At the age of ten, Aaron’s childhood within a diverse community shifted abruptly when his family moved to small-town Indiana. There, racist mentalities stereotyped him for his multiracial features and heritage. Marginalized as a Black person within his new, overwhelmingly European-American community, he learned to hide parts of himself that were rejected, hoping to escape harsh racial prejudices.
An excerpt from Marginal Eyes, Chapter Four: My dad strapped me to his back and carried me to the top of the Indiana sand dunes; he taught me to play baseball in our backyard; he kept me active at the library and read with me
An excerpt from Marginal Eyes, Chapter Three: Their voices boomed, rolled, and penetrated the air with a strength only Gospel can have. Many in the pews were clapping, others were nodding their heads, and some stood and shifted their weight side to side, putting their
An excerpt from Marginal Eyes, Chapter Five: Despite ridicule coming so frequently, few incidents presented a choice as stark as one did during my sixth-grade year. On a Saturday afternoon, the nearby elementary school hosted a youth basketball game, and I attended it with a
An excerpt from Marginal Eyes, Chapter Eight: One of the male staffers, who quickly nicknamed me “AK” (as in AK-47), was the picture of a hardworking and socially adept political aide. He kept all hours to establish his place as a valuable asset in the
An Excerpt from Marginal Eyes, Chapter Thirteen: “Stand against the trunk and spread your legs,” the officer behind me directed. As he grabbed me roughly around my mid-section to adjust my stance and started to pat me down, Tommy lit into them. “Hey, man, this
An excerpt from Marginal Eyes, Chapter Fourteen: I clambered to my feet and walked away from the group to sit alone in an austere bedroom down the hall. There I found a soft sleeping bag on the wood floor, and in the dark emptiness, I