Alpha Phi Alpha Member
Rashid Darden Interview
Rashid Darden
Lazarus By Rashid Darden
Rashid is the author of the hot novel "Lazarus," and he operates a popular website and blog at oldgoldsoul.com.
1) How did your blog get so popular?
Is it, really? I guess averaging about 200 unique visits a day is moderately popular, huh? Well, I think people like my blog for two main reasons. For one thing, how I write is how I talk. Some days I’m formal and some days I cuss like a sailor. No matter the style, I think I have a pretty irreverent sense of humor that people enjoy, even when I’m not trying to be funny. The other reason that people may like it is because I am showing readers both the challenges and joys of self-publishing. I want to help others who are contemplating self-publishing their work, just as The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter helped me.

2) Okay tell our readers all about Lazurus?
Lazarus is the story of Adrian Collins, a 19-year old and very popular college sophomore. He’s attractive, popular, and very active on campus, but he’s also a closeted gay man who begins a relationship with another, equally popular guy on campus – Savion Cortez. They’re polar opposites in some ways, with Adrian being the slightly militant campus activist and Savion enjoying life as a laid-back Senior who is also a talented poet. This romance is complicated when Adrian becomes interested in pledging Beta Chi Phi, a prominent fraternity on campus. Lazarus is many things – to some, it is a Greek novel with a gay subplot. To others, it’s a gay novel with a fraternity as an obstacle. To me, it’s all of those things and more. I want to just write a good novel with themes that hadn’t been explored in quite this way. I also just want to add that Lazarus has absolutely nothing to do with the recent “Down Low” hysteria. The gay characters know they are gay and aren’t living double lives – just private lives.

3) Please tell us about the sequel?
Well, I can’t give away too much for your readers who haven’t read Lazarus yet. But, I will say that Adrian’s story continues in the novel Covenant. Issues that are explored include “coming out” on campus and how differing levels of “outness” may have an effect on a relationship. I also delve deeper into Adrian’s family background. Greek life will take a backseat, but it will still be present. A more detailed “teaser” can be found in the back pages of Lazarus.

4) How has the novel been received by the Greek community?
Lazarus has been purchased by members of eight of the largest and oldest black Greek organizations. On the whole, the response has been positive. Although hate mail and confrontations are inevitable, they have been few and far between.

5) You are also a teacher. What are your long term career goals?
 I love working with children, but I’m still not completely convinced that becoming a classroom teacher is where my educational career will lead me. Currently I am a substitute teacher. I like the “sixth man” nature of the job. I like mentoring, though. I’d much rather teach young boys and girls how to be productive members of society than struggle to teach them fractions. So maybe one day I’ll have a foundation that does that. Who knows? Writing is my first love though.

6) Did you attend the Harlem Book Fair this year?
I didn’t attend this year. I knew going into this that 2005 would be my “lean” year; that I would have to pick and choose which events I could afford to attend. I look forward to attending in 2006!

7) Have you been approached by a larger publisher or agent who wishes to represent your book?
At this time, I am still flying solo; though I would love to see Lazarus and my subsequent work reach a wider audience. I am working extremely hard toward that goal.

8) Where do you get all of those awesome probate shows pictures you have in your web gallery?
That’s a great question! I’ve always been an amateur photographer and in the past few years, I’ve become interested in the “neophyte aesthetic.” There are few moments in a person’s college life that are so filled with angst and joy at the same time. It’s the neo’s one moment to shine in their whole life as a member of their respective organization. At a school like Howard where literally hundreds of people show up to see the spectacle, that’s an awful lot of pressure! So I began photographing probates to capture the joy, fear, sweat, tears, and ecstasy of probate shows.

9) When/where did you become a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.?
I was initiated in Spring 2003 through an alumni chapter in Washington, DC.

10) What are your overall feelings about the state of the Greek system today?
I am very proud of how far the Greek system has come in the past hundred years. I love browsing the websites of all the sororities and fraternities because I can learn so much about what we’re all doing. Inherently, there’s nothing wrong with getting together a group of like-minded men or women for goals of uplifting the community and performing service. I also believe that brotherhood and sisterhood are GREAT things, whether you find that ‘hood through a Greek lettered organization or in your regular life. I do fear that some day soon one of the organizations will be sued into oblivion. On the whole, we are not adequately dealing with the issue of hazing in our organizations. Even though “pledging” was abolished in 1990, underground pledging persists. Why is that? In my opinion, young men and women of color in college want, and dare I say need, a modern rite of passage. We are so privileged in our lives that perhaps we don’t feel that we have “earned” our way into manhood or womanhood. For the new generation of Greeks, simply being selected isn’t enough. I don’t know what the solution is. I hope that we come up with something – soon.

11) Where can readers find your book?
Lazarus can be purchased at www.oldgoldsoul.com, www.amazon.com, Matais Books in Long Beach, the Georgetown University Book Store, Lambda Rising Books in DC, and through my distributor, Culture Plus Books, Inc.