The Trayvon Generation

This is a nonfiction book that asks you to read in a different way—there are many featured poems, and visual art is woven through and integral to the book. Which of the visual artworks did you find most compelling, and why? How did they affect your reading experience?

Dr. Alexander analyzes a number of monuments and memorials—many that honor white supremacists, including Stone Mountain and numerous Confederate monuments. Think about what statues, monuments, or memorials exist in your area. Or think about the names of streets, schools, or cities in your area. Who is honored? Who isn’t honored? What kinds of lessons are these public symbols teaching you? Whose memories are you asked to remember?

The chapter “a tale of two textbooks” delves into how American history is taught, including the intense efforts to suppress Black history in textbooks and classroom lessons and the value of Black studies as a discipline. Think back to how you were taught about American history—how were colonialism, slavery, and the Civil Rights Movement covered? What wasn’t covered? Were there times you were
uncomfortable with what was being taught? Were there moments of “delayed comprehension,” as Adrienne Su put it, where you later realized what you had been taught was false or not the whole story? What do you keep with you from that education? What have you unlearned in the years since?

What and how we remember—and are taught about—the past and history is a key focus in the book. What are the different forms of remembering discussed throughout the book? Consider more everyday forms, such as songs and rituals, as well. How do these different forms affect your experience of learning and memory?

How has the digital age (the advent of social media, smart phones, etc.) impacted how we—and those who have grown up in the digital age in particular—witness and comprehend race-based violence?

Dr. Alexander describes the pride and fear that are integral to her life as a mother. Find some examples in the text that show what motherhood means to Dr. Alexander. What elements of Black motherhood are specific to the Black experience? Which elements feel intrinsic and universal to motherhood itself?

In the chapter “we dress our ideas in clothes to make the abstract visible,” Dr. Alexander writes about a visit to the Louisiana State Penitentiary (also known as Angola, for its location) and the crisis of mass incarceration in the United States. She writes, “If we forget them, we will not understand who, in total, we are.” How do you understand “who we are” in this context? How do the artists and artwork discussed in this chapter also influence your understanding of “who we are”?

What is a “free Black man” in Dr. Alexander’s use of the term? What does it mean to you, and are there any men who come to mind when you hear that phrase?

Dr. Alexander focuses on several poems throughout the book. Choose one and read it out loud. Are there a few lines or images that strike you? What about the poem resonates with the book?

Dr. Alexander poses the question, “Do I really believe that cultural expression can somehow shape a world where our children are safer?” (p. 64) at the end of the first section. How do the next two parts of the book answer this question? Did your answer to this question shift at all as you read?

In the last chapter, Dr. Alexander declares a few wishes for today’s young people: “I wish for these young people freedom of movement, of thought, of imagination...I wish also for our young people rest from the unending labor that is race work, and from the spectral anxiety that is part of what it is to be Black." What do you wish for this generation, or yourself and your peers if you are a part of this generation? What about for the generation to follow? And what about for our elders?