“Street Poison” by Justin Gifford – From Robert Beck to Iceberg Slim

Contemporary black culture certainly has many prominent figures who majorly contributed to its development in the latter half of the 20th century, but few of them arguably had the influence of Iceberg Slim, a real icon of his time. In his biography Street Poison, Justin Gifford takes it upon himself to examine in as much depth as possible this unique man's story.

The book touches on Iceberg Slim's (real name Robert Beck) life from the very beginning, with his birth in 1918 to parents who migrated to Chicago from Tennessee.

From there on out we follow him through his upbringing years, getting a good look at the early stages that served to mold this man's life, the kind of people he hung around, the way his family functioned... basically, we get all the inner workings.

Robert Beck - Iceberg Slim

The book then tackles the years that come after that, the period of his life where he became a rather notorious pimp, and eventually an icon who heavily contributed to black culture with his writings, mainly his brutally honest autobiography titled Pimp: The Story of My Life.

As a matter of fact, it can be argued that his works pioneered the genre of “blaxploitation”, hip hop, gangsta rap and street literature. Basically, his life is told from A to Z.

The first impression one gets when reading through this book is that it is written in a scholarly and informative way; few details are spared about the people and events discussed.

At the same time though, the language used is pretty simple and whether Gifford intended to or not, he does weave together a very compelling narrative that feels all the more powerful when we remember it to be that of a real man. The amount of detail in which Gifford presents everything is rather commendable and shows that he has truly done his research.

We get rather intimately acquainted with Beck's entourage, the people that influenced him over the course of his earlier years, his turbulent adolescent years, his somewhat strange obsession with becoming a “professional pimp”, his complicated love/hate relationship with his mother, his decision to become Iceberg Slim, etc...etc... At the end of it, Robert is anything but a stranger to the reader.

In addition to the biography, Gifford also looks into the Great Black Migration which occurred at the start of the 20th century and the many hardships faced by black communities, including exploitation and segregation.

He looks into numerous neighbourhoods in different cities, including Southside in Chicago, Paradise Valley in Detroit, and South Central L.A., just to name a few. In other words, this is a work that goes beyond the one man and tries to explore the entirety of the culture during the 20th century.

All in all, Street Poison is one of the most informative and entertaining books out there on Iceberg Slim and contemporary black culture in general. I heavily recommend it to those who are vested in the subject, as it's practically guaranteed you'll learn at least a few new things.

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Justin Gifford Justin Gifford is an American professor and writer who decided to place his focus on African-American literature once he discovered its diverse universe and what he referred to as its hidden genealogy. His books include Pimping Fictions and Street Poison, so far his most critically-acclaimed effort.