PageTurners: How We Translate the Reality of the Black Experience in America

It’s Lit!It’s Lit!Where all things literary live at The Root

It’s no secret that there is a disparity between the Black and white experiences in America. While the protests of 2020 were supported by a large number of white individuals, there is still constant pressure on Black people to educate the rest of the world on the struggles and obstacles we face daily. While that unrelenting pressure can be incredibly difficult and tiring to bear, authors, activists and whole communities continue to come together, educating, speaking on and empowering those around them.

This literature can be fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, essays or any form of writing that describes the lesser-acknowledged truths. Elisabeth Thomas released Catherine House, a novel exploring the expectations of higher education placed on some Black students and the oppression that can result. Readers get an exclusive look into Exonerated Five survivor Yusef Salaam’s life and his time before, during and after his incarceration. Remi Adeleke, once Nigerian royalty turned impoverished kid in the Bronx turned Navy Seal pens his memoir, which is both a testament to his life and an offering and guide to readers.

The releases this week are literary forms of protest, expressions of love and educational offerings detailing personal, global and national experiences.