The Indie Dilemma: The Business of Being Black

Admittedly this could apply to any indie artist (musician, filmmaker, painter, sculpture, etc.), but I am a writer, so I come at this situation primarily from that standpoint.  Just the other day, I taught (for the umpteenth time) Charles Chesnutt's "Baxter's Procrustes," a story about the Bodlein Society, an organization that prides itself on the collection of rare books, only to find itself in a bit of a pickle regarding a book it decides to publish.  The story is widely regarded as one of Chesnutt's "color line" stories, as it was published in 1904 by an African-American writer, yet had no identifiable African American characters.  Chesnutt apparently wrote the story after being snubbed by an organization because of his race.  The fascinating thing, however, is that the story is good without needing to identify itself by the race of the writer.

Fast forward to 2011, and the publishing industry is very much aware of race when selecting and marketing books by new authors.  Who will buy this book--or more specifically, will enough Black women buy this book to make it worth our while, since most Black men don't read recreationally?  (This is the prevailing wisdom of the industry.)  Add to all of this the economic pressure on the publishing industry at large (with Borders being one of the latest casualties) and you have a situation where many editors are nervous about the acquisition of African-American books in general.  It reminds me of what Mario Van Peebles said recently on the TV One show Way Black When:  (and I paraphrase) If the umpteenth Black gangster film doesn't make money, then the belief is that people are not really feeling Black movies right now, but if the umpteenth shark movie fails, it simply means that people don't want to see shark movies right now.

One of the sad realities of the larger corporate media is that, as an African-American artist, being African-American often defines your art.  In other words, you can't simply be a writer or filmmaker or musician without that racial designation.

Those who make a living as African-American artists have already figured out how to navigate this line successfully, but for those aspiring creative individuals rising through the ranks, there is the dilemma of creating for the expectations of the market (especially if the market is racially defined) versus creating without an eye towards market designations.  With the advent of electronic publishing and iTunes and the plethora of other avenues for distributing independent projects, the question is even more pronounced:  Take the commercial Black approach or pursue the road less traveled?

Yes, there are commercial anomalies across the board, but to the average indie, the thought of unzipping one's skin or gender and setting out to write without regard to those issues can be paralyzing, especially if the artist hopes to make a living from it.  We have had it ingrained in our heads that niche marketing is the only way for the little guy/girl to survive.  Still, I sense that some of us yearn for the kind of freedom that allows us to create and release those creations into the world minus the pressure to conform with larger industry expectations.

What are your thoughts?  Is it realistic for the indie artist to ignore the larger commercial trends that define his/her art?

Randy Bandit