Joe Birdsong is a man perpetually out of place. He’s at once too Black and not Black enough. His skin is too dark and his hair too kinky. But he is also teased for talking like a White man. He’s at once color blind and acutely aware of color in a way that penetrates to his very bones. He forms his friendships based not on race, but on a common love of music and literature. Still, he experiences his Blackness every moment of every day in sometimes terrifying ways. Burdened with these contradictions, Joe Birdsong is having a tough time of it. The Fort Showalter Blues tells Joe’s story and how he navigates a world that has little love for a young, Black man, especially in the 1950’s. The semi-autobiographical novel is by beloved local author, poet and teacher Harold Johnson, who passed away on November 27 of last year at the age of 91. Our book mole Patricia Kullberg reviews his novel.
- KBOO