Review by Booklist Review
Known as a master storyteller and a major creative force, best-selling author, award-winning filmmaker, and recording artist Asante pours his heart and soul into a series of letters to his nephew, Nasir, who's fighting for his life after being shot nine times. Asante tells the story of a family, their love for one another, their hardships, and their journey of redemption. He infuses the rich history of the African American experience and music into this story of pain, addiction, and incarceration. Asante shares his painful past with a heavy heart and hopes to mend the broken bonds within his family. His aim was also to keep Nasir safe from the dangers of the streets, which had already taken his father's life, and introduce Nasir to the rich tapestry of their family history that he had not known before. Readers will experience the highs and lows of a family's struggles, witness moments of joy and despair, and see miracles unfold. This beautifully crafted and inspiring narrative captures the essence of family life and showcases the power of love and perseverance in the face of adversity.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Award-winning filmmaker and recording artist Asante (host and coexecutive producer of the docuseries While Black; author of Buck: A Memoir) weaves together stories of several generations of his family, incorporating poetry, rap songs, voicemails, letters to God, journal entries, funeral programs, suicide notes, and T-shirt slogans with quotes from prominent writers and thinkers from around the world and across time. When Asante's book begins, it's three A.M., and he's in the lobby of the Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. He's writing a letter to his 18-year-old nephew, who is lying in the ICU with nine bullets in his body. The voice of the author is anguished as he asks readers to pay attention to the details and to the bigger picture of his observations and conclusions about generational trauma, resilience, and brilliance. His writing style is simple, yet powerful, and he doesn't sacrifice complexity and nuance. VERDICT This poignant memoir about overcoming devastating odds is a treasure and likely to become a classic. Essential reading for deepening understanding of society, the world, familial relationships, and the meaning of art and life.--Amy Cheney
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An ode to the power of healing through art. An accomplished musician, filmmaker, and professor, Asante Jr., author of Buck and It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop, turns his attention to his relationship with his brother Uzi's son, Nasir, whose troubled youth culminated in near death from gun violence. The author sensitively and astutely explores the social dysfunction shared by his brother and nephew. Blending lyrical poetry, personal letters, and raw commentary on the dynamics of suffering and redemption, Asante sketches the forbidding perils facing Black America, as well as the promise of artful resistance to them. The author vividly examines the complex etiology of drug addiction and the lure of antisocial behavior, and he looks at the role played by intergenerational trauma in perpetuating cycles of violence. The author compellingly frames his family story within an account of historical struggles for Black liberty, and he convincingly argues that a people's frustrations, aspirations, and evolving ideals--all its efforts to be free--can be tracked in their creative output: "Escapes, rebellions, and freedom are all encoded in our music." Asante weaves together philosophical considerations of the power of Black aesthetic production from such luminaries as Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Maya Angelou, alongside his own fervent analyses of the verbal genius and historical significance of less well-known figures such as George Moses Horton, Assata Shakur, and Fannie Lou Hamer. In the plea Asante recalls making to his critically wounded nephew, he articulates his broadest collective hopes: "Rise out of this hospital bed, rise above the ignorance that threatens you, rise out of the cycle of poverty and recklessness, rise over self-destruction, rise above the heat of gun smoke." This innovative memoir offers provocative commentary on how Black Americans have sung--and might yet sing--their paths to freedom. Passionate, moving, spirited reflections on art's therapeutic potency. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
