What Black Boys Are Not Allowed to Feel

Essay

There is a performance tax placed on Black boys before they ever learn to speak. Before we know what grief is, we know what grief looks like when it is suppressed. I started writing at thirteen because the feeling would not fit anywhere else. It went onto the page, because the page asked nothing of me except honesty. My books are written in the language I was not supposed to learn. They are not performances of strength. They are accounts of what strength actually requires. Your feelings are not weakness. Your grief is real, and it is allowed to be put somewhere it will not destroy you.