The Talk
Darrin Bell
Darrin Bell was six years old when his mother told him he couldn’t have a realistic water gun. She said she feared for his safety, that police tend to think of little Black boys as older and less innocent than they really are. Through evocative illustrations and sharp humor, Bell examines how The Talk shaped intimate and public moments from childhood to adulthood. more
352 pages, Hardcover
First published Henry Holt and Co.
4.66
Rating
2043
Ratings
389
Reviews
Darrin Bell
18 books 44 followers
Darrin Bell is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American editorial cartoonist and comic strip creator known for the syndicated comic strips Candorville and Rudy Park. He is a syndicated editorial cartoonist with King Features Syndicate. (His editorial cartoons were formerly syndicated by The Washington Post Writers Group.)Bell is the first African-American to have two comic strips syndicated nationally. He is also a storyboard artist. Bell engages in issues such as civil rights, pop culture, family, science fiction, scriptural wisdom, and nihilist philosophy, while often casting his characters in roles that are traditionally denied them.
Community reviews
Powerful graphic memoir about a Black man recounting his childhood and coming of age as he decides whether to give The Talk to his own son. I liked the honesty in which Darrin Bell portrayed his racialized experiences growing up and the range of emotions they instilled within him. I found certain moments particularly moving, such as when a white female college professor accused him of plagiarism without any evidence solely based on her own anti-Black bias, when he owned up to the Islamophobia he perpetuated after 9/11, and in his struggle to decide how to tell his own son about the realities of racism in the United States. In the first half of the graphic memoir, I felt that there were moments where plot event after plot event occurred and I wanted a bit more reflection or more information about Bell’s internal reactions to things. Still, though, I found this a candid book that raises important questions pertaining to race, racism, and parenting. more
Several years ago a friend related to me how her then 9-year old son, seeing a police officer on the street, immediately raised his hands in the air as fear etched itself across his face. She hadn't yet given him "the talk" but he'd already figured out that cops (and most white people) would see him not as the innocent child he was but as a thug and a threat. My privileged white self was shocked and then I asked what she meant by "the talk". I listened, trying to imagine what it feels like to be the parent of a Black child in the US. I was in turns appalled, angry, and heartbroken for her, needing to tell her child that he is seen as different, as less than, as a danger, as a threat that needs to be taken down, all because of the color of his skin. more
Centered around "The Talk" his mother had with him as a child and "The Talk" that looms before him with his own son, cartoonist Darrin Bell reflects on a life buffeted by blatant racism and constant microaggressions even as several white people assure him he is "one of the good ones. "Another sad and enraging reminder of how far we have to go. The book skips between vignettes from Bell's life, and I was often frustrated by not knowing what happened in the gaps between as we're given tantalizing sketches of other members of his family and his own career that never get the full development they seem to deserve. So I guess I'm complaining that this thick graphic novel isn't twice as long . . more
This: "I see the man my boy will become. I wanted to create a world for him where he'd never have to carry a four-hundred-year-old burden. " We've tried to rationalize slavery by believing the lies that black people deserved it by being inferior. Believing instead, the truth, that we are all of equal value will set us free. more
This book. This book. I intended to just download it. I intended to just glance at it. I intended to just read a little, and go back to work. more
I really liked this book. There is some beautiful and powerful art and language. The drawings are just fantastic, and even the handwriting font is great. There are some factual errors and some continuity issues that took me out of it, but overall I liked it and think it was a really strong graphic memoir. more
The Talk by Darrin Bell is a graphic novel about the conversation every parent of a Black child has to have around how their race impacts how others will treat them. In this narrative, Darrin uses the metaphor of how a person communicates with a dog in order to show they are not a threat. This example is weaved throughout the novel as a way to understand how terrifying it is when, as a person in a Black body, you feel that you are in harm's way and can experience violence at any unpredictable turn. We read the protagonist's coming of age journey, the way his mother fiercely advocated for him and the way his father failed to teach him certain lessons about being a Black man. At the end of the narrative, the protagonist has his own son and is able to teach him the lessons he had to learn on his own through trial and error. more
I sat down and read this cover to cover. Read it. Share it. Talk about it. Never forget. more
I am not fond of graphic memoirs, but…The Talk is a graphic memoir that I find myself wanting to recommend to everyone. I like its images, its pop culture and political referents, and that Darrin Bell allows himself to admit to mistakes (early denials of racism) and to grow. I like that he connects his past, present, and future:In the pilot episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Commander Benjamin Sisko told the Prophets that human life is linear. There's a past that's long gone, a present, and a future that's yet unwritten. But the Prophets taught him that it isn't that simple. more
Every once in a while I feel like I'm pretty aware, and then a book like this crosses my path and I get the reminder of how privileged I am, and how I will never understand the path others must endure. My heart breaks for bipoc humans suffering under the crushing weight of racism. My heart breaks for the innocence stolen from our youth because of the color of their skin. My heart breaks for parents who have to decide who will be the one to take away their baby's childhood. It's such an important piece of art that should be required reading. more
Darrin Bell is the first black editorial cartoonist to win the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartoon. This book takes us through his years of learning all the many talks about being discriminated against for simply being black. These many scenarios are so real. Sadly, they never seem to stop. But maybe if more people read books like this, they would understand that change will and must happen. more
On the one hand you want to prepare your kid for the realities of life. On the other hand you want to protect their innocence for as long as you can. This graphic memoir is a powerful exploration of race in America. The author is bi-racial and he explores "the talk" his mother had with him when he was young, and the "the talk" he needs to have with his son. This reads like an editorial rather than a review of his life experiences, and I'll be getting my hands on his Pulitzer Prize winning work. more
wow wow wow. Really hard-hitting but also funny. Such a journey through his life as an artist but also a capsule of American history. My only complaint is that the font (handwriting. ) is hard to read. more
When I first started reading this graphic memoir, I swiped to the dedication page and I knew that Darrin Bell's story will devastate me. The page is a never-ending list of black people that were murdered by police and (to a larger extent) white supremacy. The words "For my sons and daughters" are highlighted in the middle of that list, making the page into a powerful statement in itself. I loved how vulnerable the author is with his fears during childhood and the years after. I can relate to the parts where his views on racism changes as he grows up. more
this book is especially special to me because I worked on it many moons ago during my holt internship. (this is not really impressive, I honestly could not tell you what my work contributed)BUT it was so much more fun to read this book in its physical form, outside of a dropbox, and I think the finished product is amazing. the art is stunning and the story is so compelling and meaningful, from the very first chapter. I don't always love graphic novels, but Darrin Bell is so gifted and this is the perfect format for this story. . more
Excellent comics memoir about the writer's experience of being Black in America from the 1980s to today. I like the way he draws bodies, cute, endearing, full of warmth. The timing of the story telling is great. I hope to read more by this thoughtful creator. . more
The autobiography, in graphic novel form of a biracial, shy, intelligent boy who channels his anxiety and experienced life long racism into his drawings. Always feeling as an “other” or “NHI” no human involved (a code used by the police) he becomes the first African American to win the Pulitzer prize for his editorial cartoons. However, or in addition, in my opinion he should have won it for this book. more
A powerful memoir, related with complexity and trust and a bit of hope. Highly recommend. more
Best and most important book I have read all year. more
THE TALK is a powerful, affecting graphic memoir of the artist's experiences growing up as a biracial African-American child in the 1970s and 80s, as well as his later experiences as a young man and now a celebrated cartoonist and father in today's fraught and uncertain era. Starting as a small child, Darrin has to navigate his way through many hazards facing African-American communities, from free-roaming vicious dogs to free-roaming vicious police officers. Beyond these immediate threats to life and limb, there are countless put-downs and aggressions that make life unenviable and difficult--such as the professor who baselessly accuses Darrin of plagiarism because she cannot believe that someone of "his background" could write well. THE TALK boasts some incredible artwork and thought-provoking writing. It allows readers to glimpse another's lived experience, even if it is very different from their own. more
I really appreciate Bell's candidness about his experience with racism and "the talk" (going from hearing it from his parents, to telling it to his own children), and I'm glad he included the section on his own Islamaphobia after 9/11. It would be easy to skip over that part and only include the ways he's been personally affected by anti-Blackness, but everything he talks about is all connected to each other, and he acknowledges that. more
What can I say. I enjoyed this although I felt the drawing was a bit uneven. Good story, good memoir. I enjoyed seeing Bell’s career trajectory of becoming a comic/editorial cartoonist; it held me rapt in one long sitting. Moving depictions of micro aggressions-and well, aggressions- experienced by many people of color from a first person perspective. more
SPL - this will be on the adult new cart in the circ workroom on the 16th (I start at 12). I HIGHLY suggest you snag it and check it out. Or put a hold on it if someone else has it. It's. So. more
I'm kind of speechless. I just want everyone to recommend or give this graphic novel to everyone else that needs to know more about racism against black people in 'America' (sorry for the quoting, but as a European born I'll always think first of America as the continent that it actually is, not the country), and to really understand what it means, and empathize with the people that suffers it every single day of their lives, one way or another. The art might not be my preferred style, but this was such an incredibly powerful read that who cares. It worked a charm. more
I cried (possibly the highest praise I give any work of art, imo). Bell's mastery of the medium shines throughout with stunning artwork that heightens the story to 11. more
This is a brilliant and gorgeous work of art. It is simultaneously powerful, poignant, and personal. This book deserves more praise than I could possibly provide. Please, I’m begging you … read this book. . more
Really good. I thought it was going to be about the Talk itself and was surprised it was more about what happens when kids don’t get the Talk from the people who are best equipped to help them. I bet this could have been twice as long because he has so many stories to tell. more
This book had me laughing out loud and swearing. It touched on the function of a family and life. Life not as most people know it but the life of family who must confront the difficulties of raising black kids especially boys and how it should be approached. Do we shelter them or tell them the truth. This book touched me to my core. more