1879–1961), a distinguished educator and exponent of black pride, is patrician in tone (“The Negro Must Keep Himself and His Home Clean and Make the Surroundings in Which He Lives Comfortable and Attractive”), Hunter's breezy voice brings Burroughs's advice up-to-date and down-to-earth. She sprinkles her jeremiad with accounts of her own experiences; whether finding God, making money, losing weight, learning from failure, or valuing success, the anecdotal personal content softens the edge of the preachy elements. Hunter is not making a play on the N-word, but is instead offering a heartfelt and inspiring call for black people to stop being stingy with their resources and their assessments of themselves, their health, political and economic power, and strength in community. (Apr.)