Growing up Black in the South, the types of stories I would see about people like me made me think that the entertainment industries-and maybe even the world at large-believed that if people like me are not suffering, we are not existing. Until recently, stories about African Americans that had little to do with the characters’ Blackness were few and far between. For years in American literature and film, Black representation has focused on the strife of being Black. Hilarious, self-aware, and poignant, Eskew captures the intricacies of the Black male experience. Driven by his financial troubles and his sense of duty, Donald sets out to join a team of superheroes. After getting struck by lightning, Donald McDougal develops electricity-related superpowers in a world where other superheroes openly fight Super Predators. Eskew’s debut novel, Tales of the Astonishing Black Spark, joins the likes of Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Paul Beatty’s The Sellout in expanding Black representation. In this post-President Obama, post- Black Panther America, Black representation has been on the rise.
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