First published 2021
Cole knows the words they use for kids like him. Token. Bougie. Oreo. Blackish. He grew up Black in predominantly white environments, occupying a space many people refuse to acknowledge exists. The distance from his preppy childhood finally gives him perspective to examine what that experience meant. Cole shares his own story alongside conversations with others who lived similar lives. He revisits his teenage years when the contradictions felt sharpest. The differences showed up everywhere: in how parents treated him, in encounters with police, during the Trump years, through struggles with depression, in romantic relationships. Each situation forced him to navigate between worlds that seemed mutually exclusive. Cole wrestles with a fundamental question about identity and belonging. What does it mean to be Black when your life doesn't match expected narratives? His search reveals that Blackness contains far more complexity than most people imagine.
Genres: african-american, coming-of-age, autobiography, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
240 pages · Paperback · Arcade Publishing
Content warnings: mental-illness, racism