Comments on: Millenia Black Settles Lawsuit with Penguin Over Race

By: Inside me, thereâ€™s a thin woman trying to get out. But I can usually shut the cow up with chocolate. - Southern Fried Chicas

Thu, 20 May 2010 01:23:00 +0000

[...] the Millenia Black/Penguin Books brouhaha? For those who don’t, Black, author of the self-published title, The Great Pretender, filed a [...]

By: Nonny

Nonny — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:43:04 +0000

I’m glad that Black is satisfied with the outcome; I can’t even imagine what the poor woman has gone through for the past two years. As a social issue, however, I agree in that this is hardly a “victory.” It’s a settlement, one that will hopefully allow Black to continue on with her writing career peacefully.

That said, because Black took a stand and sued Penguin, hopefully other publishers will think before pulling the same sort of bullshit.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:18:03 +0000

Sorry I meant to apply quotes to Jane’s portion above, sorry! Here it is again corrected…

As a part of the settlement, Black had to purge every reference to the suit from her site as well as refrain from any future discussion. Oddly, some people deem this as a victory. It's a victory for someone, but I don't think it's a victory for African American authors particularly in light of the gag and purge order.

I think we should be careful what we assert as fact Jane, because how do you know what was ordered? Karen Scott quotes her and that's not what is said…did you get that from another source? If not, I think it's a mistake to say that. For all we know, they could've paid her to remove the references as part of the settlement so we can't assume anything……I do see it as a victory because I think penguin and all publishers will think twice now about this type of thing. -Sharon

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:13:34 +0000

As a part of the settlement, Black had to purge every reference to the suit from her site as well as refrain from any future discussion. Oddly, some people deem this as a victory. It's a victory for someone, but I don't think it's a victory for African American authors particularly in light of the gag and purge order. I think we should be careful what we assert as fact Jane, because how do you know what was ordered? Karen Scott quotes her and that’s not what is said…did you get that from another source? If not, I think it’s a mistake to say that. For all we know, they could’ve paid her to remove the references as part of the settlement so we can’t assume anything……I do see it as a victory because I think penguin and all publishers will think twice now about this type of thing. -Sharon

By: kardis

kardis — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:07:12 +0000

I am glad that the case is settled and I do hope that Ms Black will continue to be published. The gag and purge part of the settlement makes me sick, frankly. I agree with others that it seems like a win for Penguin in that regard. I think the best thing to be done is for the blogging community to continue to speak out about this, because Penguin cannot force us into silence.

By: jmc

jmc — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:49:51 +0000

The terms of the settlement can’t be discussed, but I wonder whether it was entirely monetary or if a Penguin imprint will ultimately be publishing her work. Being a cynic and a pessimist, I’m guessing not.

Which makes me wonder whether Ms. Black will be published by a mainstream publisher in the future, or if she will be shut out by big publishing houses in light of her suit.

By: Ann Somerville

Ann Somerville — Wed, 14 May 2008 03:38:15 +0000

Penguin can gag her, but fortunately they can’t gag anyone else. Kudos to you and Karen Scott for publicising this, though I agree with you, it’s not really a victory for AA authors.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:56:26 +0000

Although I hope the positive reaction of some AA authors to this resolution will help keep the fire burning, so to speak, I agree that the gag and purge is *not good at all*. In fact, when you think about the filing of a legal case as the right of someone to appeal for justice, to speak of wrongs done them and to have an answer and a remedy, the silencing of Black feels a bit to me like three steps back to two steps forward. Even if she had lost in court (assuming she could get representation for a trial), there would have been *something* on legal record to build on for similarly situated authors.

I don’t know — it seems to me that this case was all about creative freedom and the ability of Black to express herself in the way she wanted to, and the gag and purge (a little legal bulimia here?) feels to me like the kind of silencing she was fighting against to begin with.

Of course I probably have more faith in the judicial system as a whole than I do in one publishing house that is particularly invested in the issue.