Goodreads asked Jabari Asim:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Jabari Asim Only The Strong is part of an ongoing project to tell the story of a specific community over the course of several books, chronicling economic, social and political changes through the lives of multiple generations of people. It began with A Taste Of Honey, my short-story collection published in 2010. Most of the characters from that book return. Primary characters from A Taste Of Honey moved to the background while characters formerly in the background move to center stage. Only The Strong takes place in 1970, as the civil rights movement has begun to subside.

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