Good Read

I'm just about finished reading He Talk Like a White Boy by Joseph C. Phillips. It's a collection of essays on faith, family, politics and authenticity. Phillips is most known for playing Bill Cosby's son-in-law on The Cosby Show. He writes from the perspective of a conservative, well educated black man in America. He is witty, sometimes irreverant, yet thoughtful. The theme of race is loosely woven into the book as he has had to address the way his blackness is juxtaposed with his conservative beliefs, his middle class upbringing, and even his speech pattern. Race is also explicitly addressed in several of the essays. (And take that word "essay" with a grain of salt. The essays, while intellectually powerful, read more like short stories. It's not heavy reading that will leave you feeling like a dunce because you have to get your dictionary for every other word.)
I picked the book out initially because I thought it might help me have a better view the challenges my black children will have as they will be Haitian Americans who are viewed as black African Americans while being raised in a conservative Caucasian household. Not only have I gained insight into the issues my kids will probably be confronted with, I also found myself enjoying the challenges Phillips issues to not just black Americans but to all Americans. Good read that I had not heard about until just a few weeks ago.