Talking “One Drop,” Blackness, and Publishing with Dr. Yaba Blay

On episode 61 of the show, we’re talking about Blackness, Identity Politics and self-publishing as a form of activism with Dr. Yaba Blay, author of the just released book, One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race. 

Dr. Blay’s book, One Drop is a gorgeous coffee table book filled with beautiful full-color portraits of people who identify as Black.  The people are divided in groups: Mixed Black, American Black and Diaspora Black and each portrait is accompanied by a personal essay about the person’s racial background and lived identity experience. But this is not just a book of pretty pictures, One Drop also has a deeply researched explanation of the history of Blackness, the history of whiteness and the significance of the one-drop rule in America. Some of the faces in the book are recognizable, like journalist Soledad O’Brien, but the majority are the faces of ordinary people with extra-ordinary stories to tell.

During our conversation, Dr. Blay and I discuss the origin story for One Drop, why she chose to self-publish the book after mainstream publishers rejected it, and how she felt when a mainstream publisher decided to re-publish the book now in 2021, seven years after its original publication. We also talk about colorism, how annoying and counter-productive it is to question someone’s Blackness and who the one-drop rule really benefits?

We had a passionate conversation that went way beyond the book!

Literary Links from the Show

During the Meltingpot Minute, I reviewed the book, Good Talk by Mira Jacob. Good Talk is a graphic memoir about coming of age as an Indian American woman, marrying a white man and raising brown children in the age of Trump. To learn more about Good Talk and Mira Jacob, please visit her website.

To learn more about Dr. Yaba Blay, visit her website and catch her on the gram where she posts regularly about her many projects and passions.

To buy your copy of One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race, please consider purchasing from Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books or your favorite Black-owned bookstore.

We mentioned author Zetta Elliott during the episode. Zetta is a prolific children’s book and YA author, who has a lot to say about equity and the publishing industry. Listen to Zetta’s episode on the podcast for an inspiring conversation about writing and self-publishing.

To support the show, remember to do your book shopping at the My American Meltingpot Online bookstore.

If you’re interested in reading more about skin color politics, check out my book, Same Family, Different Colors: Confronting Colorism in America’s Diverse Families.

Beacon Press is the progressive and innovative publisher who picked up Yaba’s book, One Drop. Check out Beacon’s amazing catalog of diverse books.

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