Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America

Art is a recurring motif throughout the collection, as characters use art as a form of escape and expression. Whether it is music, television, or painting, as characters battle with the difficulties of their lives they find an escape through the beauty of creativity.

In the story “Warning: Color May Fade,” Nivia faces the pressure from her parents to pursue a more solid career, although Nivia’s true passion is art. In her life leading up to the story, she regularly sketches in her notebook pictures of herself that she would not share with the world. Art for her is a way to explore who she really is apart from the pressures of her family to perform well and pursue a career that they find acceptable. Similarly, Geri in the story “The (R)evolution of Nigeria Jones” repeatedly watches the television show Friends. It serves as a reminder of her deceased mother while also giving her insight into the lives of “white” people—showing her that white people who are not, as her father repeatedly tells her, destined to oppress people of color.

For Sobechi in “Samson and the Delilahs,” his artistic escape is music. When he hears

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