A heartfelt assemblage of applause for America’s Black male exemplars.
Odes of praise for Black masculinity.
This collection follows Green’s Black Roses, which presented “Odes Celebrating Powerful Black Women.” Following an introduction, the author offers 40 poems divided into six categories – Brave Hearts, Champions, Dreamers, Guardians, and Humanitarians. Green lauds figures ranging from businessmen (Tristan Walker, Excell Hardy Jr.) to public intellectuals (Henry Louis Gates Jr., Ta-Nehisi Coates) to professional athletes (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Colin Kaepernick) to musicians (John Legend, Chance the Rapper, Killer Mike). In the introduction, the author highlights the “Black male role models” in his childhood and credits his father, grandfather, and uncles with passing on to him not just a love for poetry and music, but a keen sense of the possibilities inherent in both for liberating the imagination. Green identifies strong familial ties and male friendships as wellsprings of positive identify formation as well as a necessary condition of racial solidarity. The author’s verse celebrates these bonds in an effort to “expand on the language that Black men use to speak to and about each other,” making it possible for “us to be more comfortable rooting for each other no matter sexual orientation, disagreements, or status.” A resonant theme is Green’s admiration for the ramifying positivity of commitments to kin, as in his praise for his own father’s ability to “demonstrate / what proper pride looks like. / When you have enough for yourself, / it spills over into others.” Also potent are the author’s tributes to the courage of Black protest: “Colin’s Proposal” strikingly declares that “On September 1st, 2016, / Colin Kaepernick proposed to the United States— / she said, ‘No.’ ” Green also celebrates inspirational Black leadership—e.g., commending the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III for his ability to “speak as if / faith is part of the fabric / that creates forward motion— / aerodynamic optimism— / panoramic realism.”
A heartfelt assemblage of applause for America’s Black male exemplars.Pub Date: May 31, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-313556-7
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Harper Design
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Everything about Sabathia is larger than life, yet he tells his story with honesty and humility.
One of the best pitchers of his generation—and often the only Black man on his team—shares an extraordinary life in baseball.
A high school star in several sports, Sabathia was being furiously recruited by both colleges and professional teams when the death of his grandmother, whose Social Security checks supported the family, meant that he couldn't go to college even with a full scholarship. He recounts how he learned he had been drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the first round over the PA system at his high school. In 2001, after three seasons in the minor leagues, Sabathia became the youngest player in MLB (age 20). His career took off from there, and in 2008, he signed with the New York Yankees for seven years and $161 million, at the time the largest contract ever for a pitcher. With the help of Vanity Fair contributor Smith, Sabathia tells the entertaining story of his 19 seasons on and off the field. The first 14 ran in tandem with a poorly hidden alcohol problem and a propensity for destructive bar brawls. His high school sweetheart, Amber, who became his wife and the mother of his children, did her best to help him manage his repressed fury and grief about the deaths of two beloved cousins and his father, but Sabathia pursued drinking with the same "till the end" mentality as everything else. Finally, a series of disasters led to a month of rehab in 2015. Leading a sober life was necessary, but it did not tame Sabathia's trademark feistiness. He continued to fiercely rile his opponents and foment the fighting spirit in his teammates until debilitating injuries to his knees and pitching arm led to his retirement in 2019. This book represents an excellent launching point for Jay-Z’s new imprint, Roc Lit 101.
Everything about Sabathia is larger than life, yet he tells his story with honesty and humility.Pub Date: July 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-13375-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roc Lit 101
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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