Midnight

Midnight, Sista Souljah’s novel, embodies both the ugliness and narcotic like appeal of black nationalism. It’s hero, a 14year old killer/ex drug runner/gang lieutenant, functions mostly as a cipher for Souljah’s opinions on racism, islam, the role of women and “the jew”. What has hooked her audience to the book isn’t any of those things as it is the character itself;  a sainted, macho, underground hero who understands and flaunts the system. Midnight doesn’t speak to their opinions on race, gender and Islam, he speaks to their wounds. Souljah presents him as a young man given no other chance by the system; and his triumphs in gangsta life, in love, and in adherence to a rigidly masculine Islamic code are presented as the readers triumphs. Anarchy in response to oppression is the force that gives his life meaning; and in turn gives meaning to the lives of his fans.

What all three parties ( Midnight, Souljah and her audience) don’t understand is this: that our humanity lies in the realization of how flawed we are; that we become better when we recognize and learn from our mistakes instead of blaming them on outside forces. It is the fear of this, a tough, inner life in the face of obstacles, that is behind Sista Souljah’s outrages, whether it be her statement on “a day to kill white people”  or her reviving the  Shylock archetype in the novel ( a  Jewish Lawyer does in Midnight’s mother and forces him into a life crime). Like a junkie, Souljah uses the anger to numb away the difficulties of living, and like a drug dealer, Souljah is damaging herself and her own people with the message.