The subtitle of this book is Notes in Praise of Black Performance, and I feel like that's exactly what I was shown in this book. Hanif Abdurraqib does such a great job of weaving his poetry in the middle of these stories. I was touched and educated by this book and I'm thankful that he was willing to stand up and say what he wanted to say and not try to end with some platitudes about how things will be fine and they will get better because people have been saying that for too many years and not much has changed. It's because of writers who share their stories that some of us are changing, and I can't help but feel a little hopeful about that.