""For the first time really, I had to look deep and engage with what was truly bearing down on my heart," he says. "And for me that had been more than a decade of telling stories of Black death and survival.""
""The victims were "wearing my same sneakers, same haircut," he says. "And you have to wrestle with seeing yourself in some ways, repeatedly gunned down, your body repeatedly falling. Tears for your death over and over and again.""
""We have an opportunity and we still have this opportunity to be the great nation that we've professed," Lee says. "I'm not a policy maker. I don't profess to be an expert in gun policy. But what I do believe is that until we break our lust for these guns, nothing will change.""
Trymaine Lee suffered a sudden heart attack at 38 that forced him to confront the physical toll of years covering Black gun violence. Years of reporting deaths of young Black men who resembled him intensified emotional strain and grief. Lee's memoir traces the bloody history of firearms in Black America, recalls personal experiences with youth violence, and follows ancestral roots back to Ghana. The book pleads for recognition of the humanity of those lost to gun violence and urges national action. Lee acknowledges not being a policy expert but emphasizes that breaking the cultural lust for guns is essential.
Read at www.npr.org
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