After having read and discussed the two texts about harlem I got to percieve it in the eyes of the residents that spends everyday of their lives there. Personally I preferred reading the text about the pimps bcause i found the interactive dialog interesting. The piece by James Baldwin did shed light on what life in Harlem is like but it wasn’t as captivating as the dialogue between the two pimps. The text with the two pimps was written fairly long ago so I wonder if the way people speak in harlem is still the same. I am also curious as to whether or not there are still pimps like that because it was stated in class that pimps have a different definition nowadays.
There was a line in the text that said “give me some skin”, I am not entirely sure if that still exists in the language of harlem today but I watched a show last night called “the wayan brothers” that used the exact line. I believe that it suggests for the other person to shake their hand or something of the sort. I just found this interesting that the piece was written in the 50s and the same line still exists in a show that aired in the 90s. I did find James Baldwin’s piece. more enlightening but the pimp piece seemed to me to be more realistic. It was also nteresting to watch James Baldwin speak during an interview and in public, to watch the way he formulated his thoughts while he was speaking and to do it so eloquently surprised me alittle.
