Black on Black: On Our Resilience and Brilliance in America

by Daniel Black

Overview

Releasing in paperback January 2025

*From the Viral Clark Atlanta University Commencement Speaker*
*From the Georgia Author of the Year Award Winner*
*A Zibby's Most Anticipated Book of 2023*
*A "Next Big Idea Club" Must-Read Book for January*
*An Essence "Books by Black Authors to Read This Winter" Pick*
*An Ebony Entertainment "Required Reading" Book for January*
*A Lambda Literary "Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Literature" for January*
*A Southern Review of Books Best Book of January*

A piercing collection of essays on racial tension in America and the ongoing fight for visibility, change, and lasting hope

“There are stories that must be told.”

Acclaimed novelist and scholar Daniel Black has spent a career writing into the unspoken, fleshing out, through storytelling, pain that can’t be described.

Now, in his debut essay collection, Black gives voice to the experiences of those who often find themselves on the margins. Tackling topics ranging from police brutality to the AIDS crisis to the role of HBCUs to queer representation in the black church, Black on Black celebrates the resilience, fortitude, and survival of black people in a land where their body is always on display.

As Daniel Black reminds us, while hope may be slow in coming, it always arrives, and when it does, it delivers beyond the imagination. Propulsive, intimate, and achingly relevant, Black on Black is cultural criticism at its openhearted best.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781335449382
Publisher:	Hanover Square Press
Publication date:	01/31/2023
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	384,675
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 2.80(d)

About the Author

Daniel Black is an author and professor of African American studies at Clark Atlanta University. His books include The Coming, Perfect Peace and They Tell Me of a Home. He is the winner of the Distinguished Writer Award from the Middle-Atlantic Writer's Association and has been nominated for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, the Ernest J. Gaines Award,and the Georgia Author of the Year Award. He was raised in Blackwell, Arkansas, and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Table of Contents

Introduction 11

Reasons I Write 19

When I Was a Boy 27

The Trial and Massacre of the Black Body 37

Prayer Won't Fix This: What to Do with the Black Church 59

Black, But Not Beautiful: An Aesthetic Dilemma 89

When WE See Us 107

Dying to Be Loved 123

The Beauty and Struggles of HBCUs 137

Nowhere to Hide (or The Dream of the Closet) 159

Integration: A Failed Experiment 183

Massa, Don't Leave Me! 203

Harriet's Chariot 221

The Power of POSE 241

Editorial Reviews

11/07/2022

Novelist Black (Don’t Cry for Me) mixes memoir, history, and cultural criticism in these powerful essays on the experiences of being a queer Black person in America. In “When I Was a Boy,” Black recalls how he succumbed to the pressure he felt growing up in rural Arkansas to conform to stereotypical notions of masculinity (“I soon learned that people wanted unenlightened black boys.... Half-drunk, baby-producing black boys”), until he went to college and “life-changing books found me and restored my senses.” Elsewhere, Black analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the Black church, claiming that its historical role providing “poor, disenfranchised black people imaginative context wherein to construct identity and communal value” is undercut by its “ubiquitous patriarchy,” antagonism toward Africanist traditions, and insistence that Black people be “‘presentable’ before white eyes.” Other topics include the effects of white supremacy on self-image; the “historical significance” of the TV show Pose; the “life-altering” experience of attending an HBCU, where many students encounter for the first time “the assumption of their intelligence”; and how James Baldwin became “caught in an interstitial space between black rejection and white objectification.” Intimate, wide-ranging, and sharply argued, this is an inspirational call for a more inclusive vision of Black community. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Intimate, wide-ranging, and sharply argued, this is an inspirational call for a more inclusive vision of Black community.”—Publishers Weekly

"Daniel Black takes his talent for writing about inexplicable pain and tells the stories of the marginalized. From police brutality to queer representation in the Black church, Daniel Black gives voice to experiences that show the remarkable resilience that has taken place, a collective celebration of fortitude and survival. A cultural criticism with stories that must be told."—SheReads

"Black's new collection of essays dig deep into Blackness, history and racial tension in this country, while simultaneously serving as a powerful call to action and a celebration of Black culture."—NPR


"Black on Black is a tour de force. Brilliant. Passionate. Deeply caring. One reads these essays and feels immediately enveloped in Daniel Black’s love—even when he challenges you or when you might disagree. I really needed to read this book in these trying times."—Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., New York Times bestselling author of Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own


"In a very real sense, the moral and ethical imperative of Black on Black is to speak a truth that renders black lives sacred, valued, and luminous. In this sense, like many of my generation, Daniel Black announces a prophetic lineage that places him among Baldwin’s progeny, a fierce and passionate wish for the community, indeed the country, to heal and hold itself by standards that emerge from within rather than without, an unapologetic love that runs like fire beneath the history of skin. Black on Black is tender. Beautiful. Fierce beyond measure."—Major Jackson poet and author of The Absurd Man

"Daniel Black is one of our most treasured authors. Black on Black takes on a confessional mode, the stirring of a soul that shines a bright light on too many untold truths. Writers often write by hiding themselves between the pages of their books. There is no hiding in the shadows here, for we see the full evolution of Black’s brilliance, his queerness, his blackness, his love of the written word. Engaging the familiar and unpacking the unfamiliar makes Daniel Black both witness and much needed prophet for our times. A book you will not want to put down and will be excited to share."—Maryemma Graham, University of Kansas Professor of English and Founding Director, Project on the History of Black Writing

From the Publisher

08/01/2022

Winner of the Distinguished Writer Award from the Middle-Atlantic Writer's Association, novelist and cultural critic Black (Don't Cry for Me) offers a debut essay collection examining issues that range from police brutality to the role of queer representation in the Black church. Along the way, he celebrates the strength of Black Americans—and indeed anyone on the margins—and the ongoing struggle for fairness and equality. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

2022-11-08
A novelist and scholar explores a variety of aspects of Blackness in modern America.

Black, a professor of African American studies at Clark Atlanta University, begins the book with “A Sermon,” which lists a series of reasons why he writes, including the erasure of queer Black love and the devaluing of Black beauty and culture. “I want Blackness to bloom all over this land to mend what whiteness has broken,” he writes in a forceful statement of purpose. “I want people to love the stranger, honor the ex-con, respect the sex worker. To assume their humanity regardless of their appearance or station. To know that every life is worth its breath. We all are. But sometimes we’re not so sure. So, for those in-between times, I write….Until we discover that as long as there are books, there is everlasting life! This is why I write.” The author examines the problem of patriarchy in the Black church and advocates for a new, revised Bible that celebrates Black divinity. He also questions the utility of integration, claiming that many “elders” regret how desegregation led to the breakdown of institutions like Black-run schools and businesses, which nurtured and celebrated Black excellence and success. Some of the most powerful essays feature Black’s personal experiences. For example, in one piece, the author writes about a professor in his undergraduate program who pushed him to do academic work that he never dreamed he could do—and to hold himself to high standards that have served him throughout his academic career. In another piece, he describes his grandmother’s subtle support of his queerness despite the danger this could have posed to both of them. Not all of the pieces are as potent, but overall, the author’s passionate prose reflects his unique, thought-provoking perspective.

An innovative, lyrical take on the queer Black experience.

Kirkus Reviews

Black’s extraordinary insight and literary skills combine to create a work that promises both revelation and linguistic ingenuity. Every word in Black on Black is fashioned from joy, pain, and tears.”

Greg E. Carr

In a very real sense, the moral and ethical imperative of Black on Black is to speak a truth that renders Black lives sacred, valued, and luminous…Tender. Beautiful. Fierce beyond measure.”

poet and author of The Absurd Man Major Jackson

Daniel Black's first foray into nonfiction is as engaging and moving as his many novels. JD Jackson expertly narrates these thoughtful, tightly crafted essays. Black offers insight into the Black church, the history and future of HBCUs, Black and queer representation in pop culture, the concept of the closet, activism, and so much more. Jackson's delivery is clear and assured--he has the tone of a university professor (which Black is) who is ready to share his accumulated wisdom with warmth, humor, and refreshing directness. This is a relatively quick listen, but Black's essays are far ranging and impactful. This is a must-listen audiobook from a scholar and writer whose work has been shaping conversations about Black history and contemporary Black life in America for decades. L.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2023 - AudioFile

Daniel Black's first foray into nonfiction is as engaging and moving as his many novels. JD Jackson expertly narrates these thoughtful, tightly crafted essays. Black offers insight into the Black church, the history and future of HBCUs, Black and queer representation in pop culture, the concept of the closet, activism, and so much more. Jackson's delivery is clear and assured--he has the tone of a university professor (which Black is) who is ready to share his accumulated wisdom with warmth, humor, and refreshing directness. This is a relatively quick listen, but Black's essays are far ranging and impactful. This is a must-listen audiobook from a scholar and writer whose work has been shaping conversations about Black history and contemporary Black life in America for decades. L.S. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

APRIL 2023 - AudioFile