Blog Post 1
In the reading of Part 1 titled “Boy Man” the author Keise Laymon begins writing about about the lies he was supposed to write, but changed his mind mid way and erased everything before. Laymon describes the truth of the black lives that are often meant to be kept forgotten such as the oppression, the violence, and overall their way of life. However the abuse that affects him the most is the one caused by his mother, to which he writes this memoir to.
The abuse begins when he is very young and exposed to violence. For instance at the beginning, Laymon shares a memory of a time when he and his mom were playing with some rackets, when suddenly they saw woman getting beat up by a man. He beats her in the street across from where he and his mom were. His mother begins yelling at the man and this is when they took off. After this Laymon shares that he and his mom began to pray right then and there. He described the amount of fear and rage he felt at that moment, and kneeling down to pray during that time brought uneasiness.
Hey Diana, I also see and interpret the memoir as you do. Like you said, Laymon is exposed to many sorts of violence and abuse to people in his community and himself as well. Ironically, the most traumatic abuse came from his mother. I think it took a lot of courage for him to talk about these traumas and abuse that are often times kept silent. When I was reading the part where Laymon and his mother stand up against the man who was beating a woman, I was extremely happy that they did that. I think too often do people keep silent or turn a blind eye over violence in certain communities. People can be so used to seeing the violence and abuse around them that they become numb to its damaging effect on others. This is why I am also happy to see that Laymon took the bold step to address the abuse he received from his mother. While the brutal truth he wrote could be damaging to his relationship with his mother, Laymon’s act of burying these deep traumas would have been more damaging had he just told a “lie” to his mother instead.
Hey Diana, I also see and interpret the memoir as you do. As you said, Laymon is exposed to many sorts of violence and abuse to people in his community and himself as well. Ironically, the most traumatic abuse came from his mother. I think it took a lot of courage for him to talk about these traumas and abuse that are oftentimes kept silent. When I was reading the part where Laymon and his mother stand up against the man who was beating a woman, I was extremely happy that they did that. I think too often do people keep silent or turn a blind eye over violence in certain communities. People can be so used to seeing the violence and abuse around them that they become numb to its damaging effect on others. This is why I am also happy to see that Laymon took the bold step to address the abuse he received from his mother. While the brutal truth he wrote could be damaging to his relationship with his mother, Laymon’s act of burying these deep traumas would have been more damaging had he just told a “lie” to his mother instead.