The Black Man of Happiness: In Pursuit of My 'Unalienable Right'

by Peter J. Harris

A jazzy journal, an unprecedented meditation, that ranges in scope from Thomas Jefferson's era to the Digital Age, seeking to answer the simple, provocative question: What is a happy Black man? Harris explores his journey from childhood in Southeast D.C. to adulthood as a nationally published writer, educator, and respected cultural worker in LA. In powerful, poetic essays, Harris navigates the labyrinth of his life as son, father, stepfather, and grandfather; as lover; apprentice to wiser big brothers; as straight man crafting brotherhood with his gay Homeboy; as an orphan finding affirmation after his father’s death; even as survivor and symbol of deep healing that blossomed from the agonizing work of confronting, surviving, and transcending his youngest daughter’s rape by her Black step father.