One thing I love about the internet is that it allows you to build community *without* shmoozing in public. I’m not especially good in social situations, and I wouldn’t even dream of attending kidlit “drinks night,” which happens every so often here in NYC. It might be a great way to connect with other writers and editors, but it’s not my scene. I don’t attend SCBWI conferences, either—so maybe I’m to blame for my limited success as a published author? Orlando Patterson recently published this interesting essay in The Nation, and explained how even middle-class African Americans are losing ground in this economy in part because of their lack of cultural capital:
In modern America, like all other major industrial societies, economic success stems as much from network location and access to cultural capital as from formal schooling. Getting a job, as sociologist Mark Granovetter showed in his pathbreaking work, is as much a function of who you know as what you know…It is precisely such crucial networks and cultural capital that segregation excludes black Americans from. This, along with persisting, though declining, racism, explains, too, why black middle-class young people still lag far behind their white counterparts in school achievement and in career rewards from educational attainment. It explains also the looming tragedy of massive downward mobility and the failure of the black middle class to reproduce itself.
Recently author/publisher Cheryl Willis Hudson asked her Facebook friends to list all the African American editors they could think of—she hoped for 20, but had to recruit more help to reach double digits. She then blogged about this issue, and I immediately thought of Patterson’s argument—how “shmoozing” is really the way to get ahead, and segregation in the social sphere limits career opportunities for qualified blacks. I’m sure Cheryl will have lots to say during our panel at the Harlem Book Fair…you know I will!
I certainly intend to bring up the Silver Phoenix cover controversy—for two great posts on the subject, read Tarie’s open letter (reposted at Color Online) and then stop by Gal Novelty’s blog to consider one fan’s “many feelings” on the erasure of Asian identity.
It’s time once again for Book Blogger Appreciation Week—I’m not entirely sure when you can vote, but Gal Novelty, Summer Edward’s Caribbean Children’s Literature, and Multiculturalism Rocks! are in the running for best cultural blog…
And July 1 was not only Canada Day, it was the release date for Mitali Perkins’ new novel, Bamboo People. It’s getting RAVE reviews, including 5/5 from Ari—check out her stellar review…
Fledgling 
So many great links in this post that I kept getting sidetracked. But wanted to come back to your first paragraph and give you a link too! I bought this book for my son but I bet he’ll never even open it…
http://www.selfpromotionforintroverts.com/
I love your blog, thanks for writing, and I loved seeing your comment pop up on Deborah Taylor’s FB stream.
I really enjoy schmoozing but only under the right conditions! i.e. no loud music or other acoustic challenges that require one to shout, no drunkenness, and a mix of people who know how to listen as well as say what’s on their mind.
Betty Tisel
Minneapolis
Thanks, Betty–that’s a book I definitely need to read!
I do enjoy socializing (say, at a dinner party or potluck) but I’m with you on the loud music…and nondrinkers sometimes make drinkers feel uncomfortable, so bars are less than ideal…I’d rather eat than drink! and chat b/c I like you, rather than to promote my work…
Heya Zetta,
Love your blog – I try to keep up on it as much as I can. I am going to get the book you mentioned – Bamboo People.
I just wanted to comment to say that you and I have the intra-social preference in common. I, too, am not big on schmoozing … that’s Fabian’s department (if you recall) – lol.
I think that in today’s evolving technological culture, ways of networking, and ways of gaining access to networking is definitely changing. Due to my social networking on the web, I am in touch with and have gained access to many people I would never have met otherwise … my web networking continues to be a very fruitful modus operandi.
For the black middle class, being technologically plugged in will buffer the issue of lack of achieving cultural capital – I believe. My concern, as always, is with the poor who might be left behind in this tech culture because of their lack of access to a PC or Mac or iPad, let along the social and cultural capital being online affords. Mobile technology (a part of the tech boom that poor people are tapped into – 91% of Americans own a cell phone) is definitely the future, yet it remains to be seen how new barriers may be created to keep technology leveled for the privileged….
Hey, Vanessa–check out this link:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/increased-mobile-web-use-and-the-digital-divide/
I’m not sure how this is possible, since web on cell phones is CRAZY expensive, but it seems to be the way forward for many PoC.
As for the middle class, I still worry that online social networking falls under the “public sphere”–if you’re not part of the REAL friend network of the powers that be, if you’re seeing their daily updates on Facebook, but not getting invited for lunch in the Hamptons…then you’re truly part of a virtual community–it’s not real enough to have the professional benefits of private in-person social networks.