Don't Cry for Me

by Daniel Black

Alice Walker was a soft-spoken, pretty black woman who spoke of the need for honesty in our stories. She said it saddened her that so many black men had found her work offensive when, really, she’d meant to heal us. The story

was about Celie’s strength, courage, and resilience. She’d accepted Shug’s love, Ms. Walker emphasized, because no one else had found her worthy of it. Certainly no man. I shook my head.

It was also the destruction of my personal existence because I had no power without it. If this sounds dramatic to you, you’ve misunderstood the gravity of our fears. How would the world survive if men loved only men?

Women who loved women weren’t as dangerous, we thought, for a good man could set her aright.

believed that men who loved men went against the fabric of society. They threatened to undo the natural order of things. This would be the end of the world, as w...

You looked around and said softly, “I don’t want it. I’ll never live here again.” Too hurt to respond, I simply nodded. I’ve worked a lifetime to own this house, and you don’t even want it? Fine! I’ll keep it for myself. No need paying rent elsewhere, I decided, when I own an empty house.

Esau Swinton 1939–1956 “My dear brother”

Love doesn’t make us perfect;

it makes us want to be. By the time you discover this, your imperfections have done their damage.

Officially, I retired from the post office after forty years of service, but they knew better. They couldn’t even look at me as I walked away.

“What happened, Charlie?” He shook his head. “I can’t understand it, man. You raise a child, thinkin you know him, then you discover you don’t know him at all.”

I definitely didn’t want to hear this part, but Charlie volunteered: “The man told her he loved my boy, Jacob.” Charlie shook his head, unable to believe his own words. “That’s what she said he said. They been messin around a little over a year. Fell out about somethin.” “Charlie.”

Charlie Junior and Kayla stayed together though. They had a baby a few months later, a little boy named Charlie III, who they called Trey. The boy looks just like his daddy.

If I could go back in time, I’d tell Charlie the truth and urge him to love his boy regardless. I’d tell him that every man chooses his own life, and that a parent’s job is to respect that choice.

When you read this, I’ll be in the next world. Don’t cry for me, son. I’ve cried enough for myself. And have no regrets about us. There is nothing for which you are to blame, unless you’ve now made your own mistakes and hurt others, which you may have. Every man has. But most of those hurts—at least many of them—are blooms of seeds I planted in you.

You must learn to uproot unwanted seeds without

destroying the entire harvest. This is the son’s lesson. Nurture good sprouts, Isaac. Toss weeds aside and never think of them again. Just remember that sprouts and weeds are planted together, and weeds have a valuable function. They teach you what to ...

This is all I have to say. If this isn’t enough, I have nothing else to give. I would give you my life, but it’s already spent. The most precious thing I leave you is the land. It’s yours. Never sell it. It will support you when the world casts you

aside. If you end up like me, with nothing and no one, you can always return to it, and it will love you and sustain you without judgment. If you don’t think you want it, keep it anyway. It may be all you have one day.

Finally, I leave you this charge: Live your life freely, Isaac. Rise above ...

unapologetic self. Just remember that I meant well. Even in my failure, I truly meant...