Colorblind: A Story of Racism (Zuiker Teen Topics) - Hardcover

Harris, Johnathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1947378120 ISBN 13: 9781947378124

Publisher: Zuiker Press, 2019

Synopsis

Johnathan, a fifteen-year-old African American from Long Beach, California, shares his story of being physically and verbally harassed because of his race, and of overcoming the discrimination to embrace all cultures, and then to be proud of his own.

Colorblind: A Story of Racism is the third in a series of graphic novels written by young adults for their peers.

Johnathan Harris is fifteen, and lives in Long Beach, California, where he loves playing soccer with his friends, and listening to their favorite rapper, Snoop Dogg, a Long Beach native. His mom, dad, and three brothers are tight, but one of the most influential family members for Johnathan is his Uncle Russell, a convict in prison, serving fifteen years to life . . .

Uncle Russell taught Johnathan from a very young age to see people from the perspective of their cultures, and not just their skin color. He imbued a pride of his ancestry and cautioned against letting hatred into his heart.

But when Johnathan was just eight years old, something happened that filled him with fear and the very hatred that Uncle Russell had warned him about. What happened to Johnathan made him see that a dream of a colorless world was just that. A dream.

That event shook him to his core. Anger grew inside him like a hot coal. Uncle Russell had told him to “throw it away or you will get burned,” but Johnathan was young and frightened. He was having a hard time forgiving, much less forgetting.

Colorblind is Johnathan’s story of confronting his own racism and overcoming it. It is a story of hope and optimism that all, young and old, should heed.

Zuiker Press is proud to publish stories about important current topics for kids and adolescents, written by their peers, that will help them cope with the challenges they face in today’s troubled world.

About this title

About the Author

Johnathan Harris is a fifteen-year-old African American from Long Beach, California. He is the youngest of four brothers in a close-knit family. His father is a deputy probation officer, and his mother is a registered nurse. He loves to play competitive soccer, tackle football, and is an ardent fan of rap music, especially Snoop Dogg, Long Beach’s native son. Johnathan hopes that his story about overcoming racism will help others to see multi-culturalism, not color.

Illustrator Garry Leach is a British artist best known for his work co-creating the new MARVELMAN with writer Alan Moore. As an artist Garry was a frequent contributor to 2000 AD working on DAN DARE, JUDGE DREDD, THE V.C.s, and FUTURE SHOCKS. At DC Comics, Garry worked on the LEGION of SUPERHEROES, HIT MAN, MONARCHY, and the GLOBAL FREQUENCY. Garry has been cover artist for DC Comics, 2000AD, Virgin Comics and Dynamic Forces.

Reviews

Gr 4-7-In these slim graphic memoirs, young adults share their stories and attempt to cover serious issues. In Imperfect, Dounya Awada, a 24-year-old Muslim woman, describes how she turned to food for comfort as a child after an aunt said she was "too big." She gains weight and is bullied as a teenager, but after losing weight, she is still ostracized, and her body dysmorphia and food obsession turn into bulimia, nearly leading to her death. In Colorblind, Jonathan Harris, an African American teen, introduces readers to his family and recalls what his uncle, who is in prison, taught him about cultural appreciation and seeing beyond differences in skin color. A racist SWAT team traumatizes young Jonathan and his family while using excessive force during an unnecessary parole sweep. Jonathan then joins a soccer league and endures racial slurs from players on the other teams, but he eventually connects with one of those athletes to pass along his uncle's lessons. Both titles are heavy-handed and lack nuance. The metaphor of color-blindness as the cure for racism is outdated, and Jonathan's statement that he and the other player "both know what it was like to be oppressed" (the other athlete is Irish) is oversimplified. The illustrations in Dounya's story are rife with fat-shaming and depict her becoming thin, prior to developing bulimia, over the course of a couple of pages, sending the message that extreme weight loss is healthy, easy, and desirable. VERDICT Though well intentioned, these graphic narratives miss the mark.-Kacy ­Helwick, New Orleans Public Libraryα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Edition details

• Publisher: Zuiker Press
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1947378120
• ISBN 13: 9781947378124
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Leach Garry
• Number of pages: 96