HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RIC!
by Gwendolyn E. Osborne
When MTV was launched in the early 1980s, the network aired a series of clever ads that claimed once upon a time, "people didn't believe in rock and roll because they couldn't see it. Now there's MTV."
I suppose the same can be said for African-American romances. Many people didn't believe in the African-American romance novel because they "couldn't see it." For many readers and writers, the struggle has always been about recognition and respect.
Until very recently, neither publishers nor readers had experienced the wide-range of work available by African-American writers in the romance genre. African-American romance is the fastest growing segment of the genre. Less than ten years after the launch of African-American imprints by Arabesque and Genesis, and the publication of works by Black authors by other houses, many bookstores, publishers and Romance Writers of America still aren't quite sure what to make of it all. What to do with romances written by and about Black people is still an issue for them.
Two years ago in Barbados, Wayne Jordan didn't share that confusion. Romance in Color was a welcome addition to information about Black romances. Breaking out of the Eurocentric approach to romance themes and stories, ROMANCE IN COLOR puts Black faces and voices to a site aimed at a sorely neglected segment of the romance reading and writing population. With its
reviews, book cover previews, interviews and other features, Wayne has created a must-visit site for both serious romance readers and students of the genre.
That ROMANCE IN COLOR is celebrating its second anniversary is noteworthy. There is still turbulence in the dot.com world and web sites come and go. Two years can be a lifetime. And while, endurance has its place, it would be easy for the uninitiated to overlook the importance of RIC and what it really is.
For those who think that Black readers are a monolithic lot, Wayne has assembled a diverse group of contributors who reflect the romance-reading population -- by age, gender, geography and reading tastes. They reflect those who read romance and who visit the site.
There are men and women. Contributors write from their vantage points in the South, the Midwest, the East Coast, the West Coast and the Caribbean. (Wayne, you are really going to have to recruit people from Canada, Africa and South America for the site! ) They represent first-generation readers like Wayne, whose introduction to the genre came through Mills and Boon romances and early Harlequins. They represent second generation readers like me, who came into the genre as a result of introduction of the Arabesque line. Some like it hot; others are more conservative in their approach to the genre. They are bound together by their enjoyment of a well-written story.
The result is a wide range of opinions on Black romances and cumulative, rather than a "one-person's opinion" approach to ratings and at looking at our participation in the genre. Readers are encouraged to make up their own minds and interact with the site, particularly during the year-end wrap-ups. It has been interesting for me to see the difference between the reviewers' and readers' choices in the various categories.
For ROMANCE IN COLOR, there have been no "terrible twos." The site is growing with new information and feature sections. I am proud to be a small part of Wayne's vision. It's FUBU - for us, by us. And I like that. I want my RIC!
Thanks, Wayne!