In a video interview with PBS, Kiese Laymon breaks down some of key topics of discussion in his memoir Heavy. He describes it as a letter, written to his mother with whom he has a complicated relationship with. Laymon reads a small passage in his memoir titled “Hulk” which describes the disciplinary beatings he used to receive from his mother, then he proceeds to question the effectiveness of this culturally learned behavior passed down through generations within the black community. Physical abuse was often seen as preparation for the real world, which is often kept quiet because of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” nature of the subject. Laymon reveals that he feels as if he exposed a heavy secret by trying to end the taboo, and beginning a conversation about the matter. He is afraid of how white people will view black families, especially black women as he knows not everyone will understand the complexity of black women and how layered they can be. Despite the hardships, he says he’s learned not to hold resentment toward those who have inflicted such physical and emotional abuse onto his body and mind, and focus on the importance of being a better person tomorrow than he was yesterday. From here, he navigates the world of toxic masculinity, battling stereotypes and what it means to have a black body in white America. 

Public Broadcasting Service. (2020, August 1). Kiese Laymon on his Poignant memoir, “heavy”. PBS. Retrieved September 14, 2021, from https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/kiese-laymon-on-his-poignant-memoir-heavy/.