Presented in conversation with journalist Tony Norman

For Pittsburgh native Damon Young, cofounder of VerySmartBrothas.com and one of the most respected writers on race and culture at work today, existing while black is an extreme sport, where snowboarding and spelunking are replaced with economic anxiety and a ceaseless state of angst where questions such as “How should I react here, as a professional black person?” and “Will this white person’s potato salad kill me?”

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir In Essays chronicles Young’s efforts to survive while battling and making sense of the various neuroses his country has given him. It is both a celebration of the idiosyncrasies and distinctions of blackness and a critique of white supremacy and how we define masculinity in America. With his hilarious and distinctive voice, Damon Young grapples with some of the most complex issues of race and identity, from a deeply personal and unflinchingly honest place.