How to Make a Slave and Other Essays (21st Century Essays)

165 Pages·2020·1.104 MB·English

by  Jerald Walker

JER ALD WALKER
“No one—absolutely no one—I’ve read is writing better than Jerald Walker
about race, being black, and the depths and complexities of our humanity.”
—CHARLES JOHNSON, author of Middle Passage,
winner of the National Book Award
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR HOW TO MAKE A SLAVE
“These aren’t essays. This is hypnosis, a spell of enchant-
ment cast over the reader by a masterful writer whose
crystal-clear vision is not only original but revelatory. I
laughed out loud, nodded at Jerald Walker’s delivery of
so much truth, and just shook my head at how gracefully
he achieves so much so quickly in every piece in How to
Make a Slave. All I can say is, ‘Wow.’ And you can’t just
consume one; you’ll find yourself gobbling down every
essay here and hungering for more. No one—absolutely
no one—I’ve read is writing better than Jerald Walker
about race, being black, and the depths and complexities
of our humanity.”
—Charles Johnson, author of Middle Passage, winner
of the National Book Award
“Ignited by the everyday sparks of racial conflict—whether
on a college campus or in an aisle at Whole Foods—these
extraordinarily candid essays crackle with humor and dra-
matic tension. As ‘race stories,’ they also add a creative
and subtle twist to an issue too often expressed in pre-
dictable polemics. This new collection establishes Jer-
ald Walker as truly one of the most gifted essayists of our
time.”
—Robert Atwan, Series Editor, Best American Essays
“I’ve been waiting for this, the first collection of essays by
one of our best essayists, for years. Jerald Walker’s How to
Make a Slave is notable for its persistence of vision. These
essays are relentlessly humane even as they stare into
America’s split, racist heart. And like America and Ameri-
cans, this book is both funny and fucked up, and neither
can exist without the other.”
—Ander Monson, author of I Will Take the Answer
“This piercing and restless collection slices through this
country’s agitated racial landscape with the tenacity of a
thunderbolt. Walker manages to be all of us—we are all
the college English department’s pet token, we are all the
potential Whole Foods crime wave, we are all the Negro
middle American agonizing over a return trip to the
implosive inner city from whence we came. These fresh,
revelatory snippets of black life deserve a rollicking col-
lective Amen! and an audience of both the converted and
the curious.”
—Patricia Smith, author of Incendiary Art
“If there is a book you need to read as our country is
about to devour itself, it is How to Make a Slave. Walker’s
sharp voice cuts through the social malaise of our culture,
delivering intimate moments of his life—from a boy in
South Chicago to a young student writer trying to find
voice amid a myriad of black stereotypes to a father rais-
ing two boys in a divided country. These essays enlighten
us through depth and complexity of thought and the
veracity of experience.”
—Ira Sukrungruang, author of Buddha’s Dog and Other
Meditations
HOW TO MAKE A SLAVE
21ST CENTURY ESSAYS
David Lazar and Patrick Madden, Series Editors
HOW TO
MAKE A SL AVE
A N D O T H E R E S S AYS
Jerald Walker
MAD CREEK BOOKS, AN IMPRINT OF
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS
COLUMBUS
Copyright © 2020 by Jerald Walker.
All rights reserved.
Published by Mad Creek Books, an imprint of The Ohio State University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Walker, Jerald, author.
Title: How to make a slave and other essays / Jerald Walker.
Other titles: 21st century essays.
Description: Columbus : Mad Creek Books, an imprint of The Ohio State
University Press, [2020] | Series: 21st century essays | Summary: “Personal
essays exploring identity, family, and community through the prism of
race and black culture. Confronts the medical profession’s racial biases,
shopping while black at Whole Foods, the legacy of Michael Jackson,
raising black boys, haircuts that scare white people, racial profiling, and
growing up in Southside Chicago”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020007415 | ISBN 9780814255995 (paperback) | ISBN
081425599X (paperback) | ISBN 9780814278215 (ebook) | ISBN
0814278213 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Walker, Jerald. | African Americans—Race identity. | Race
discrimination. | Families. | American essays—21st century.
Classification: LCC PS3623.A35938 A6 2020 | DDC 305.896—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020007415
Cover design by Amanda Weiss
Text design by Juliet Williams
Type set in ITC New Baskerville
in memory of
James Alan McPherson

CONTENTS
How to Make a Slave 1
Dragon Slayers 7
Before Grief 16
Inauguration 21
Kaleshion 29
The Heritage Room 36
Unprepared 42
Feeding Pigeons 49
Breathe 56
The Heart 63
Balling 68
Testimony 75
Smoke 82
Wars 89
Simple 94
The Designated Driver 100