Black Summers: Growing Up in the Urban Outdoors

by Desiree Cooper (Contributor), Tommye Blount (Contributor), Justin Boggués (Contributor)

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

Published April 21, 2026

About the author

In Know the Mother, Cooper explores how sexism and racism continue to uncoil in the midst of life's most intimate moments. A former journalist and Pulitzer Prize-nominated columnist for the Detroit Free Press, Cooper uses the compressed form of "flash fiction" to tell an entire story. Slipping between poetry and prose, the 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow takes the reader to places where race and gender are unexpected interlopers--from a traditional Japanese market where a black woman shops with her newborn, to a law office where a woman miscarries during a conference call, to the middle of the night when spirits arrive for dinner.

Reviews

[Lizzie]

Such a great collection of Detroit memoirs. I learned a bunch of fun facts about Detroit, I stepped into a bunch of different people's shoes, I was reminded of things I love about living here. I will be giving this to lots of friends.

[Robin Gaines]

These thirty-three essays, poems, and comics about growing up in and growing in resilience with the city of Detroit will hook you from the beginning. Cooper sets the tone for the anthology in the Foreword, noting that Sarah Elizabeth Ray, also known as Lizz Haskell, was kicked off the Boblo Boat in 1945 for being “colored.” She filed a complaint that reached the United States Supreme Court, where it ruled in Elizabeth’s favor, setting the stage for Brown v. Board of Education. Detroit’s struggles are its people’s struggles, and they have persevered through the century.

This is but one example in the anthology of the legacy of summer memories spent on porches, in backyards, fishing along the riverfront, basketball courts, riding the city streets with the windows down and Motown blasting from radios, splashing around in the Swimmobile, picnics on Belle Isle, family reunions, the Detroit Jazz Festival, and the Afro Nation music fest.

Simple and carefree summers sit alongside some of the city’s more grittier experiences. The 1967 riot, the closing of Belle Isle, protests, racism, and white flight. All written with verve and heart, these essays leave indelible marks, both joyful and somber, on those experiencing Detroit when the days went on until 9 p.m., and the city never slept.

[Kelly]

I loved this entire collection and hope there are more of these because I learned so much about the city of Detroit, the history of Detroit, and how it felt to grow up and experience summer as a Black person. Specifically, I was drawn to Stephen Henderson's essay about visiting what was then the largely white suburb of Grosse Pointe, and how the subtle racism he experienced there affected him as a child--and even into the present day. Having lived there myself for twenty years, and having experienced the racism (as a white person--people don't hold back, and being confronted by it stunned and saddened me), I recognized the place and the people who politely perpetrated what I view as a crime, and I wish that more white people would read his essay and absorb the effect of racism on everyone, especially children.
That said, I don't want to imply that all of these essays are heavy — they are not! They are filled with the light and playfulness of summer, and it was great fun to read them this past summer with my feet in the sand, enjoying what is always such a brief idyll. Buy this book! You'll love it!

[fullmoonsister]

Black Summers moved me in ways I didn’t expect. As a person of color, reading these stories about what Black families had to endure just to claim joy in public spaces hit me deeply. The writers capture the weight of history, the beauty of community, and the everyday courage it takes to belong in a world that hasn’t always welcomed you.

The book feels like walking through Detroit—its parks, porches, riverfronts, and memories—guided by voices that are honest, rooted, and full of heart. Even though the anthology centers Black experiences, so much of it resonated with my own understanding of migration, place, and the fight to hold on to joy.

It’s a stunning, necessary collection that honors the people who built Detroit and insisted on living fully, even when the world tried to limit their joy.

Read more about my Detroit Summers
https://fullmoonsisters.wordpress.com...

[Born Deadcloth]

A thoughtful and inspiring read! I really enjoyed the personal perspective and the way the book captures growing up, community, and the outdoors. A memorable story with plenty to take away from it.