Jabari Asim, "We Can't Breathe"

Jabari Asim discusses his books, "We Can't Breathe", at Politics and Prose on 11/8/18.

Focusing on the history and culture of black life in America, Asim’s essays testify to the African-American community’s strength, resilience, and beauty. Author of The N Word, former editor at The Washington Post, and editor in chief of the NAACP’s Crisis magazine—not to mention the beloved children’s book author of titles like Whose Knees Are These? and Whose Toes are Those?—Asim explores topics including the importance of black fathers and community, the significance of black writers and stories, jokes and deceptions in black life, and the struggles of the black body. Together, these eight pieces work beyond white master narratives to assert the overlooked truths of black experience

Jabari Asim was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. For eleven years, he was an editor at The Washington Post, where he also wrote a syndicated column on politics, popular culture and social issues, and he served for ten years as the editor in chief of Crisis magazine, the NAACP's flagship journal of politics, culture and ideas.

He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in Creative Arts and the author of several books for adults, including The N Word, as well as children's books.

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Produced by Tom Warren