I listened to this audiobook while driving to a meeting in Harrisonburg, Virginia, last month. I didn't know what to expect because I really hadn't heard Morgan's comedy act, and when I picked it up from the library, I didn't even remember that he appeared in "Martin". I've never seen "30 Rock," but I had heard about the show's success.
I picked the audiobook up because of its title. What is the new black according to Morgan, I wondered. The book was entertaining. In other words, the four hour drive filled with traffic delays and slow crawl driving was much better with Morgan telling me part of his life story. I particularly liked hearing the songs his father recorded before he died because it connected to a point Morgan made about talent. The point rang as a question in my mind: Why, while there are talented people all around you, does a certain person “make it”?
Morgan uses the example of comedy. He says that as a child he was surrounded by people one hundred times funnier than he is, yet he became the comedian. I look around the church I attend and there are women and men there who can “out-sing” anybody I’ve ever seen on TV. And the list goes on and on, and I know that the choices we make have a lot to do with who ends up where, but the way Morgan approached the issue was interesting to me.
And the new black? To me, it’s the old black (or any other racial group for that matter). Meaning, no cultural group is monolithic.
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
