Keepin' It Real: Essays on Race in Contemporary America

by Elwood Watson

The past decade has been one of the most racially turbulent periods in the modern era, as the complicated breakthrough of the Obama presidency gave way to the racially charged campaigning and eventual governing of Donald Trump. Keepin’ It Real presents a wide-ranging group of essays that take on key aspects of the current landscape surrounding racial issues in America, including the place of the Obamas, the rise of the alt-right and White nationalism, Donald Trump, Colin Kaepernick and the backlash against his protests, Black Lives Matter, sexual politics in the black community, and much more. 
America’s racial problems aren’t going away any time soon. Keepin’ It Real will serve as a marker of the arguments we’re having right now, and an argument for the changes we need to make to become the better nation we’ve long imagined ourselves to be.
 

140 pages, Paperback

Published October 25, 2019

Reviews

[Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important bridge from just a few years ago (published 2019) to help explain where we are today. You may have heard of these incidents separately, but there's power in collecting them in a book, and it's always important to be reminded of them. We have to remember our own very recent history so we can keep in mind the nuance and scope of everything at stake. Society often takes backward steps. We aren’t guaranteed to avoid bad outcomes unless we make a “valiant effort,” Watson says. All of us who care have to try. More info on Medium.