Everything and Nothing at Once: A Black Man’s Reimagined Soundtrack for the Future

“What does it mean to be a Black man, now?” asks Leon, creative director at the New York Times’s T Brand Studio, in his intimate debut essay collection. In “All Gold Everything,” he contends that the ostentatious gold chains worn by Mr. T, Michael Jordan, and Slick Rick are a “reflection of all the excess we weren’t privileged enough to obtain when we were stolen and brought to the Americas.” Grieving the lost potential of L.A. rapper Nipsey Hussle and other Black men killed in their hometowns by local rivals or the police, Leon laments the “clear and present dangers of staying in the same places where the homies and the 12 know our names” in “Homecoming.” The tender “How to Make a Black Friend” meditates on the support Leon derives from his friendship with Tyron Perryman, whom Leon met after appearing on Perryman’s podcast, Tea and Converse: “The idea that male friendships don’t get to be as special, as intimate, and as warm as other relationships is what leaves so many of us looking for vices that isolate us from the truest, most vulnerable and loving versions of self.” Leon’s lucid prose elevates his perceptive insights into the need for more expansive visions of Black masculinity. This auspicious outing announces Leon as a writer to watch. (June)