#95 I’d Rather Go Blind- Jabari Asim
A Taste of Honey is Jabari Asim’s collection of stories
about the tumultuous cultural swings of 1968. I’d Rather Go Blind is the first
of these tales, and takes place in the hot summer of 1967.
Crispus Jones is the middle child of three boys and watches
as the world changes around him. His thoughts start out innocent and normal for
a child, thinking only of the battle back and forth of brotherly co-existence:
“I was never allowed to even handle his brush, and using it
was out of the question. After all, science had yet to prove that nappy hair
was not contagious.”
Things change as innocent waves turn to black power fists,
and chippy nicknames turn to Brother Charles and Brother Vaughn. A police stop
turns into another local death as local blind man, and friend/mentor intervenes when cops harass a few teenagers. Crispus' brother Ed is involved and gets cut
by glass in the ensuing unrest.
“To my eyes, Ed looked changed, battle-scared somehow. I
wonder if a piece of glass could make so much difference.”
The whole collection is connecting stories and this piece
seems to set the scene and mood for what comes next. Summer of Love? Maybe not.
Notable Passage: “Curly had once told me that I was sure to
get my heart broken some day. When that day came, he said, it was best to have
some Etta James on hand.” The story title comes from the Etta James song.
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