We Gon' Be Alright

"I almost categorized this work as the smartest book I read 'on race' this year—but then I realized it was the smartest, period. Stanford University’s Chang skillfully combines reporting, reflection and insight to explain the commercialization of diversity, the contradictions of the Asian American experience and, above all, the reversing of desegregation efforts in education and housing."—The Washington Post

"We Gon’ Be Alright is a parade of some of the most uncomfortable and heartbreaking dances this country has seen; it looks glaringly close at buzzwords such as 'affirmative action,' 'white flight,' 'gentrification,' 'diversity,' 'Beyoncé,' and—of course—'Donald Trump.' Its topics are so current, its tone so raw, that readers might wonder if Chang finished it minutes before it was due to the printer. This, as well as Chang’s tendency to resemble that cool professor everyone had in college, is what keeps We Gon’ Be Alright from being a simple rehash of old news. Some passages inundate the reader with facts that might be required reading for a college sociology or black studies course . . . Chang’s coverage of the events that unfolded directly before and after the August 9, 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Missouri feels completely necessary. For those of us who did not set foot in the city in the days that followed, he paints what the news did not show. His narrative remains painfully close, sometimes pulling out into a bird’s eye view but never straying too far from those who were on the ground . . . We Gon’ Be Alright is an explanation and an exclamation. Chang reminds us that our country is screaming, even if we think we might not need the reminder. The only way we have any chance of being 'alright'—of achieving some sort of liberation from the elements that keep us from being truly equal—is 'if we are always,' Chang insists, 'in the process of finding love and grace.'”—Zakiya Harris, The Rumpus

"The copious books confronting this moment in America’s racial politics—a mix of reporting and meditations on President Obama, on Black Lives Matter, on police violence and mass incarceration—can be roughly divided into two broad categories. There are the My Story works, deeply personal accounts in which the authors draw on their own lives to illuminate their arguments, often in self-conscious reference or emulation of notable activist voices of the past; and the Our Story versions, works of history and big-picture analysis, more academic in inspiration but no less ambitious in their ends. Jeff Chang’s book on the culture wars and resegregation of America is different, though. There is history and analysis in these pages, and there is life and experience, too, but neither form of storytelling overpowers the other. Instead, what comes through most clearly is a versatile mind in the service of a painful and protracted story, an author who ranges widely before drawing tough conclusions and one who, despite the book’s optimistic title, appears deeply pessimistic about things getting any better, much less becoming all right . . . We Gon’ Be Alright is organized as a series of seven essays—the 'notes' in the subtitle is a bit of an undersell but still pretty accurate—that could each be read on its own in the pages of some high-brow magazine. Two of them in particular stand out, most memorable for their ability to move easily between Chang’s story and a collective one . . . Chang emphasizes how activists and artists have long rallied for better representation for people of color, women, poor people and rural people in the arts and popular culture. And though he worries about who is represented in our cultural products, and how underrepresentation or misrepresentation reinforces inequality . . . The limits of representation come alive in the author’s unforgettable discussion of the Asian American experience."—Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post

"Jeff Chang’s new book, We Gon’ Be Alright, is filled with alarming statistics . . . Chang’s book is filled with such jolts of cold statistical truth and bracing analysis. To read it is to watch him confidently dive into some of our cultural hot zones—racial unrest on college campuses, the #OscarsSoWhite discussion, the ascendance of Donald Trump, the 'hyper segregation' of certain American metro areas—and describe them in ways that make perfect, if disturbing, sense. If future generations ever need an account of America’s current, tumultuous moment, Chang’s book is good place to start."—Philip Eil, Salon

"Jeff Chang’s new book We Gon’ Be Alright should, in my view, be required reading for all higher-education professionals—faculty and staff. Mr. Chang’s analysis of our accepted national ideals and ideations of diversity—including the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke 1978 Supreme Court decision, the culture wars, #OscarsSoWhite, #NotYourMule, #BlackLivesMatter, and the policy mechanics of resegregation—is illuminating and devastating. This slim volume of essays deepened my understanding of the multilayered work before us all . . . By weaving together analysis, history, personal narratives, and data, Mr. Chang renders his insights and arguments accessible and actionable. If you are struggling to understand the perspective of young people of color on your campus who are demanding change, if you want to ground your understanding of this cultural and political moment in a longer view of 'diversity' in America, if you wonder (secretly or out loud) why diversity matters, if you want to understand why diversity is not enough without inclusion and equity, if you want to engage your colleagues and students in nuanced conversations about race in America, you should consider reading and assigning this book."—Mariko Silver, President of Bennington College, The Chronicle of Higher Education

“With simple, elegant prose coupled with remarkable scholarship, Jeff Chang’s We Gon' Be Alright, moves us beyond autobiography into an illuminated landscape of penetrating facts and underlining unavoidable truths. In these pages, one learns the meaning and devastating effects of resegregation, inequity, and the systems of power that maintain them. Connecting the dots from federal housing policies of the 1960's and the sparks of Ferguson to the political rise of Donald Trump and the bittersweet sorrow of Beyoncé’s Lemonade, We Gon' Be Alright captures the crisis of this historical moment even as it propels us toward action for a future we can only imagine. It’s been a long while since 'just the facts, please' was a real page-turner. For anyone interested in the realities shaping the cultural landscape, read it and share it. The clarity of vision is unparalleled. Chang has truly nailed it!”—Carrie Mae Weems, visual artist

“Race has been fraught since its invention; this is to be expected of an enduring fiction that draws real blood. When it comes to navigating the minefields of race—its myths and material consequences, its currents and contradictions—Jeff Chang is a maestro. With eloquence and urgency, We Gon’ Be Alright reveals a country whose deepening racial oppression and inequality is shrouded by myths of colorblindness and postracial triumphalism. Diversity trumps equity, racial innocence trumps history, gentrification trumps resegregation, performance trumps power, and a Trump America trumps any possibility of a liberated America. But reversing course, Chang tells us, requires truth and reconciliation, struggle and transfiguration, and a movement governed by love and full of grace.”—Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original

“Jeff Chang’s We Gon’ Be Alright is an astonishing and thorough account of how decades of struggle and protest have led us to Ferguson, to Black Lives Matter, to questions of equity and diversity, and to a country that is more segregated than ever. In the midst of our tense racial debates, this book is required reading. We would do well to heed its lessons.”—Michael Eric Dyson

"Chang’s prose is disarming, provocative, and sure to inspire further thought and research."—Booklist

"In the song that inspired the author’s title, Kendrick Lamar repeatedly asks his listeners, 'Do you feel me?' Chang’s text, in essence, poses the same question. Enriched and stimulated as much by his passion as his ideas, I’m pleased to answer with a resounding yes."—Jabari Asim, Bookforum

“When absorbed individually, the author's incisive essays will educate and inform readers. Collectively, Chang creates a chain-linked manifesto arguing for an end to racially charged violence and discrimination and urging global open-mindedness to the struggle of the oppressed . . . A compelling and intellectually thought-provoking exploration of the quagmire of race relations.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred)