Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching

Title:

A Young Black Man's Education

Author:

Smith, Mychal Denzel

Subject:

Biography & Autobiography

Sociology

Nonfiction

Description:

An unflinching account of what it means to be a young black man in America today, and how the existing script for black manhood is being rewritten in one of the most fascinating periods of American history. How do you learn to be a black man in America? For young black men today, it means coming of age during the presidency of Barack Obama. It means witnessing the deaths of Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Akai Gurley, and too many more. It means celebrating powerful moments of black self-determination for LeBron James, Dave Chappelle, and Frank Ocean. In Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching, Mychal Denzel Smith chronicles his own personal and political education during these tumultuous years, describing his efforts to come into his own in a world that denied his humanity. Smith unapologetically upends reigning assumptions about black masculinity, rewriting the script for black manhood so that depression and anxiety aren't considered taboo, and feminism and LGBTQ rights become part of the fight. The questions Smith asks in this book are urgent — for him, for the martyrs and the tokens, and for the Trayvons that could have been and are still waiting.

Publisher:

Bold Type Books

PublicAffairs

Date:

2016/06/14

Digital Format:

READ IN BROWSER

ADOBE EPUB

KINDLE

Language:

English

ISBN:

9781568585291

Summary

An unflinching account of what it means to be a young black man in America today, and how the existing script for black manhood is being rewritten in one of the most fascinating periods of American history.

How do you learn to be a black man in America? For young black men today, it means coming of age during the presidency of Barack Obama. It means witnessing the deaths of Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Akai Gurley, and too many more. It means celebrating powerful moments of black self-determination for LeBron James, Dave Chappelle, and Frank Ocean.

In Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching , Mychal Denzel Smith chronicles his own personal and political education during these tumultuous years, describing his efforts to come into his own in a world that denied his humanity. Smith unapologetically upends reigning assumptions about black masculinity, rewriting the script for black manhood so that depression and anxiety aren't considered taboo, and feminism and LGBTQ rights become part of the fight. The questions Smith asks in this book are urgent -- for him, for the martyrs and the tokens, and for the Trayvons that could have been and are still waiting.

Author Notes

Mychal Denzel Smith is the author of the New York Times bestseller Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching (2016) and Stakes Is High . His work has appeared, online and print, in the New York Times, Washington Post, Harper's, Artforum, Oxford American, New Republic, GQ, Complex, Esquire, Playboy, Bleacher Report , the Nation , the Atlantic, Pitchfork, Bookforum , and a number of other publications. He has appeared on the Daily Show, PBS Newshour, Democracy NOW!, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee , MSNBC, CNN, NPR, and more national and local radio/television programs.

He is featured in and was a consulting producer for Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story , the Paramount Network docuseries executive produced by Jay-Z. In 2014 and 2016, TheRoot.com named him one of the 100 Most Influential African-Americans in their annual The Root 100 list. He was also a 2017 NAACP Image Award Nominee. He is a fellow at Type Media Center. You can follow him on Twitter at @mychalsmith.

Reviews (1)

Library Journal Review

Black men have long been viewed as objects of dread whom most others in America prefer not to see, indeed typically cannot see as whole persons, argues Nation contributing writer Smith. In this work, the author, who was born in 1986 in Washington, DC, to a military family, unfolds his path to manhood, describing how boys in the black community are wrenched between the cautions and hopes of parents, elders, and community on the one side, and the dominant white culture in which black men are often stereotyped, on the other. As a result, these youth face the dangers and difficulties of classism, elitism, self-hatred, depression, and violence. Smith provides insightful notes on the personalities and politics represented by pointed markers in history, instances when blacks were being murdered, while also explaining how attending Hampton University (an HBCU, or historically black college and university) broadened his perspective. Smith's reflections, titled with a lyric from performer Mos Def's song "Hip Hop," shimmer with cultural commentary that should prompt all readers to do more than simply think or talk about the state of race in America in general (and black America in particular). VERDICT This book will appeal to those who enjoyed similar recent works such as Carol Anderson's White Rage and National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me.-Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.