To John Howard Griffin: Your action spearheaded the American society's advance and attempt to resolve racial problems. The book Black Like Me will always be the most influential record of reality in the United States history. Your valiant act granted new meaning to the action of passing and has shown every single person in this country how a small act can change the whole status quo. From this book you wrote back in 1959, I can see your eagerness to solve the problem and wipe the racial problem out of America's national identity as a whole by changing your own identity. To some extent, you are not only a trailblazer but also a patriot. Your records opened window for every single citizen to see with their own eyes how injustice had plagued the nation and how important it is to resolve the issue.
Control
Dear Claudia Rankine, Thank you for Citizen . Before even opening the book, the cover struck me as I examined the torn, limbless black hoodie, now a symbol for racial profiling and police brutality. I was reminded of Ta-Nehesi Coates who writes about the lack of control black people have other their bodies, their lives, that can be taken from them at any moment because of microagressions and racism- all down to a hoodie. A black hoodie stands in for a black man, its presence seems to alert and warn the white viewer to stand armed. Upon reading the book, I fell in love with the way you structure prose poetry- it flows through memories and emotions which are not organized neatly and clearly. You place the reader as the "you" as they explore everyday racism (also known as microaggressions) and its detrimental impact on the person; we are forced into the crippling, disorienting minds of an annoymous person. You powerfully portray how racism deteriorates the psyche of a black p...
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