Overview

Whiting award-winning poet and Distinguished Chair of Humanities at MIT, Dr. Joshua Bennett creates a masterful synthesis of personal narrative and history that illuminates the promises and perils of being labelled a Black prodigy. The outside world's perception of Black promise comes and goes. It does so in ways that are undeniably advantageous for Black children. Yet here, Dr. Bennett explores the rarely examined pitfalls of being a Black prodigy in a society that has, too often, defined Blackness as the very absence of intellect. Bennett probes what it means to be othered, even if this othering is the same key to an individual's success in an unfair world, demanding that we build alternative futures that make space for the promise and hope of every child. In The People Can Fly Bennet shares his own academic journey-including spoken word performances at The White House and Sundance Film Festival, an NAACP Image Award, and a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship-mirrors the ebb and flow between being deemed promising and ""a problem."" He bolsters this personal narrative by observing how disability within his own family complicates societies perception of genius, and by diving into the under-examined history of young intellectuals like Oscar Moore, Thomas Wiggins, Stephen Wiltshire, and others. Together, Bennett lays out an arresting portrait of a world that obscures genius behind a disorienting facade of otherness and exceptionality. With arresting prose and grace, The People Can Fly is an eye-opening reflection on what it means to be labelled gifted in today's world; and a personal history and love letter to all the Black prodigies who have disturbed the veil of racism, and the children who will continue to do so.

Full Product Details

9780316576024

Table of Contents

Reviews

""The People Can Fly will levitate your mind and enrich your soul. Joshua Bennett knows his life's purpose is to teach--and that's exactly what he does with this book. Bennett's poetic nature shines through on every page. Not only is it a joy to read, but it's an honor to be taught by one of the most prolific professors on the planet. This book is a masterclass in literature and a necessary reminder to cherish the child in all of us.""--Lena Waithe, Emmy Award-winning actor, producer, and screenwriter

Praise for Joshua Bennett: ""The People Can Fly is a celebration of Black brilliance and the truth that we rise highest when we rise together. By reminding us that our culture is not just survival, but genius, joy, and possibility, Bennett cements his legacy as a brilliant writer and a guiding light for our world.""--Anna Malaika Tubbs, New York Times bestselling author of The Three Mothers and Erased ""A tender celebration of vulnerability and the strength that blooms quietly in its presence.""--The Atlantic ""At a moment in American culture punctuated to a heartbreaking degree by acts of hatred, violence and disregard... Joshua Bennett's astounding, dolorous, rejoicing voice is indispensable.""--Tracy K. Smith, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of To Free the Captives ""Bennett renders this lush history in lively, captivating prose, smoothly transporting us back to the city blocks, bars, cafes and stages these artists traversed and inhabited. Perhaps most endearingly, and what makes this book shine with a refreshing dynamism, is that this history is also his own.""--Tas Tobey, New York Times ""Don't miss this superb laying bare of Black joy and genius!""--Dr. Cornel West, American philosopher and author of the national bestseller Race Matters ""I am emboldened and sharpened by Bennett's genius and by his love made plain across each of these shimmering pages.""--Aracelis Girmay, author of The Black Maria ""Joshua Bennett knows his life's purpose is to teach--and that's exactly what he does with The People Can Fly. This book will levitate your mind and enrich your soul. The text doesn't follow rules or pacify the reader. Bennett's poetic nature shines through on every page. Not only is it a joy to read, but it's an honor to be taught by one of the most prolific professors on the planet. This book is a masterclass in literature and a necessary reminder to cherish the child in all of us.""--Lena Waithe, Emmy Award-winning actor, producer, and screenwriter ""With a singularly expansive and compassionate view of history, Bennett sweeps across generations of joy, suffering, and connection.""--Lit Hub

Author Information

Dr. Joshua Bennett is the author of The Sobbing School (Penguin, 2016)-which was a National Poetry Series selection and a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. He is also the author of Being Property Once Myself (Harvard University Press, 2020), Owed (Penguin, 2020), The Study of Human Life (Penguin, 2022), and Spoken Word: A Cultural History (Knopf, 2023). He has received fellowships and awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Whiting Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. He is a Professor of Literature and Distinguished Chair of the Humanities at MIT.

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