Heavy is an AMAZING book, would also recommend Hunger by Roxane Gay, two books that can help you understand what it means to have ownership of your own body, what it means to feed yourself and your spirit. Both exceptional in their writing and beautiful.
5
I can't wait to read this - I am currently a black mom raising two black teenage boys and struggle with how much to push them, feeling like what ever I do it will never be 1/10th of the way this cruel world will work to crush them (as it works to crush all of us to a certain extent) and I want them to be prepared.
It may be cliche but it is still true - black boys don't get a lot of second chances, and the old "boys will boys" benefit of the doubt is never given to them. It does feel like they need to be excellent whether in academics or more commonly in sports to be given any opportunity at all
10
@VJO: I'm sorry that this is still the case in the USA in 2018, i.e., that black children, especially males, have to be taught these types of lessons for their own safety. However, I am slightly more hopeful after the midterm elections.
Best of luck to you and your sons. It sounds as if they are lucky to have you for their mom.
2
Thank you Mr. Jones and NYT for reviewing this important book. Thank you for paying attention to the things that matter.
7
What a great review...I look forward to reading this one. His essays have also foretold what a great read this will be. I'm sure I have lots--maybe even an "abundance"--to learn from Kiese Laymon and his becoming a man. His totally racialized experience will have been completely different from my upbringing. But being roughly treated by a single parent trying to protect you with their brand of tough love is a wide enough net to also catch some of us who weren't black in Mississippi. Learnng to live with some pretty lethal paradoxes through deeply and violently instilled notions of excellence is a big personal and societal problem.
5
Reminds me of a recent article about a flight attendant asking an African American doctor if they were really a doctor. Disheartening. Instead of supporting and encouraging, we judge. Listen to Brother Ali "dear black son".
4
That's a moving review of what must be a moving book. However, at each of the three uses of the word "country" or "America" as a collective noun for how many people of color are treated made me cringe. That I, and many others, could be moved by the review suggests that there is no single "America." People of color suffer from this type of collective labeling, usually known as bigotry. Collective labels should be resisted.
2