Name: Black Summers
Brand: Blackstone Publishing
SKU: vir0

Summary

A triumphant, cross-generational exploration of Black joy and resilience.

Arising from the iconic city of the African American experience comes this exploration of Black joy in the urban outdoors.

A triumphant, cross-generational exploration of Black joy and resilience.

Remember frolicking outside during the long, jubilant days of summer? This vibrant collection invites readers to breathe deeply and return to that “carefree” season. From riding bikes with friends through the neighborhood, to hopping the ferry to Boblo Island, catching catfish along the river, dancing on warm nights to Afrobeats and jazz music, and cooling off in the Swimmobile, those sun-drenched memories were often clouded by racism for the Detroiters in this evocative anthology. These emerging and award-winning creators of all ages recount the struggles and triumph of staking their claim to public spaces. Ranging from poetry to essay, creative nonfiction to comics, this collection blends nostalgia with struggle and resilience. Arising from the iconic city of the African American experience comes this exploration of Black joy in the urban outdoors.

Editorial Reviews

“Magnificently curated by Desiree Cooper, this collection is full. Like summers growing up in the urban outdoors. Like the feelings of Black people navigating Detroit’s public space. In all its insightful recollections and creative variety, Black Summers is full of pleasure, of pain, of splendor, of struggle, of home." —Ibram X. Kendi, author of #1 New York Times bestselling author

"I picked this book up and couldn’t put it down till I’d read every poem and story. Black Summers: Growing Up in the Urban Outdoors is full of joy, wisdom, and righteous resistance. What splendor in these pages!" —Camille Dungy, author of Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden

"Black Summers sings of porches, parks, and rivers where Detroit’s spirit runs free. Desiree Cooper’s anthology shows how, even in hard times, the earth and our imaginations conspire to keep us whole. These pages are a hymn to sunlight, laughter, and possibility." —Rue Mapp, founder and CEO of Outdoor Afro

"Black Summers is a mesmerizing archive of Black life, adventure, and beauty in Detroit. Written by Detroiters who know and love the city the most, this collection shines with testaments of survival and celebration―the true engines of the Motor City." —J K Chukwu, author of The Unfortunates, a GMA Buzz Pick

"Black Summers is beaches, backyards, bikes, basketball courts, and bigotry. Sex and sunlight. Pools and protests. Kinship tales and remembrances of innocence shattered, stolen. This meditative collection of multigenerational prose and poetry is more than memories; it is a beautifully intricate testimony. Black Summers is a cookout, family reunion, and fellowship that captures brilliantly the ways our experiences are at once both singular and expansive, and central to this country’s vexing history." —Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

"Desiree Cooper has gathered some of our most gifted writers to reminisce about the joys, connections, and intimacies of their own long summer days. The beautiful essays and poems in these pages celebrate summer as a time for recreation, self-creation, and community creation." —Thomas J. Sugrue, author of Sweet Land of Liberty

"It’s not just the freshness of summer beaming through these pages; it’s the freshness of these gorgeous voices sharing stories of freedom, fun, hurts, healing, and home. Black Summers is a must-read, a testament to both the revelatory power of the outdoors and the seasons of life where we discover ourselves, each other, and what’s worth fighting for." —Anna Clark, author of The Poisoned City

"To Cassandra Spratling’s exuberant conclusion in ‘Biking Detroit'―'there’s no better way to love Detroit than on two wheels'―I happily add yes, and no other better way than to dive into Desiree Cooper’s lovingly curated Black Summers. Readers who take the fall, à la Senghor Reid’s dazzling cover art, into Cooper’s vibrant ‘city of kinfolk’ will be sustained by the tenderness and power of this remarkable collection." —Dr. Terry Bohnhorst Blackhawk, founding director of InsideOut Literary Arts

"The ingenious Des Cooper has assembled a poignant and surprising collection of memories in Black Summers. The vibe ranges from festive to melancholy, sometimes on the same page, revealing the complexities that lurk behind such ordinary pleasures as violin lessons, Belle Isle, and Boblo." —Bill McGraw, longtime Detroit journalist

"These stories will hurtle you back to high summer: the slurp of popsicles, the slap of jump ropes on the sidewalk, the squeals and splashes of water from mobile pools, and boats bobbing on the Detroit River. Black Summers speaks to the universality of our Black summers everywhere, and to the specificity of Black summers in the authors’ beloved Detroit." —Karen Grigsby Bates, founding member of NPR’s Code Switch

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Author Bio: Mic Jennings

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Author Bio: Rochelle Wilson-Ellis

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Author Bio: Lillien Waller

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Author Bio: Cassandra Spratling

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Author Bio: Renee Simms

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Author Bio: Satori Shakoor

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Author Bio: Pamela Hilliard Owens

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Author Bio: MARS. Marshall

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Author Bio: Angela Atabex Lugo-Thomas

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Author Bio: Luther Keith

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Author Bio: Desiree Cooper

Desiree Cooper is a Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist and 2015 Kresge Artist Fellow. Her essays and fiction have appeared in publications from The New York Times to the Norton collection Flash Fiction America. Cooper is the author of Nothing Special, which won the 2023 Paterson Prize for Books for Young People and the 2023 Independent Publisher Book Award for Most Original Concept, and Know the Mother, a Michigan Notable Book (both Wayne State University Press). She currently serves as a series editor for the Made in Michigan Writers Series.

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Author Bio: Bridgett M. Davis

Bridgett M. Davis is professor of journalism and the writing professions at Baruch College, City University of New York, where she teaches creative, film, and narrative writing and is director of the Sidney Harman writer-in-residence program. A graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta and Columbia University’s graduate school of journalism, she is the director of the award-winning feature film Naked Acts, as well as the author of two novels, Into the Go-Slow and Shifting Through Neutral.

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Details

Format:	Retail CD	Format:	MP3 CD
Available Formats :	Retail CD, MP3 CD
Category:	Nonfiction/Literary Collections
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing	Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
CDs:	6	CDs:	1
ISBN:	9798228741102	ISBN:	9798228741119
Audience:	Adult
Language:	English

Release:	06/20/2026	Release:	06/20/2026
ISBN:	9798228741102	ISBN:	9798228741119
Category:	Nonfiction/Literary Collections
Audience:	Adult
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing	Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Language:	English

Black Summers: Growing Up in the Urban Outdoors

Summary

Summary

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

Reviews

Reviews

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How do you rate this product? *

Author

Author Bio: Mic Jennings

Titles by Author

Author Bio: various authors

Author Bio: Rochelle Wilson-Ellis

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Lillien Waller

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Cassandra Spratling

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Renee Simms

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Satori Shakoor

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Brittany Rogers

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Kamron Reynolds

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Pamela Hilliard Owens

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Keith A. Owens

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Chace Morris

Titles by Author

Author Bio: MARS. Marshall

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Angela Atabex Lugo-Thomas

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Luther Keith

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Desiree Cooper

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Xavier Jackson

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Charisma Holly

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Stephen Henderson

Titles by Author

Author Bio: D'Nae Hearn

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Shannon Garth-Rhodes

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Jean Alicia Elster

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Kahn Santori Davison

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Bridgett M. Davis

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Nandi Comer

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Zig Zag Claybourne

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Esperanza Cintrón

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Isaiah Chambers

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Justin Boggués

Titles by Author

Author Bio: Tommye Blount

Titles by Author

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