In eight wide-ranging essays, collected in _We Can't Breathe: On Black Lives, White Lies, and the Art of Survival_, Jabari Asim explores such topics as the twisted legacy of jokes and falsehoods in black life; the importance of black fathers and community; the significance of black writers and stories; and the beauty and pain of the black body. What emerges is a rich portrait of a community and culture that has resisted, survived, and flourished despite centuries of racism, violence, and trauma. These thought-provoking essays present a different side of American history, one that doesn’t depend on a narrative steeped in oppression but rather reveals black voices telling their own stories. Asim is an author, poet and playwright. For this discussion he is joined in conversation by _Boston Globe_ columnist Adrian Walker. Image: Book Cover
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