A Collective Breath
A Next Generation Indie Book Award Winner!
Open. Sincere. Honest. Unfiltered.
In early June of 2020, many of us found ourselves unable to sleep, unable to function normally, and unable to comprehend that once again, a Black man found himself unable to breathe and ultimately met his demise at the hands of the police.
You may have also found yourself in a state of shock and wanting to do something. The contributors to A Collective Breath: Stories of Being Black in America and Visions of Change found themselves in similar positions.
A Collective Breath’s collaborators’ candid, personal thoughts and feelings reveal the many challenges that blacks face in America today—challenges they may not directly divulge to others but that are part of their realities. They offer ideas for solutions and actions to pave the way to a more optimistic future.
Consisting of a variety of blacks of well-educated who are community leaders, entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals and who are involved with their families and religious organizations, the contributors tell of what it is like to be black in America.
In A Collective Breath, the contributors do not hold back.
They take a collective breath—the breaths that George Floyd, Manuel Ellis, Javier Ambler, Eric Garner, and so many others could not take—to document for the world how they feel in this moment; the lenses through which they, as blacks in America, view and live their lives; and what they believe needs to change today for a different tomorrow.
A Collective Breath is the winner of a 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Award.
Hardcover: 200 pages
Publisher: BMcTALKS Press (August 28, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1-953315-00-7
Dimensions: 8” x 8”
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Letter to the Reader
I Am More Than What You Think I Am
Not Another Mad Black Woman
Does My Blackness Diminish My Authority?
I’m Not an Employee Here. I’m a Patron Just Like You.
(Un)intentional, (In)direct, and Subtle/Not So Subtle Discrimination
“You Sure Are Articulate”
Driving Too Slowly While Black
She Needed Help, Not Handcuffs
Missing Sidewalks, Melted Ice Cream, and Weapons Drawn
Both the Police AND YOU are Responsible for How It Goes Down
What Needs to Change
We Are Not Angry … We Are Tired: A Journey of 400+ Years
Be Aware: Realize There Is So Much More to Us
My Only Regret is There Were No Cameras by TRAVIS HARDIN
Silence is Violence by DR. JAMES SMITH, JR., CSP
Hear Our Position and Understand Our Pain by RACHAEL BOONE
Racism is Exhausting by RANADA SAMUEL
Where is the Basic Concern for Human Life? By ALFRED GLEASON, JR.
My Heart Felt Heavy and My Hands Felt Helpless by INACENT SAUNDERS
The Prerogative to Take Up Space by TISH TIMES
Yield to the Whiteness Around You by LaWANNA R. WILSON
All America Sees is the Color of My Skin by ARTESIAN KIRKSEY
The Ultimate Dichotomy by JAYLYNN TAMELA SMITH
We Cannot Turn a Blind Eye by SIMONE E. MORRIS
White America Has a 400-Year Head Start by DR. HELEN HOLTON
Before All Lives Matter, Black Lives Must Matter by CHANDRA GORE
Level the Playing Field by DR. SHAWN DANDRIDGE, SR.
America, the Beautiful Narcissist by TeLISA DAUGHTRY
We Are Repeatedly Under Assault by ALANA M. HILL
Being Black is Both a Blessing and a Curse by PAUL JOHNSON
Can YOU Breathe? by CLINTON HARRIS
RESOURCES FOR ADDITIONAL LEARNING
Books and Additional Readings
Documentaries, Episodes Miniseries, TV Series, and Videos
Podcasts
Websites