Magically Black and Other Essays

In these stirring pieces, Walker (How to Make a Slave and Other Essays), a creative writing professor at Emerson College, meditates on living as a Black man in America. In “The Curse,” Walker recounts how his parents worshipped in the Radio Church of God, which was headed by a white televangelist who believed only the most “exceptional Blacks” could enter heaven. According to Walker, Black Trump supporters similarly attempt to prove they’re “not really Black” by aligning themselves with a white supremacist leader. The author’s sardonic humor is on display in “Good Help,” which recounts how Walker hired a Black construction contractor whose lackluster work Walker had to critique constantly, prompting the contractor to accuse him of being racist. “That was true,” Walker quips. “Had he not been Black, I would have fired him long ago.” Other entries are more somber. For instance, Walker discusses in “Lost” how his teenage son Adrian’s later-than-expected return home one night caused him to panic that Adrian had become a victim of police violence, leading Walker to wonder whether raising his sons to believe themselves safe in their majority-white neighborhood had made them oblivious to the dangers of racial violence. Delivering sharp assessments of America’s racist mores and brimming with pathos and levity, this packs a punch. (Sept.)