Don't Be Afraid: A Letter to a Black Son

by Shonda Rushing, Alysia Anderson (Illustrator), Aaron Hawkins (Illustrator)

Shonda Renee Rushing is a writer, poet, co-host of the Road2damascus podcast, and creator of the Clean Your Soul class. She has been in ministry for over 20 years. She was born in Jackson, Mississippi and attended Tougaloo College, a small private HBCU, where she majored in psychology to understand human behaviors and thought patterns. Being born in the South in the early ’70s, fresh off Jim Crow laws, gave her a keen sense of racial disparities. Attending Tougaloo College, which was established on one of the largest former slave plantations in central Mississippi, gave her a keen sense of self-awareness. Standing on campus one day while staring at the auction blocks with shackles still attached where former slaves were bought and sold helped shape how she would see the world and understand how the world would see her. Shonda has stated that, “We are only 56 years removed from Jim Crow, yet we are experiencing the same pathological traumas. There are different techniques, but we are creating the same experiences of pain and poverty and passing them on to our children. Though they are not wearing shackles anymore, instead they are wearing fancy sneakers, that pain is the same. Becoming a mother to black sons and raising them in this climate is what made this uncomfortable conversation, and my first book, necessary.”

21 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2021

Reviews

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a letter from a mother to her black son. It was just over 30 pages but it hit such a punch that I had to reread it...after some processing time. There was so much to take in, so many layers of love and strength on the bones of hardship and oppression. It is the story of a mother teaching her son how to be strong when the world is pushing you down. Deep, powerful words in a letter of love. Absolutely beautiful. I loved it and can't wait to see what other works Shonda Rushing publishes.