Walker writes, “Racism is part and parcel of our culture, the great American disease with which we are all afflicted. There will be no cure until we accept this diagnosis.” He pushes the reader into deep reflections about race and the complexities of identity as he shares his stories of growing up on Chicago’s South Side, his early formation as a writer learning to abandon stereotypes, and raising his sons in a predominantly white suburb outside of Boston.Īs Ackerman family therapists, striving to provide socially just therapy and training, How to Make a Slave offers us a stark reminder of the importance of context and how it shapes our lived experience and racial identity. The title comes from a famous quote by Fredrick Douglass: “You have seen how a man was made a slave you shall how a slave was made a man.” Through his honest and unflinching style, Walker’s collection explores his experience of growing up and living in the United States as a Black man. Ackerman’s Community Book Club selection for June is How to Make a Slave and Other Essays by Jerald Walker, a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award.
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