Black Boy Smile Audiobook Libro.fm

Description

ANew York Timesbestselling and awardwinning author presents a complex story about his comingofage journey as a Black boy from the societal roots of trauma to finding joy

If I had two wishes it would be that D Watkins spend an entire book writing through the terrifying wonder of Black boyness in America and for every human to read and share this book I am shakenBlack Boy Smilechanged my relationship to writing and meKiese Laymon author of Heavy and winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal

At nine years old D Watkins has three concerns in life picking his dads Lotto numbers keeping his Nikes free of creases and being a man Directly in his periphery is east Baltimore a povertystricken city battling the height of the crack epidemic just hours from the nations capital Watkins like many boys around him is thrust out of childhood and into a world where manhood means surviving by slinging crack on street corners and finding oneself on the right side of pistols For thirty years Watkins is forced to safeguard every moment of joy he experiences or risk losing himself entirely Now for the first time Watkins harnesses these moments to tell the story of how he matured into the D Watkins we know todaybeloved author college professor editoratlarge ofSaloncomand devoted husband and father

Black Boy Smilelays bare Watkinss relationship with his father and his brotherhood with the boys around him He shares candid recollections of early assaults on his body and mind and reveals how he coped using stoic silence disguised as manhood His harrowing pursuit of redemption written in his signature street style pinpoints how generational hardship left raw and unnurtured breeds toxic masculinity Watkins discovers a love for books is admitted to two graduate programs meets with his future wife an attorneyand finds true freedom in fatherhood

Equally moving and liberatingBlack Boy Smileis D Watkinss love letter to Black boys in concrete cities a daring testimony that brings to life the contradictions fears and hopes of boys hurdling headfirst into adulthoodBlack Boy Smileis a story proving that when we acknowledge the fallacies of our past we can uncover the path toward selfdiscoveryBlack Boy Smileis the story of a Black boy who healed