Deals with the Devil, and Other Reasons to Riot

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Deals with the Devil, and Other Reasons to Riot

4.39 of 5 stars 4.39 · rating details · 75 ratings · 8 reviews

Dead on, to the point, fearless. A third-generation black nationalist feminist, Pearl Cleage recognizes the pure power of telling the truth about African-American life and about the fate of the race in racist America. This book will incite any and all thinking people to ponder, argue, rage, reflect, and maybe even riot . . . .
"Uncompromising . . . Blistering." San Fran...more

Paperback, 207 pages

Published July 1st 1994 by Ballantine Books (first published 1993)

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Aug 11, 2011 Aleeda added it · review of another edition

The book is a collection of essays written in the late 80's and early 90's. While I generally enjoy Pearl Cleage's writing, this is book is not a favorite. I don't enjoy rant-as-book, regardless of the writer. Again, I note the essays were written a while ago, so while I can understand some of the arguments made, I cannot say that Ms. Cleage's statements describe my life either as a woman, or an African American. The essays are prone to overgeneralizations, and includes Mad at Miles, which is th...more

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Mar 28, 2010 Daniel lackey added it

This Book Taught Me Many Important Things About Life and How Important It Is To Treat Black Women Very Carefully We As Black Men Will Not Raise Out Voice At A Black Women Not Matter How big The Misunderstanding Is We As Black Men will not Raise Our Hand To A black Woman not matter what She Says Or Does...We As Black Men Will Not Look At Black Women As Sex Objects No Matter How Big Our Sex Drive May Be...We As Black Men Will Treat Black Women With Respect Always We As Black Men Will Ask Permissio...more

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Dec 01, 2010 Christina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 52-books-in-52-weeks

This book gave me some insight into the mind of Pearl Cleage and her opinions on a variety of topics. The topics ranged from rape and prevention, domestic violence, AIDS/HIV, Black Nationalist, Feminisim, education, child rearing, relationships between Black men and women, and Black men in general.

Pearl has a somewhat skewed perspective of Black men, and their duties to Black women and to the race. I believe, in my humble opinion, that she expects more from Black men and has been disappointed i...more

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Mar 26, 2013 V.G. Grace rated it 4 of 5 stars

There is often a tangled, thorny forest within American society that women of African descent have to struggle through on a regular basis as it pertains to the stereotypes, insensitivity, and even abuse that they encounter, even with African-American men, and Cleage's words of passion and dissent cut through the weeds like a chainsaw through a tree trunk. Born into an African-American home that embodied and treasured advocacy for the rights of the Black community, Pearl Cleage grew up seeing lif...more There is often a tangled, thorny forest within American society that women of African descent have to struggle through on a regular basis as it pertains to the stereotypes, insensitivity, and even abuse that they encounter, even with African-American men, and Cleage's words of passion and dissent cut through the weeds like a chainsaw through a tree trunk. Born into an African-American home that embodied and treasured advocacy for the rights of the Black community, Pearl Cleage grew up seeing life from a unique vantage point: her heart and intellect was squarely ensconced in a place of Afrocentrism and focused activism, but her appearance was of that of those who created the laws she and her family struggled against. An interesting position to be sure and one I can certainly relate to as a white-appearing woman of African descent. However, the cultural reinforcement of her family and friends and fiery, admirable dedication to a life of social justice prevented her from falling into any type of confused/self-loathing predicament. As she describes this unique experience:

"I tell this story here for two reasons. One, to show that I understand the complexity of being part of a racial sub-group that is both punished and rewarded for the genes it shares with its former masters, and two, because my mother was right. Being a light-skinned black American isn't necessarily cause for condemnation, but it must bring with it a recognition that the only way to repay the debt owed for the unearned privilege afforded by the strange circumstances of racism is to understand that to whom much is given, much is expected."

Meaningful words.

Her book "Deals With The Devil" covers a wide range of topics--everything from her personal inspirations growing up as a child in 1950's Detroit, Michigan, the physical and emotional abuses African-American women run up across within their own community, to famed jazz musician Miles Davis's appalling treatment of his wife Cicely Tyson. This specific anecdote is recounted by Ms. Cleage via the man's own autobiography, in a chapter called "Mad At Miles", and includes a chilling scene of the legendary actress trembling with fear in her own basement while her husband laughs and jokes with the policeman above her head. Pearl calls for Black women to in her words, "break his albums, burn his tapes and scratch up his CDs until he acknowledges and apologizes and agrees to rethink his position on The Woman Question".

As far as I know, Miles didn't do any of those things before his death in 1991, and usually I don't let people's personal lives interfere with my enjoyment of their art/performance, but the sheer aspect of his contempt for his wife's feelings, and the sheer passion of Pearl Cleage's 'call to action' to NOT respect men who DON'T respect women, has me nodding in agreement with her and beginning to understand just what kind of change Cleage is demanding.

Cleage continues to dig deeply into the recesses of the misogyny facing African-American women within their own community and takes a hard look at the attitudes she feels certain African-American men hold towards the women in their lives.

Domestic violence and rape are two issues that are extensively discussed in the book with heart-breaking accounts of Black women she personally encountered and in certain cases helped, who were the victims of violence. Her book opens with stories of her fellow sisters in both gender and culture having horrifying acts of violence inflicted on them by their husbands and boyfriends...from a woman threatened to be set on fire to a woman having to flee abduction with a gun held to her head. In her own words, Cleage comments that "Domestic violence is the front line of the war against women". And if there was any opposing warrior in the front lines against this war, Cleage would be it. With her pen, she rips apart the mentalities that feed into an abuse of women, accepting no excuses of victimhood from any man who victimizes women of color, and she makes a passionate cry for understanding, respect and mutual cooperation between Black men and women in her own efforts to decry the gender conflict that she perceived was occurring with alarming frequency within the Black community. There are other topics she tackles, and superbly so, such as sexual freedom regarding Black women and the responsibility that goes along with that freedom and her personal commitment to pan-African advocacy, but the real crux of the book falls along the path of Black women's struggle against abuses stemming inward and outward, how they can liberate and empower themselves, as well as extend this empowerment in a demonstration of advocacy for self and community. It is also what I feel can be described as a crucial part of the larger, INTERNATIONAL bond of sisterhood and INTERNATIONAL liberation from all manner of suppression, oppression, and degradation in which women endure.

I highly recommend this book, for although it is a bit dated in its early 1990's references (Magic Johnson, Arsenio Hall, Robin Givens & Mike Tyson), the message of empowerment and cultural pride spans across ALL generations and is both brutally and refreshingly honest in its brave approach.(less)

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Sep 18, 2009 Catherine rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-nonfiction

"Mad at Miles" is one of the best pieces on domestic violence and community, any community, accountability ever. This is a tremendously important book, one that inspired to think about sex and race oppression in new ways. But that one essay is burned into my brain, and I'm glad of it. Highly recommended.

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Dec 04, 2008 Shari added it

Deals With the Devil: And Other Reasons to Riot by Pearl Cleage (1994)

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Jun 11, 2008 Z. rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book changed my life.

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May 05, 2009 Tori rated it 4 of 5 stars

Life changing...

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Shelves: nonfiction

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Shelves: social-commentary, black-experience, liberal, feminism, gender, cultural-criticism

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Quotes from Deals with the Devil

“Loneliness is black coffee and late-night television; solitude is herb tea and soft music. Solitude, quality solitude, is an assertion of self-worth, because only in the stillness can we hear the truth of our own unique voices.” — 119 people liked it

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