We Can't Breathe: On Black Lives, White Lies, and the Art of Survival

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.

Author: Jabari Asim
Publisher: Picador USA
Published: 10/16/2018
Pages: 208
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.30lbs
Size: 7.00h x 4.50w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781250174536

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 11/01/2018 pg. 79
Library Journal Prepub Alert 06/01/2018 pg. 58
Publishers Weekly 08/27/2018
Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2018 pg. 57
Shelf Awareness 11/02/2018
School Library Journal 12/21/2018 pg. 69

About the Author
JABARI ASIM was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. For eleven years, he was an editor at The Washington Post, where he also wrote a syndicated column on politics, popular culture and social issues, and he served for ten years as the editor in chief of Crisis magazine, the NAACP's flagship journal of politics, culture and ideas. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in Creative Arts and the author of six books for adults, including The N Word, and nine books for children.

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