Kiese Laymon is a black southern writer, born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. Laymon attended Millsaps College and Jackson State University before graduating from Oberlin College. He earned an MFA from Indiana University and is the author of the forthcoming novel, Long Division in June 2013 and a collection of essays, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America in August 2013. Laymon is a contributing editor at gawker.com. He has written essays and stories for numerous publications including Esquire, ESPN.com, NPR, Gawker, Truthout.com, Longman’s Hip Hop Reader, Mythium and Politics and Culture. Laymon is currently an Associate Professor of English, Creative Writing and co-director of Africana Studies at Vassar College.
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Meta
Kiese, wow, glad to see you pop back up, as if you ever truly went away. But I lost sight of you when you went to Oberlin. I had tucked those moments–you, Andrew Libby, Purple and White, that whole shit storm of Millsaps–deep into the recesses of my mind. A personal mythology. Glad to see you’re doing well.
Alright, peace for now
Gary
Hey;
I just read your essay on Gawker and I wanted to reach out to you with an internet-high five.
The magic of your ability lies in being able to be spiritually structured enough to form a cogent and nuanced narrative illustrating the silent violence that perpetuates itself not least of which by obliviating conscious assessment of it’s existence, to say nothing of disallowing the creation of the psychic space for reflection upon its effects and underpinnings.
Your meditations upon weaponry is particularly poignant to me as I know many who would wish for a simpler social structure whereupon we could resolve these issues with spears, like olden days. As you mention, it is a flaccid and fallacious fantasy.
Robert
Thank you for your incisive prose on http://www.gawker.com. You put the reality of American violence into a deeply considered and fresh perspective. I can’t wait for your novel to appear.
Thank you for speaking your truth.
Just read your piece on Gawker and was so moved. I grew up in Mississippi as well and am so happy to not be there. You’re crazy talented, looking forward to more.
I just read your essay on Gawker and have to thank you for writing it – I’m biracial with a white father and black mother. At almost 40, I think I’ve seen everything and then I wake up each day and see more horror stories about how much this country still hates so many of its citizens.
I’m looking forward to reading whatever you choose to put out here for us. And I know I said it, but thanks.
Excellent essay @ Gawker. Big up.
Like others, I read your essay from Gawker and it moved me. If writing can be visceral and quiet at the same time, you’ve done it. I find myself thinking about you sitting in a ditch outside your mama’s house, letting pine needles run through your fingers. The resignation and more to the point, the desolation, of that image is going to stay with me for a long time.
WONDERFUL essay. I worked at Millsaps College from 2008-2010 in the communications department and never heard of this incident. Wow.
Oh man, I read “How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America.” I look forward to reading your book when it comes out.
I read your amazing piece on Gawker over the weekend and it has stayed with me for days. Proof positive that great writing occurs when you write what you know with truth and fearlessness.
Ta-Nehisi Coates noted that your writing touches on “how violence works in many African-American communities, or really among communities where the options seemed relatively capped.”
Any outsider feeling trapped – no matter the culture or country – has felt what you so eloquently put on paper.
I look forward to reading more of your work.
I just want to say thank you for the piece “How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: A Remembrance”. I can’t think of anything to say other than, thank you. It’s so wonderful to see the truth so beautifully and eloquently written.
Hi Kiese,
I just wanted to say thank you so much for your incredible article. My father is from inner city Memphis, where the hood exists in the same way your article describes Central Mississippi as existing without hope. Fortunately I did not grow up in these circumstances, as my mother is African, and my parents ended up having us live in an all-white area. I’ve grown up economically impoverished, despite living in a wealthy area. However, my mind and my spirit have never had to suffer the poverty of a slow death in which you understand that the world exists to kill you. I had long known about the pervasive hopelessness of the hood, both from having been there to see family, and from hearing about my father’s experiences escaping it. While trying to formulate my cultural identity, I often longed for the imaginary community I thought awaited me in Memphis; only to be disappointed by the reality that an overwhelming stagnation made it impossible for me to grow there. However, this article really crystallized the reasons why I never felt at home there. I have always been unable to accept death; I have always fought for life, even in the face of the physical death of loved ones, even in midst of slow death at the hands of family members and even in spite of incredible isolation. I know well, and have seen, the process of suffering a slow death from those around you, before being brought back to life by those same people. I want you to know that I am fighting for life. I am hoping to be able to save others, after I save myself. I refuse a slow death. If you do nothing else, know that you have helped at least one person refuse a slow death, with full knowledge of exactly what they are refusing. I choose life.
Thank you.
You’re a great writer. Eagerly awaiting publication of Long Division!