We Gon’ be Alright by Jeff Chang

We Gon’ be Alright by Jeff Chang is another new book dealing with race and resegregation.  An award-winning author, Chang is currently executive director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University. In We Gon’ be Alright, he provides a series of essays dealing with student protest, cultural equity and Asian Americanness, complete with numerous contemporary references to BlackLivesMatter, events like Ferguson, and Trump’s rise. 

Here at school, we are in the midst of preparing for another all day seminar on race and are considering an activity involving a version of the race card project, telling a race story in 6 words.  Chang forcefully argues that “race makes itself known in crisis;” I was struck by that position and by several other possible examples of 6 word stories in his writing:

• Renewed attention to questions of equity;
• Lack of access, representation and power;
• Conspicuous and invisible at [the] same time;
• Zero or one, this or that;
• Implicit bias, stereotype threat … empathy gap;
• Inequity and injustice …. impact real people;
• Away from mutuality… toward [the] undoing [of] democracy;
• Seeing fully … the beginning of community.

Hopefully considering those shortened, yet powerful, statements will prompt discussion. Chang’s ability to inform and educate is evident as he provides important historical context and relies on extensive research and endnotes.  We Gon’ be Alright received a starred review from Kirkus. Additional recent blog posts on books related to race include The Fire This Time and Between the World and Me.