A New York Times bestselling and award-winning author presents a
complex story about his coming-of-age 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 shaken. Black Boy
Smile changed my relationship to writing and me."―Kiese Laymon,
author of Heavy and winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal
At nine years old, D. Watkins has three concerns in life: picking his
dad's Lotto numbers, keeping his Nikes free of creases, and being a man.
Directly in his periphery is east Baltimore, a poverty-stricken city
battling the height of the crack epidemic just hours from the nation's
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 today--beloved author, college professor,
editor-at-large of Salon.com, and devoted husband and father.
Black Boy Smile lays bare Watkins's 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 attorney--and finds true freedom in fatherhood.
Equally moving and liberating, Black Boy Smile is D. Watkins's 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 adulthood. Black Boy Smile is a story proving that when we
acknowledge the fallacies of our past, we can uncover the path toward
self-discovery. Black Boy Smile is the story of a Black boy who
healed.
