James Baldwin wrote that “to accept one’s past — one’s history — is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is learning how to use it.” Jocelyn Nicole Johnson uses history to spectacular effect in her debut fiction collection, “My Monticello.”
The opening story, “Control Negro,” explores the question: Can a Black man who’s otherwise “equivalent to those broods of average American Caucasian males” break free of racism? The narrator is a father who watches from a distance as his son grows up and becomes an adult. Over a handful of pages, the reader is presented with a case study of how much and how little can change for a Black man over a generation. The characters may come across a bit flat, but the lens through which they are seen — systemic racism, educational inequity and policing — is well focused. The narrative builds to a terrible, violent event, but even amid that suffering, there is a glimmer of hope for both father and son.
