I don’t remember where I first heard Paul Mooney, but I was
intrigued from the on-set. His humor is racially charged and he tells it like
he sees it which is mostly “like it is” but he - pardon my expression - “has
the balls” to say what we won’t. Born in
Louisiana in 1941, he has witnessed some racially motivated stirrings in his
life. Some of them first hand like when he was pulled over and asked was he on
probation and does the owner know that he has their car. He was also pulled
over (not driving) while in a car with two white women and he is the only
person the cops ask for ID. I really do
believe that only black are subject to this kind of harassment.
This story is his memoir about trying to make it in
Hollywood while keeping his sense of who he is, a black man, and not be
watered-down or censured because he is black.
At first, he talks about Richard Pryor which I found
interesting because I read a story by Rain Pryor – Richard’s daughter and for a
second, I was wondering was this story about Richard Pryor? Richard Pryor and Paul Mooney were close
friends and you would have thought they were brothers.
Both men are striving for something.
Laced with a few “linguistically challenged” jokes, Paul
gives you an idea of how hard it was for blacks in the entertainment industry
back in the 60s.
Some of
his comments that stick out for me are:
1. White
people judge black people by how articulate we are
2. To
be racist is like sticking a knife into a person’s soul.
Throughout
the book, the author quips “Racism trumps capitalism”.
You
will have to read the story to find out what he means.
