We Can't Breathe

Essays on race and culture in America by critically acclaimed cultural historian Jabari Asim who focuses on the vibrancy and strength of Black history and culture.

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Critically-acclaimed author and cultural historian Jabari Asim presents eight essays that seek to reclaim the narrative of Black history and culture in America, focusing on how Black bodies, Black words, and Black culture and society have been policed, punished, and stolen for hundreds of years. In We Can't Breathe Jabari Asim takes what Toni Morrison has called "The Master Narrative" and rewritten it - whether it is the history of jokes, black fatherhood, black literature, or "strutting," to create a more accurate and empowered view of Black history in America. Asim emphasizes the power of narrative capital, which he see as critical to Black Americans' well-being along with intellectual capital, economic capital and social capital. We Can't Breathe points to the insidious nature of racism in centuries of American history, but it also highlights the vibrant and sustaining nature of Black culture and Americans who persist and thrive.