This anthology explores the emotional, social, cultural, and economic forces shaping African American life in the 21st century. It highlights the narratives of Black men and women who carry the hopes and dreams of their generation, telling stories of deferred dreams, incarceration, and broken families striving to overcome stereotypes. Morrow creates hyperreal poetic engagements with anti-Blackness and systemic racism, questioning who can maintain hope amid circumstances that anticipate premature death. The characters speak truth to power, presenting themselves unapologetically in a world indifferent to claims of racism and inequality. In one narrative, Baybra, a recently released convict, returns home to live with his sister Tallulah and her husband Charles, ostensibly to rehabilitate but secretly seeking revenge for his sister’s spousal abuse that led to the loss of her child. Another story delves into the generational inheritance of trauma through Spicer and Norma, a couple facing darkness and therapy after losing a family member. A dark dramedy features a white mother in denial about her racism and cocaine addiction, who, forced to get clean, moves in with her mixed-race son. He is reluctant to support her recovery amid the converging crises of the BLM movement and Covid.
