Sponsored by the New York University Africana Studies Program and the Institute of African American Affairs, the project was a series of public conversations (later published as a book) among black visionaries - filmmakers, academics, activists and culture critics - who discussed black America’s realities, goals and solutions. In the late 1990s, he conceived the “Black Genius” project. In the last 10 years or so, Mosley has evolved into a public intellectual, attaching himself to various political and social issues and causes, arts organizations and executive boards. What connects all the seemingly disparate pieces is Mosley’s focused quest to write about black male heroes.īut it isn’t just his writing life that is all over the map. There have been forays into science fiction and political thought and Hollywood adaptations. Indeed, his imagination has introduced readers to a few new protagonists, including Fearless Jones and Socrates Fortlow. Mysteries for Mosley allow him to delve into issues that bedevil his community and the wisdom and shrewdness it takes to navigate an uncertain world full of changeable folk. “There are just books I want to write.” And life puzzles he wants to tinker with - if not solve. There is no career checklist or grand plan. “I write every day for three hours a day, because I really love writing,” says Mosley after the crowd has thinned. Though his mysteries have brought him a certain level of notoriety, Mosley has made it very clear through sheer herculean production (19 books in 15 years and five more on the way within the next 18 months) that labeling him a “mystery writer” would not only be imprecise, it would be dead wrong.įor nearly a decade, Mosley has heeded no borders his writings move freely around genres. But like his protagonist Rawlins, Mosley is wary of labels. Bratton wants to meet with him) that Mosley, who now makes his home in New York, will be moving into an apartment in town for a sizable portion of the month so he can participate.Īll of this is fine and good. The roster is so extensive (even Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Of living here.”įor the entire month of April, Angelenos will be encouraged to read the “Little Scarlet” book, stepping into Easy Rawlins’ shoes, which will take them back to 1965 Los Angeles to sort through the debris of the Watts riots.Īll manner of city-sponsored events are scheduled - from library discussions and drop-in signings to a town meeting session and a bus tour of Easy Rawlins’ L.A. “I want to tell you how much your books mean to me,” he says, shaking Mosley’s hand. Amid it all, there’s the documentary crew that has been filming the author for the last few months.Ī young Latino makes his way through the fuss with a hardcover first edition of “Devil in a Blue Dress” for the author to sign. This morning’s formal portion of the program is brief enough to allow Mosley, outfitted head to toe in black, time to pose for pictures and to talk to some of the fans who’ve stopped by for a look: There’s an African American woman who wants to get him involved in a scholarship program another would like him to visit with her book group a black man plays one of Mosley’s audio books loudly on his boombox. As they came together, it made a city that was impossible to know.’ Most of those stories haven’t been told.” As people came here, they brought another structure. My father said: ‘Los Angeles already had a structure. “So all of this is really like coming home. Then at 176th and Central until I was 12,” he tells the crowd, a sharp wind tugging at his crowning black fedora. A block, it so happens, just around the corner from where he grew up. Hahn - a smattering of neighborhood folk and even his mother, Ella, to celebrate the selection of his latest Rawlins book, “Little Scarlet,” as L.A.'s choice for the One Book One City reading program on this quiet block in Watts. So it’s more than fitting that Mosley should be standing before a small gathering of press, city officials - including Mayor James K. It’s this complex, multilayered Watts that writer Walter Mosley has attempted to pull into focus in a series of mysteries that feature his neighborhood “fix-it” man turned reluctant detective, Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins. But just an echo away, a police cruiser has pulled up alongside a purring and primered sedan a teenage boy missing one leg rolls by in a wheelchair a weathered O.G. On this short stretch of 107th Street, small bungalows painted the cheerful pastels of Easter eggs sit behind flowerbeds bearing succulents grandmothers chat across the fence in dancing Spanish kids zip by on bikes. It’s one of those classic picture postcard days - a broad blue sky, a light dusting of clouds, the lacy script of the Watts Towers rising in the backspace - that is if one could find many pretty postcards of Watts.
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