A Step Closer Towards Liberation:

How Children’s and Young Adult Literature

Could Enhance Black ACA Recovery

Part 3

 

By Louis J. Mason

*Name has been changed to protect theperson's anonymity. All books mentioned in the article are listed in the Bibliotherapy section.

“A Step Closer Towards Liberation” is a three-part series about how Black youth-centered literature could be a powerful healing tool for Black members of Adult Children of Alcoholics Anonymous (ACA). The series discusses the introduction of diverse representation of Black families in Black Children's and Young Adult (YA) literature, why so many Black survivors read during their youth, and how Black Travelers now have access to Black Children's and Young Adult literature that provides examples of healthy Black familial communities.

This week for the last installment for the "Liberation" series, we discuss how Black youth-centered literature can be utilized as a blueprint that highlights healthy Black family structures to emulate for ourselves and the young child and teen we were. Once again, Vonnie will provide insight into how her love for literature has allowed her to cultivate community.
 

Part 3: Black Youth-Centered Literature as the Blueprint

The Importance of a Collectivist Familial Community

Throughout the entire "Liberation" series, we focus on the healing properties of Black Children's and YA literature for Black ACA members. In Part 1, literary works like DaShanna and Trinity Neal's My Rainbow are used to illustrate how Black youth-centered literature written by Black authors can encourage us to honor/embrace our personhood. Part 2 of the series explores the motivations behind the Black survivors' excessive reading during our youth, pointing out how Black Children's and YA literature can help us repair our relationship with this beloved activity. For this last installment, we take matters a step further. Now I will demonstrate how Black youth-centered literature can stand as our blueprint for reimagining and rebuilding our ideal family structure for ourselves and our Inner Children.

Chapter Three of Loving Parent Guidebook notes that growing up in a dysfunctional familial environment is similar to “working with a faulty blueprint.” It further explains: 

Another reason why so many Black Fellow Travelers have spent hours reading Children’s and YA literature is because they reveal to us an entirely different—and more appealing—familial community blueprint. These books center children and teen characters who are surrounded by family who value collectivism that prioritizes the well-being of said characters. We’ve imagined ourselves being one of the main or additional protagonists living in an alternate universe where we are a part of a loving familial community (chosen or otherwise). In these imaginary worlds, we’re viewed as regular kids. If we are forced into the role of caregiver or surrogate adult, it’s often because of circumstances beyond the family’s control. Most importantly, we have envisioned ourselves being part of the collective in which we’d receive unconditional love and acceptance for who we were.    

Vonnie and her friends, for instance, have managed to build a community amongst themselves through their mutual adoration for Ann M. Martin’s The Baby-sitters Club series. Granted, Ann M. Martin is not a Black author and almost all the storylines in her classic YA series are based on her personal experiences as a suburban White school teacher. Yet Vonnie has been nonetheless impacted by the fictional world Martin has created to the extent of possibly envisioning herself living in Stoneybrook. In this world, Vonnie is surrounded by a collective of supportive teens who prioritizes the wellbeing of the children they supervise. She is a beloved member of a community where she is guaranteed protection, unconditional love, and support as a Black girl.

When asked about her favorite books as a child, Vonnie fondly recalls her love for the classic YA series.

          Vonnie’s experiences regarding her affinity towards The Baby-Sitters Club universe in childhood recall the importance of developing our ideas around community as Adult Children. When we first enter the Black ACA recovery spaces, we normally carry with us the distorted interpretation of community learned from surviving a dysfunctional home environment. In fact, this mentality is one of the major reasons why so many of us Fellow Travelers struggle with outreach (me included). Yet Vonnie’s story shows us that we can use Black Children’s books and YA novels as blueprints to craft our own interpretation of a collectivist familial community.

A collectivist familial community is one in which relatives (biological, blended, or chosen) operate as a collective to maintain the health and stability of the entire family structure. Members of the family are interdependent, working together to meet each other’s necessities such as food, shelter, and emotional support. Examples of familial collectivism include:

• One relative providing shelter for another who lost their house to foreclosure.
• A family friend babysitting the kids while the parents are working.
• An adult child performing caretaking duties for a sick grandparent.
• An older sibling celebrating the personal successes of a younger one.

The sentiment amongst those in communities like these is that the family only thrives when members actively support each other as much as humanly possible.

Importantly, while members of the collectivist familial community are integrated in each other’s lives, they each maintain their independence. Such maintenance requires the existence of secure and healthy boundaries amongst family members. Everyone within the collective views each other as individuals with their own identities, ideologies, opinions, interests, and other traits that shape their personhood. Relatives in this familial community are encouraged to express their authentic selves while receiving genuine support. And from that support comes the push to own their personal and spiritual power, which allows them to exert self-confidence. The only time a member’s independence is called into question is when it causes harm to others in and outside of the familial community. And even then, the family collaborates to discuss the issue without resorting to toxic behaviors or tactics such as shaming or name-calling.

The very foundation of the collectivist familial community is consistency. Here, open communication rooted in honesty, discussions around sensitive topics, sense of security, non-judgmentalism, support, and expressions of unconditional love are the norm. The adults
especially understand that consistency builds trust with the children living in this community. Without trust, a healthy relationship between adults and children isn’t possible.

         Black children and teens—especially those with intersections considered undesirable by Eurocentric beauty standards—tend to thrive in their collectivist familial community. Aside from being given the opportunity to live and express their personhood authentically, these youths are encouraged by affirming relatives who support, accept, and love them unconditionally. In turn, the former has minimal concerns about losing their community’s support because they will always be guaranteed protection.

The Sad Reality

Unfortunately, there are numerous Black children and teens who don’t have the blessing to be raised in an environment founded on collectivism. Black children in a dysfunctional familial community they are not only subjected to continuous interpersonal violence but will most likely be surrounded by family members guided by a mentality of distrust and individualism. In this type of environment, Black youth have no power, authority over themselves, or even their own identity. As a matter of fact, their true self is severely suppressed and replaced by a false persona that would only cater to the parents’ and relatives’ emotional and mental comfort. 

While growing up in our individualistic familial community as children, we Black Fellow Travelers have been deprived of the emotional nourishment and much-needed guidance necessary to thrive. We've been left to our own devices to figure out how to navigate life, simultaneously developing means of protecting ourselves from the intergenerational trauma polluting our familial community. In fact, excessive reading has been one of those protective measures. As adults doing the work to recover from the Complex Childhood Trauma we've sustained in the past, this is our opportunity to use Black youth-centered literature to see examples of a collectivist familial community that is suitable for us and the child and teen we once were.
   
     

A Rich List of Literary Blueprints

When creating and building the ideal Black Family structure in which to raise ourselves and our younger selves, ACA members must have access to blueprints that are entirely different from the ones designed by our dysfunctional families. In the case of Black Fellow Travelers, sketching a new familial blueprint is paramount to our healing from our decades of
intergenerational violence.

In addition to being subjected to multiple forms of continuous interpersonal abuse at the hands of dysfunctional family members, years of overexposure eventually conditioned us to assume that such brutality is common within all Black families, not just our own. The normalization of abuse against Black children is problematic on many fronts (the topic deserves its own three-part series). However, it's only worsened by the absence and erasure of loving Black families--fictional and real--in the mainstream media.

As we Black Fellow Travelers continue to reexamine the nature of our family's structure, we soon uncover the realization that we've always carried a solidified vision of our ideal family model. We have probably attempted to emulate that very model we envisioned when we reached adulthood, but have declared it unobtainable because we'd subconsciously end up reenacting the family dysfunction we've witnessed throughout our youth. But through our ACA recovery work, we begin unpacking the incidents of intergenerational trauma while also working towards establishing a more realistic version of our ideal Black family structure.

Still, we need examples to determine which type will suit our emotional needs and those of our Inner Children. Black Children's and YA novels can be of assistance in this case. Most of the Black youth-centered content available are written by Black authors who either understand the emotional language of the Black youth protagonists and their need for a familial community. Most Black Children's and YA novels (especially those penned by the newer generation of Black authors) also feature a modernized representation of the Black family.

Listed below are some literary works/blueprints for Black Fellow Travelers can pull inspiration from based on the emotional needs for the member and those of their Inner Family (These books are also listed in the Bibliotherapy section):

1. Blended/Post-Divorced Black Family Model

• The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson   

Johnson's The Parker Inheritance is a YA mystery novel follows the story of Candice Miller, a nerdy Black pre-teen girl known for her love of puzzles. After her parents' divorce, Candice spends the summer in Lambert, South Carolina with her mother to stay in her late grandmother's home. While rummaging through her grandmother's belongings in the attic, the twelve-year-old protagonist stumbles upon a letter the late matriarch has addressed to her. It is then that Candice learns about the Parker Inheritance, a scavenger hunt that is tied to a mystery that begins in the 1950s and one that has tarnished her reputation.

With the help of her new friends and chosen family, Brandon Jones and his sister Tori, the main protagonist embarks on an elaborate journey to restore her grandmother's good name and complete the scavenger hunt. At the same time, Candice is given the space and opportunity to grieve her parents' severed marriage and grandmother's passing while also receiving unconditional love from her mother, father, and new friends.

• Love Like Sky by Leslie C. Youngblood

Crafted by Rochester author Lesile C. Youngblood. Love Like Sky tells the story of Georgiana Matthews, a fun loving eleven-year-old Black girl known for her kindness, stubbornness, her childlike wisdom, and her love for her younger sister Patrice—better known as Peaches. Nicknamed G-Baby, she takes readers on her journey of moving out of her childhood neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia with her mother to begin her new life as a member of a “blended-up family” after her parents’ divorce. While adjusting to the presence of her stepfather Frank and her new home, she contends with the resentment of her teenage stepsister, Tangie (who’s grieving the death of her litter sister, Morgan). G-Baby’s new reality grows more complicated when Peaches is diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.

Between Peaches’s illness, the absence of her biological father, and her stepsister’s dismissive attitude, G-Baby realizes that everything happening around her is completely out of her hands. She eventually unleashes her feelings of helplessness, fear, distress, and anger in
the presence of her mother, Frank, and Tangie with raw honesty. Instead of facing punishment, this young Black girl is met with understanding and compassion by her familial community. In turn, the adults extend the same amount of empathy towards each other.      

Why I Chose These Books

Johnson and Youngblood (perhaps unknowingly) each offer a blueprint for the Black Fellow Travelers who've grown up in a dysfunctional Black blended family. Aside from presenting to readers what a Black collectivist blended familial community could look like for our the younger version of us, The Parker Inheritance and Love Like Sky beautifully showcase the importance of honoring and respecting the voice and complex emotionality of Black girls as they navigate through stages of grieving. Both novels are perfect for ACA members learning how to approach our own emotional needs as we reparent ourselves. Furthermore, we can also learn the importance of community by acknowledging that we must never grieve alone and that we're worthy of support.

2) Spiritually Affirming Black Family Model  

•  Precious and the Boo Hag by Patricia C. McKissack and Onawumi Jean Moss

Written by Patricia C. McKissack and Onawumi Jean Moss, Precious and the Boo Hag is a folklore about a clever Black farm girl who thinks on her feet. Due to having a stomachache, her mother and older brother have to sell their harvest at the market without her. While her mother informs her not to allow anyone in the house, her older sibling warns her about the boo hag, which is known in the Hoodoo community as a trickster that hides its true nature under human skin. While her family is away, the main protagonist gets a visit from none other than the trickster herself. What comes next is a hilarious series of events between Precious and the boo hag attempting to enter the house.

• Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith

Set in 1930s Alabama, Hoodoo is a YA novel that centers around Hoodoo Hatcher, a 12-year-old Black boy who not only loves telling his story to readers, but sharing information he's learned at school. He's also the only one in his family who's unable to practice Conjure, or
ancestral magic. But when a man only known as The Stranger arrives in town searching for him, Hoodoo must learn the ways of Conjure before it's too late.

• Root Magic by Eden Royce

Eden Royce’s Root Magic is about Jezebel and Jey Turner, Black twin siblings introduced to the sacred traditions of Hoodoo after their grandmother's passing. Set in 1963 South Carolina, Jezebel and Jey are granted permission from their beloved Uncle Doc to learn rootwork to protect the family from a ruthless White sheriff who continuously harasses them. What transpires are lessons regarding the harsh realities of surviving Jim Crow while Black, anti-Blackness, classism, and the importance of Black children valuing sacred traditions while stepping into their own spiritual power.

Why I Chose These Books

The stories published by McKissack, Smith, and Royce are recommended for the Black Fellow Travelers who've experienced Church Hurt during their youth. ACA is considered a spiritual program of recovery and most of us have adopted a higher power we
resonate with. However, there are those who've been so wounded by the religious community (i.e. the Black Christian community) in some fashion. Some Black Fellow Travelers had to adhere to strict rules inspired by Christianity. Others have had to conceal (or attempt to conceal) their sexuality and/or true gender identity. There are even those who've experienced paranormal encounters or have displayed some type of clairvoyance as children, but suppressed their spiritual inclinations to avoid punishment. These recollections and more have caused numerous Black Fellow Travelers to develop religious-based trauma.

Yet I believe that Black literary works such as the books mentioned above can help us mend their relationship with spirituality. Using the power of Afrocentric storytelling in the form of folklore and Black Magical Realism, the authors introduce readers to Hoodoo. Hoodoo is an African Diasporic/Derived Religion (ADR) was created during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. Its main purposes are to protect us from racialized injustice, reunite us with ancestors who remind us of our spiritual power and Inner Divinity, and to help us break the historical and generational cycle to liberate our entire lineage.

In addition, the works of Royce, McKissack, and Smith (and many other youth-centered works within the Black Magical Realism genre) can encourage us Black Fellow Travelers to embrace our spiritual gifts in ways that were forbidden during our youth. Reading stories about Black children and teens practicing ancestral magic without the fear of punishment is us practicing loving self-parenting. We create an affirming space so that we can reconnect with our ancestors that have been waiting for us to acknowledge them. To venerate them as they too want to heal from centuries of historical and generational trauma. Black-centered stories highlight the power, creativity, and history of Black spirituality. They are tools that can be healing for our Inner Child and ourselves as we become our own Loving Parent.

3) Gender-Affirming Family Model

• Born Ready: The True Story About a Boy Named Penelope by Jodie Patterson

This beautifully illustrated children's book is the origin story of Penelope, Patterson's trans son. The book begins with the fact that the child illustrated on the cover is aware of exactly who he is: a ninja, a martial arts student studying for his black belt, and most importantly, a boy. However, no one in his family knows about his true gender and therefore is still treated like a girl. Wanting to bring attention to this pressing matter, Penelope begins acting out. It is only when his mother Jodie takes the time to speak to him that she learns the motivation behind his behavior. What comes after is affirmation, support, and unconditional love for Penelope from his family.

• My Name is Troy by Christian Lovehall

Self-published by Lovehall, My Name is Troy is a very appreciated Children’s book about a Black trans boy and the collectivist familial community who loves him unconditionally.

Why I Chose These Books

Modern trans-affirming classics such as Neal’s My Rainbow (which I speak on in detail in Part 1 of the series), Patterson’s Born Ready, and Lovehall’s My Name is Troy can show Black queer Fellow Travelers the importance of supporting and embracing the queer child/teen we once were. Our intersections of Blackness, sexuality, and gender identity are a source of contention within our dysfunctional familial community. These elements of us have been embraced by us as children. Some of us may have come out to ourselves at a young age even when unaware of the terminology. Yet these elements have
been uglified by relatives who’ve internalized heteronormative ideologies and have used them as a justifiable reason to other us. Rather than endure further punishment, we’ve retreated into
the closet where our Inner Child and Teen remain even when we come out as adults. But youth-centered literature celebrating Black queer children could perhaps change that.

While reading aloud the stories about Black families openly affirming their children to the ever-listening Inner Children, our adult selves can demonstrate for them what Black liberation can look like whenever they feel ready to emerge from the closet. Not only that but guarantee that they will be safe and be surrounded by those who will love and accept them as
much as we do.

Communal Family Model

• Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes

Derrick Barnes’s critically acclaimed Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut tells the story of a young Black boy and his new haircut. After getting a fresh new cut from the neighborhood barber, he immediately begins exuding confidence he embodies. Meanwhile, he receives compliments from the girls who describe him as "fine," and captures from Black elders in his neighborhood. His haircut gives him so much self-assurance that he passes a test and goes on to achieve success, gathering applause from Black elders and other kids.

Why I Chose This Book

Crown is recommended for the Black ACA members who are survivors of childhood community violence. Many of us have been bullied or continuously assaulted by those unrelated to us. I feel the book models how we can reimagine for ourselves a community of Black people that embody and adhere to Black collectivism. Collectivism has always been the backbone of the Black experience in terms of how Black people have interacted with one another.

We've entrusted people outside of our biological families to take care of our children and vice versa. Older men and women in the neighborhood have been crowned the resident auntie/uncle or grandma/grandpa to some of the children living on the block. Many Black Fellow Travelers have stories about adults unrelated to them being their "Play Mama" or
"Play Daddy" in their parents' absence. Others may have recollections of one of the older neighborhood teens or young adults standing in as a supportive mentor or surrogate older sibling.

As we recover from the consequences of community violence, we begin cultivating meaningful relationships with Black folks in and outside the program that genuinely align with our perception of Black community, Black collectivism, and most importantly, Black liberation.
      

Final Thoughts             

In the year 2024, we Black Fellow Travelers have been blessed with more options regarding Black authors. There are now Children’s, YA literature, and graphic novels across genres with compelling storylines revolving around Black characters that exude strength, courage, disheartenment, and joy with relatability and realism. Many of the books published by Black authors (including the ones I’ve previously read) haven’t been available for us
trauma survivors who turned to literature for solace. But the adult version of each of us now has the opportunity and freedom to seek out the new collection of stories we can now introduce and read to our Inner Selves. Stories that beautifully illuminate and amplify the Black youth experience. Not only can they be a source of healing for Black survivors of Complex Childhood Trauma but can be a source of empowerment that will bring our Inner Children and Teen closer to their idea of Black liberation.

Thank you for reading and supporting this series. I really appreciate you. What have you learned from the series? What books do you read or have read to better understand yourself and your Inner Children? Let me know in the comments. Also be sure to share and subscribe!

Until next time, peace!