They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib / 5 stars

[Meli]

I don't remember why I picked this book up because I am not normally drawn to essay collections, but I think I picked it up because the writer is a music critic from Columbus OH and I would party there sometimes when I lived in Findlay OH to see shows ... I felt a connection to that time in my life and was curious about the writer.
I think I saw this on some best of list but I was only mildly aware of it. I skimmed the book jacket and determined they were music essays which turned out to be only slightly true.

Abdurraqib is not just a music critic, he is a poet and culture critic both of which are strongly present in these essays. In the first quarter of the book the essays are focused on music but they always use music as a reference point to talk about race, love, youth, friendship, loss, death, personal demons. I wasn't expecting the emotional punch that comes with reading his essays and it was enthralling.

By the second half Abdurraqib shifts exclusively to issues dealing with his personal experiences and observations as a black Muslim growing up in central OH and at his small college nearby. His observations are illuminating, tragic, but never without hope, and forced introspection for me (white Midwest woman) that was uncomfortable and always necessary.

For readers with an interest in current social and culture issues with a heavy emphasis on race from a empathetic and analytical voice.