When They Tell You to Be Good (Paperback)

Regular price $26.00

by Prince Shakur

Description

After immigrating from Jamaica to the United States, Prince Shakur's family is rocked by the murder of Prince's biological father in 1995. Behind the murder is a sordid family truth, scripted in the lines of a diary by an outlawed uncle hell-bent on avenging the murder of Prince's father. As Shakur begins to unravel his family's secrets, he must navigate the strenuous terrain of coming to terms with one's inner self while confronting the steeped complexities of the Afro-diaspora.

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When They Tell You to Be Good charts Shakur's political coming of age from closeted queer kid in a Jamaican family to radicalized adult traveler, writer, and anarchist in Obama and Trump's America. Shakur journeys from France to the Philippines, South Korea, and elsewhere to discover the depths of the Black experience, and engages in deep political questions while participating in movements like Black Lives Matter and Standing Rock. By the end, Shakur reckons with his identity, his family's immigration, and the intergenerational impacts of patriarchal and colonial violence.

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Examining a tangled web of race, trauma, and memory, When They Tell You to Be Good compels readers to take a closer, deeper look at the political world of young, Black, queer, and radical millennials today.

About the Author

Prince Shakur is a queer, Jamaican-American freelance journalist, cultural essayist, and grassroots organizer with a BA in Creative Writing from Ohio University. His words have been featured in Teen Vogue, Catapult, Level, Electric Lit, and more. In addition, Shakur is the proud writer in residence at Sangam House, Twelve Arts, The Studios of Key West, and La Maison Baldwin.

Product Details

Category: Memoir

Language: English

Format/Binding: Paperback

Book Condition: New

ISBN-10: 1953534937

ISBN-13: 978-1953534934

Publisher: Tin House Books

Date Published: August 22, 2023

Pages: 304

Terms of Sale

All book sales are final. No returns or exchanges.

Purchaser will receive a new book that has never been read.

In stock books will be shipped within 7 business days of receipt of order via a major mail carrier (USPS, UPS, FedEX, or DHL) and may take up to 14 days to arrive depending on the carrier and destination.

Special orders typically arrive 14 to 21 days after purchase date. Pre-orders typically arrive on or around book's date of publication.