How to Make a Slave and Other Essays. Jerald Walker. 2020
Nonfiction. Personal essays. Cultural critiques. Memoir.
The author uses the historical narrative of Frederick Douglas as a jumping off point for a collection of essays that explore the complexities of racial identity, fatherhood, and creative expression as a Black man in modern America.
Walker brings to the table the idea that responding to racism and stereotyping with humour is at least as valid as responding with trauma and tragedy. And as a professor in the early 2000s, for example, he asked students in his African American literature class to focus on black courage rather than white cruelty.
This combination of humour and positivity shining through in the voice of his essays creates an optimistic vibe that makes Walker’s contribution to this topic stand out. While similar contributions like Breathe and Between the World and Me come across, at times, as angry and resentful, Walker’s message is hopeful and confident.
This is not to say he doesn’t recognize the nature of white supremacy in America. Walker is not in denial about that reality. But it’s just not something he is prepared to allow to beat him down. Because he is confident that Black people can ultimately overcome whatever that reality sends their way.
“After all,” he once explained to a white man at a Christmas party, “slaves and their immediate descendants were by and large heroic, not pathetic, or I wouldn’t be standing here.”
AUTHORS – I write short book reviews that focus on voice and vibe. They are useful to querying authors searching for comp titles. There are more like this on my website.