Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

We can't breathe : on black lives, white lies, and the art of survival / Jabari Asim.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Picador, [2018]Copyright date: ©2018Edition: First EditionDescription: 193 pages ; 19 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781250174536
  • 1250174538
Other title:
  • We cannot breathe
Subject(s):
Contents:
Getting it twisted -- The elements of strut -- Shooting negroes -- Color him father -- The seer and the seen : on reading and being -- Brick relics -- The thing itself -- Of love and struggle : the limits of respectability -- Selected bibliography.
Summary: "Asim disrupts what Toni Morrison [calls] the 'master narrative' and replaces it with a story of black survival and persistence through art and community in the face of centuries of racism. In eight ... essays, he explores such topics as the twisted legacy of jokes and falsehoods in black life; the importance of black fathers and community; the significance of black writers and stories; and the beauty and pain of the black body"--Front flap.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 305.896 A832 Available 33111009274503
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A Finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay
Insightful and searing essays that celebrate the vibrancy and strength of black history and culture in America by critically acclaimed writer Jabari Asim

"A fantastic essay collection...Blending personal reflection with historical analysis and cultural and literary criticism, these essays are a sharp, illuminating response to the nation's continuing racial conflicts."--Ron Charles, The Washington Post

In We Can't Breathe , Jabari Asim disrupts what Toni Morrison has exposed as the "Master Narrative" and replaces it with a story of black survival and persistence through art and community in the face of centuries of racism. In eight wide-ranging and penetrating essays, he explores such topics as the twisted legacy of jokes and falsehoods in black life; the importance of black fathers and community; the significance of black writers and stories; and the beauty and pain of the black body. What emerges is a rich portrait of a community and culture that has resisted, survived, and flourished despite centuries of racism, violence, and trauma. These thought-provoking essays present a different side of American history, one that doesn't depend on a narrative steeped in oppression but rather reveals black voices telling their own stories.

Includes bibliographical references.

Getting it twisted -- The elements of strut -- Shooting negroes -- Color him father -- The seer and the seen : on reading and being -- Brick relics -- The thing itself -- Of love and struggle : the limits of respectability -- Selected bibliography.

"Asim disrupts what Toni Morrison [calls] the 'master narrative' and replaces it with a story of black survival and persistence through art and community in the face of centuries of racism. In eight ... essays, he explores such topics as the twisted legacy of jokes and falsehoods in black life; the importance of black fathers and community; the significance of black writers and stories; and the beauty and pain of the black body"--Front flap.

Powered by Koha