Ibi Zoboi - Black Enough - Stories of Being Young & Black in America

First published in the United States of America by Balzer + Bray in 2019

Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Published simultaneously in the UK by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2019

HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd,

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London SE1 9GF

The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Black Enough: Stories of Being Young and Black in America

Copyright © 2019 by Ibi Zoboi

“Half a Moon” copyright © 2019 by Renée Watson

“Black Enough” copyright © 2019 by Varian Johnson

“Warning: Color May Fade” copyright © 2019 by Leah Henderson

“Black. Nerd. Problems.” copyright © 2019 by Lamar Giles

“Out of the Silence” copyright © 2019 by Kekla Magoon

“The Ingredients” copyright © 2019 by Jason Reynolds

“Oreo” copyright © 2019 by Brandy Colbert

“Samson and the Delilahs” copyright © 2019 by Tochi Onyebuchi

“Stop Playing” copyright © 2019 by Liara Tamani

“Wild Horses, Wild Hearts” copyright © 2019 by Jay Coles

“Whoa!” copyright © 2019 by Rita Williams-Garcia

“Gravity” copyright © 2019 by Tracey Baptiste

“The Trouble with Drowning” copyright © 2019 by Dhonielle Clayton

“Kissing Sarah Smart” copyright © 2019 by Justina Ireland

“Hackathon Summers” copyright © 2019 by Coe Booth

“Into the Starlight” copyright © 2019 by Nic Stone

“The (R)Evolution of Nigeria Jones” copyright © 2019 by Ibi Zoboi

Cover image of girl copyright © Masterfile; cover image of boy copyright © Shutterstock

Cover design copyright © HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2019

The authors assert their moral right to be identified as the authors of their work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008326555

Ebook Edition © 2019 ISBN: 9780008326548

Version: 2018-12-18

TO VIRGINIA HAMILTON AND WALTER DEAN MYERS.

WE STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS.

Contents

COVER

TITLE PAGE

COPYRIGHT

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTION

JUNE SARPONG

INTRODUCTION

IBI ZOBOI

HALF A MOON

RENÉE WATSON

BLACK ENOUGH

VARIAN JOHNSON

WARNING: COLOR MAY FADE

LEAH HENDERSON

BLACK. NERD. PROBLEMS.

LAMAR GILES

OUT OF THE SILENCE

KEKLA MAGOON

THE INGREDIENTS

JASON REYNOLDS

OREO

BRANDY COLBERT

SAMSON AND THE DELILAHS

TOCHI ONYEBUCHI

STOP PLAYING

LIARA TAMANI

WILD HORSES, WILD HEARTS

JAY COLES

WHOA!

RITA WILLIAMS-GARCIA

GRAVITY

TRACEY BAPTISTE

THE TROUBLE WITH DROWNING

DHONIELLE CLAYTON

KISSING SARAH SMART

JUSTINA IRELAND

HACKATHON SUMMERS

COE BOOTH

INTO THE STARLIGHT

NIC STONE

THE (R)EVOLUTION OF NIGERIA JONES

IBI ZOBOI

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Any child of colour raised in the West will have been told early on by their parents or guardians that “they need to work twice as hard” in order to achieve success. Those people may not recall exactly when they had their first “conversation” , but they will remember having it.

For non-white children growing up as minorities in Europe or North America, the first uncomfortable “conversation” with their parents isn’t about the birds and the bees – that comes later – it’s about more pressing matters that will impact them from the moment they leave the safety of their parents’ home and enter the world.

Pre-school can often be a baptism of fire for children of colour. While white children may have the luxury of waiting till their tweens before having to learn about the realities of life, children of colour are told much earlier, their “conversation” being more about the inequalities and discrimination that they will invariably face at some point in their lives. Unfortunately, this is regardless of how privileged, talented or brilliant they might be. This is a heartbreaking burden that parents of colour bear, or white parents of non-white children must face. Children of mixed-race heritage are one of the fastest-growing ethnic groups in Britain, so now many parents who themselves might not have had a personal experience of discrimination are having to have that “conversation” with their children.

In Black Enough , Ibi Zoboi powerfully weaves together a collection of short stories that examine what it means to be young and black in America. These stories bring us up close and personal with heroes and heroines who are trying their best to win on an unlevel playing field: young people refusing to give up even when the odds are stacked against them; young people who will open your hearts and minds in ways you couldn’t imagine.

Like all great coming-of-age adventures, you, the reader, will leave as much changed as the protagonists. Black Enough will open your eyes to US injustices that are just as relevant here in the UK; Black Enough will provide you with a new-found appreciation for the resilience of the human spirit; and, more importantly, Black Enough will remind you of our shared humanity.

Whether you are a young person dealing with similar challenges faced in the pages of this book, a parent wanting to raise “woke” children, or simply an ally for change and inclusion, Black Enough will arm you with extra tools on your journey to make the world a fairer place.

I was born in a country known for having had the first successful slave revolt in the world. Way back in 1804, Haiti became the very first independent Black nation in the Western Hemisphere. If global Blackness had a rating scale of one to ten, the Haitian Revolution has got to be at level ten, being the most Blackest thing that ever happened in history.

But none of that mattered when I first immigrated to the United States as a child. The Black and Latinx kids in my Brooklyn neighborhood didn’t know and didn’t care that my native country had once been a hub for freed slaves from America. According to them, I wasn’t Black enough. I wore ribbons in my hair and fancy dresses to school, and I had a weird accent and a funny name. Most important, I didn’t know how to jump double Dutch or separate a sunflower seed from its shell with just my front teeth, and I was off-key and off-beat when stomping, clapping, and singing to the latest cheers. These were all definitions of Brooklyn’s summertime Black girlhood.