|
The Beast Side:
Living (and Dying) While Black in America
by D. Watkins
c.2015, Hot Books
$21.99 / $27.99 Canada
176 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
Bang.
That’s all it takes to snuff out a life. One bang, though
there are usually more before someone is dead: Freddie Gray,
Michael Brown, Tamar Rice, Jonathan Ferrell, how did we get
to this point? Better yet, as D. Watkins ponders in
his new book The Beast Side, how do we get out
of it?
|
 |
|
The list of the dead literally grows every day:
statistically, an African-American citizen is murdered by
white cops, black cops, or neighbors every 28 hours. It’s
war out there for Black America, says D. Watkins, and he’s
tired of it.
His idea for ending violence and injustice is unique, but
meaningful.
Watkins says that reading absolutely changed his life by
teaching him to think critically, and it saved him.
Literacy, he says, opens lines of communication, while
sharing individual stories can educate and can make people
eager to read. The Beast Side is, therefore, a book
of stories.
How does it happen, for example, that a black writer from
Baltimore – a city that’s 60 percent black – finds himself
speaking at a large event where there are few black people?
The reason: there are two Baltimores and the split is sharp.
Before college, Watkins had little contact with whites. Do
white people know what’s happening in east Baltimore? Not
many do, he says and when folks learn, they’re usually
surprised.
It’s almost hard to grasp how many of Watkins’ friends and
family have died by violence. He was only a boy when he
witnessed a murder; crime was that common. He watched
people on his street do anything to make a buck (they’re the
hardest working people in the nation, he says); he sold
drugs, hustled, and carried a gun (mandatory, he claims),
but his brother wanted him off the streets.
Watkins went to college to become a professor and a teacher.
His stories help black men understand why they should
respect black women more; they explain why Watkins doesn’t
recite the Pledge of Allegiance, how black people are left
out of pop culture, why reading is essential and how eating
poorly could be Black America’s worst habit. And they show
how, deeply and despite the rift in this country, we really
aren’t so different after all.
Is that such a surprise?
At the risk of sounding Pollyanna-ish, no. But can that hope
change the way things are, as reported in The Beast Side?
That, I think, will depend on your POV: author D. Watkins
says things that many people don’t want to hear and his
words fairly seethe with anger – yet, pages later, those
stories seem almost warm before abruptly turning to outrage
and anger again. Hope followed by persistent reality is what
you get, then, along with a lingering sense of rightful
unease, inability to stop pondering, and a need to become
much, much more educated.
Though its subject matter can be harsh, I think The Beast
Side is appropriate for older-teens-to-adults,
particularly if recent news stories disturb you greatly. If
that’s the case, then aim to read it. |
