The Talk

 The Talk by Darrin Bell is one of the best graphic novels I have read.

Along with fascinating storyline, a memoir about his life and thoughts on racism and being a minority in this country, his artwork is engaging to look at and his lettering is easy to read.  His page layout also keeps the story flowing and is never difficult to follow.

Darrin Bell grows up the child of a white Jewish mother and a Black father. His mother is always super aware that she needs to protect her son from the world around them.  He is growing up in Los Angeles, Ca in the 1980s.  The Rodney King riots will not even happen until 1992, but his mother is aware of the dangers of a young black boy on the streets, being mistaken by the police.  He is never aloud to own a realistic looking water gun.  She also defends in school when teachers do  not understand him or try to stereotype him.  Though as he grows up he is hyper aware of the trouble that can befall him for no reason other than his appearance, he learns to stand up for himself.  There are examples of being pulled over by the police when he is driving a rental car and of a teacher accusing him of plagiarizing when he writes a really good paper. 

Darrin becomes a talented cartoonist and draws for the school newspaper. then becomes a editorial cartoonist and eventually wins a Pulitzer prize for his artwork.  He chronicles all the historic moments of his life from the "Black Lives Matter "movement, the deaths of so many young black men at the hands of the police to the "Twin Towers" coming down. He writes about having children of his own and how he has to decided how and when to have "The Talk" with his own young son. 

Lets hope that soon it will not be necessary for these kinds of discussions between parents and their children and that we will all find a way to live in harmony and equality here in the United States.