Black Summers

"Black Summers is beaches, backyards, bikes, basketball courts, and bigotry. Sex and sunlight. Pools and protests. Kinship tales and remembrances of innocence shattered, stolen. This meditative collection of multigenerational prose and poetry is more than memories; it is a beautifully intricate testimony. Black Summers is a cookout, family reunion, and fellowship that captures brilliantly the ways our experiences are at once both singular and expansive, and central to this country’s vexing history."

Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

"Desiree Cooper has gathered some of our most gifted writers to reminisce about the joys, connections, and intimacies of their own long summer days. The beautiful essays and poems in these pages celebrate summer as a time for recreation, self-creation, and community creation."

Thomas J. Sugrue, author of Sweet Land of Liberty

"It’s not just the freshness of summer beaming through these pages; it’s the freshness of these gorgeous voices sharing stories of freedom, fun, hurts, healing, and home. Black Summers is a must-read, a testament to both the revelatory power of the outdoors and the seasons of life where we discover ourselves, each other, and what’s worth fighting for."

Anna Clark, author of The Poisoned City

"To Cassandra Spratling’s exuberant conclusion in ‘Biking Detroit'―'there’s no better way to love Detroit than on two wheels'―I happily add yes, and no other better way than to dive into Desiree Cooper’s lovingly curated Black Summers. Readers who take the fall, à la Senghor Reid’s dazzling cover art, into Cooper’s vibrant ‘city of kinfolk’ will be sustained by the tenderness and power of this remarkable collection."

Dr. Terry Bohnhorst Blackhawk, founding director of InsideOut Literary Arts

"The ingenious Des Cooper has assembled a poignant and surprising collection of memories in Black Summers. The vibe ranges from festive to melancholy, sometimes on the same page, revealing the complexities that lurk behind such ordinary pleasures as violin lessons, Belle Isle, and Boblo."

Bill McGraw, longtime Detroit journalist

"These stories will hurtle you back to high summer: the slurp of popsicles, the slap of jump ropes on the sidewalk, the squeals and splashes of water from mobile pools, and boats bobbing on the Detroit River. Black Summers speaks to the universality of our Black summers everywhere, and to the specificity of Black summers in the authors’ beloved Detroit."

Karen Grigsby Bates, founding member of NPR’s Code Switch