Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic

Biographer Boyd (Wrapped in Rainbows), who died earlier this year, brings together in this must-read anthology the work of 31 Black writers to reflect on surviving the trials of 2020. Contributor Tayari Jones describes the year as “a horrific Venn diagram, where the plague of racism overlaps with a global pandemic.” In “Iron and Brass,” Rosalind Bentley recounts the life of her great-great-grandmother Maw, writing “I am the descendant of violence and horror. And yet, so, too, am I the product of love and hope.” Destiny O. Birdsong finds in “Build Back a Body” that cooking during quarantine cultivated “deep quiet and quiet joy,” and in “Out There, Nobody Can Hear You Scream,” Latria Graham recalls driving through the Great Smoky Mountains and passing homes flying Confederate flags. She reflects on Black trailblazers in the outdoors, and reminds Black adventurers, “you belong here, too.” Eloquent and riveting, Boyd’s collection delivers not only, as she promises in her introduction, “a long exhalation, a silent prayer, a solace and a comfort” but also, in the words of Imani Perry, a celebration of Blackness as “an immense and defiant joy.” This one’s not to be missed. (Nov.)