Nashville, TENN — Community organizer and political consultant Eric E. Brown Jr. is proud to announce the release of his first book “Weekend Reflections”. Set to be available on Nov. 10th, one week after Election Day, Weekend Reflections covers the inner thoughts that many black men struggle to say aloud in a world that is constantly judging their experiences.
Weekend Reflections is a graphic memoir that shows the journey of a black man becoming a vulnerable and courageous human being through words and pictures. The book travels through Blackness, relationships, religion, culture and Hip Hop to fully-paint life against the colorless assumptions made by a first glance. Weekend Reflections is a stream of consciousness with out-loud visuals that are full of ambiguous thoughts, contrarian views, and insightful experiences of a Southern, Black, Hip Hop Man that hopes to grow and find understanding by saying the things that are usually left unsaid.
The title of the book originated from a Sunday tradition of posting his thoughts on Facebook reflecting on everything he encountered during the week. His Weekend Reflections, as they soon became to be known, grew in popularity online. These virtual thoughts were a great way to share the experiences so many black men in the country were experiencing.
“In the book, I have tried to give readers a sense of the personal journey that I am on, with all my many experiences.” Brown continued, “at a time when America is going through so much tension around so much injustice, the book offers some of my deepest thoughts on how freeing ourselves as black men from the thoughts we conceal so we can heal the trauma we possess to be creative beings who can push our country forward.”
The November release will be welcomed not only by Black readers, but by a broader audience looking to understand the experiences of black men during a time of a pandemic mixed with civil unrest. Its popularity may also present another book defining genre: the graphic memoir. Brown describes his book as “A Children’s Book for Adults,” for its Black Pop Culture Graphics illustrated by artist XPayne and Brown’s own vivid writing. Brown hopes his book will humanize black men while showing the complexities of life in the 2020 era.
“I’ve spent the last few years reflecting on how I can grow and escape being in survival mode, and in ‘Weekend Reflections’ I am attempting to provide an honest and vulnerable account of my growth as a black man: the memorable events and people who shaped it; my stream of conscious; and the racial, religious, and cultural forces that makes me who I am,” said Brown. “I created something that discusses the purpose of me writing about black men being able to publicly express their thoughts, emotions, intellect, creativity, and frustrations in a way that not only humanizes us, but makes us fully complete and not one dimensional.”
What also makes this book unique is the graphic art that is created by popular artist, XPayne. “XPayne being a part of this book process made it innovative. His art is big, loud, and a visual narration of the Black American experience,” explained Brown. “X exalts the Black Culture and combining us together tells not only my story, not only Nashville’s story, but also the story of Black men wanting to stand proudly as a whole being,”
Brown’s book is self-published and available for preorder at ericebrownjr.com.
