Make-Up Blog #8 Kiese Laymon

I would like to have a reaction to this story but I don't. It's not like the story wasn't not intriguing and captivating but instead I have grown numb to the treatment of Black people in America. Many of his examples of racism in American, I have either seen first hand or already heard of it before. His article shows how growing up Black in the South feels like. Sometimes it is the greatest feeling ever because we are automatically labeled as awesome. Many of the things that become trends in pop culture, fashion, and music comes from the Black community, specifically the Black South. On the other hand, having to deal with racism at a young age, having to be taught about racism and slavery before your white counterparts, or having to twice as hard to get half of what our white peers get is beyond tragic. Throughout the entire story, he kept mentioning how he swing back meaning that he would fight back against the institution of racism, which reminds me of a Tupac interview that was featured on the Kendrick Lamar album,"To Pimp a Butterfly." The interview explains how a black man can only live and be rebellious while he is in his teens and early 20's after those years the Black man becomes docile and subdued. I just thought it was cool for someone to be fearless in what they wrote about.