Black Folk Could Fly

Starred review from June 13, 2022
This sublime posthumous collection of essays from novelist Kenan (A Visitation of Spirits), who died in 2020, offers a moving take on the things that inspired his work, largely Southern culture. Early essays immerse the reader in Kenan’s childhood in Chinquapin, N.C. In “Notes Toward an Essay on Imagining Thomas Jefferson Watching a Performance of the Musical Hamilton,” Kenan argues that “Southernness is inextricably bound to Blackness,” and that “food was the only province in which the African American contribution has not been thoroughly muted.” Elsewhere, he touches on the intersection of pop culture and politics—in “The Many Lives of Eartha Kitt,” Kenan praises Kitt for standing up for her convictions during a White House visit, during which she reportedly made Lady Bird Johnson cry with her direct line of questioning about the Vietnam War. “Letter from North Carolina,” meanwhile, is a particularly moving piece about removing Confederate monuments, including Silent Sam, a statue that stood outside the University of North Carolina campus until it was toppled by protesters in 2018. The pieces add up to a rich and rewarding testament to Kenan’s curiosity and candor. Fans and new readers alike will appreciate this opportunity to take in Kenan’s remarkable talent.