After writing a newspaper article about institutional racism, he received death threats in the mail. He sought comfort in food, eventually growing disgusted with himself. He recalls how the stress of his academic life, combined with the pressure of his mom's expectations and his society's outright rejection of him, drove him further and further into a life of excess. He was abused by parents, babysitters, and white neighbors in the community. Unfortunately the family was caught in a system of racially-motivated violence, of which Laymon was painfully aware. She used academia as a stronghold against violence, but at the same time she also inflicted excessive violence upon Laymon, beating him for neglecting subject-verb agreements or receiving a bad grade in school, with varying degrees of force.
Because his mother feared the violence of Jackson, Mississippi in the 1970s, she adamantly refused to allow her son to fall into the colloquialisms of his peers. Raised by a highly educated black mother who was earning her Ph.D when he was born, Laymon relates how his experience of culture, race, and family have defined the course of his life. This book is addressed to Kiese Laymon's mom. Written by Kidist Girmay and other people who wish to remain anonymous
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