We Can't Breathe

On Black Lives, White Lies, and the Art of Survival

By: Jabari Asim

Narrated by: Jabari Asim

A Finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay

Insightful and searing essays that celebrate the vibrancy and strength of black history and culture in America by critically acclaimed writer Jabari Asim

In We Can’t Breathe, Jabari Asim disrupts what Toni Morrison has exposed as the “Master Narrative” and replaces it with a story of black survival and persistence through art and community in the face of centuries of racism. In eight wide-ranging and penetrating essays, he explores such topics as the twisted legacy of jokes and falsehoods in black life; the importance of black fathers and community; the significance of black writers and stories; and the beauty and pain of the black body. What emerges is a rich portrait of a community and culture that has resisted, survived, and flourished despite centuries of racism, violence, and trauma. These thought-provoking essays present a different side of American history, one that doesn’t depend on a narrative steeped in oppression but rather reveals black voices telling their own stories.

©2018 Jabari Asim (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Published by arrangement with Picador.

Excellent, enjoyed from start, middle, to end.

Jabari's narration was the perfect complement to wonderfully written essays that were sharp, insightful and sobering.