Wrapping up

Trying to make sure I can contribute during our talks on Saturday, I am wrapping up reading Black Boy for the umpteenth time. I try to read before I go to bed. My oldest son, a first grader, asked me to read it to him, as a bedtime story. Not thinking he would actually get anything out of it, I was shocked when he stopped me and explained that he wanted me to read the rest to him the next day. As I told him good night, I wanted to engage in conversation with him. What did he get out of what I read to him. Could he feel what Richard Wright was trying to illustrate with words?

Drifting off into more complex thinking, I wondered what the future held for him as a young black boy. Will his life be different? Will he feel constricted because of his race? Will he ever desire to escape into an unknown world because of his race? Only time will tell the answers to these questions. I do find comfort in the fact that he does have a promising and different future in comparison to Richard Wright.