In this collaborative work, Jason Reynolds uses three long sentences to capture the suffocation of a Black family living through 2020. Set against the backdrop of a global pandemic and systemic police violence, the narrative follows a young protagonist observing his father’s labored breathing and his mother’s frantic fixation on the news. Jason Griffin’s mixed-media artwork, featuring charcoal, tape, and collage, physically interrupts the text to mirror the frantic, claustrophobic atmosphere of a household trapped in quarantine while the world outside burns.
Readers interested in the intersection of visual art and experimental poetry will find a technical study of pace and anxiety. This book is for those who want to see the domestic reality of social upheaval rather than a political summary. It provides a tactile representation of how historical trauma and health crises converge within the four walls of a home. By the end, a reader understands the mechanical effort required to find a single breath of oxygen when climate, sickness, and injustice make the air feel thin.
- Published
- 2022
- Language
- EN
