Book Review: The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, by Charles M. Blow (2021)

 

Author Charles M. Blow, and the cover of his 2021 book, The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto.

I’ve been a fan of Charles M. Blow’s op-ed pieces for The New York Times for a few years now. When I heard last summer that he had a book coming out, I was looking forward to reading it. (Late last year I read Blow’s memoir Fire Shut Up In My Bones, which I reviewed here.)

The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto, puts forth Blow’s ideas about how Blacks in the United States can gain more political power. In short, Blow thinks that Blacks should move to the South and attempt to consolidate their political power in these Southern states. The cities Blow specifically mentions are: Shreveport, Jackson, Birmingham, Atlanta, Columbia, Charlotte, Richmond, Baltimore, and Wilmington.

Blow writes about wanting to launch a movement of Black resettlement that would in some ways reverse the trend of the Great Migration of Blacks who moved North during the 20^th century. It’s an interesting idea, and a migration that might indeed end up consolidating Black political power, as Blow posits.

Blow’s call for migration would presumably lead to a block of Democratic Senators from the South. However, a fact that Blow never mentions in his book is that Donald Trump won more Black voters in 2020 than he did in 2016. To cite just one example from the exit polls, Business Insider’s data shows that Trump won 6% more of the Black male vote, and 5% more of the Black female vote than he did in 2016. Yes, Biden still trounced Trump soundly among Black voters, but by a smaller margin than Hillary Clinton did. That doesn’t mean that Republicans will suddenly start winning the Black vote, but it will be interesting to see if Republicans continue their gains among Black voters in the 2024 Presidential election, or if Trump’s gains in 2020 were just an anomaly.

The Devil You Know loses momentum during the book’s second half, after Blow has explained his theory. A review I read suggested that Blow might have written more about what is happening in these Southern cities right now. I think that’s an excellent point, and it’s something the book lacks.

I’d also be interested to learn more about Blow’s experiences as a Black man living in New York City. There’s a bit sprinkled throughout the book, and then a few more details on the last page or two, but I would have been interested in reading a whole chapter about Blow’s time in New York City.

The Devil You Know makes a compelling argument, and it will be interesting to see if Blow’s ideas gain traction in the years to come.

Book Review: Fire Shut Up in My Bones: A Memoir, by Charles M. Blow (2014)

 

Paperback cover of Fire Shut Up in My Bones, by Charles M. Blow, 2014.

Writer Charles M. Blow

I can’t remember exactly when I started reading Charles M. Blow’s Opinion pieces in The New York Times, but I quickly became a fan of his writing style and his point of view. When I saw this summer that Blow will have a book coming out in January, The Devil You Know: A Black PowerManifesto, I thought to myself “I’ll definitely read that book when it comes out.” Then I learned that Blow had already written a book, his 2014 memoir Fire Shut Up in My Bones. I decided I should read that book before The Devil You Know is released.

Fire Shut Up in My Bones details Blow’s childhood, growing up in rural Louisiana in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Reading the book was entering a world apart from my own childhood, and Blow paints a vivid and compelling picture of people struggling hard to just get by. Blow is a fantastic writer, and he has a knack for sharp characterization.

One of my favorite passages in the book was this vivid description:

“It was the time of day when the orange glow of the setting sun brushed the tips of the tallest trees, a few lonesome rays finding openings in the thicket and falling on lucky spots in the grass. It was the time of day when the lightning bugs were just beginning to sparkle against the velvet stretches of long shadows. I felt something move through me, taking with it all the pain and the questions and depositing peace in its wake.” (p.130)

Blow details the end of his childhood innocence when, at the age of 7, he was abused by his cousin Chester. The trauma that Blow experienced followed him long after Chester has gone from his life.

Fire Shut Up in My Bones follows Blow through adolescence and college, as he pushes himself to succeed in school, and worries about the visions he has of being attracted to men. Along the way, we get a vivid, brutal picture of fraternity pledging and hazing, which Blow endures as a pledge and then oversees as the President of his fraternity, before resigning in disgust at the end of his junior year.

The last chapter of the book feels rushed, as Blow lands and internship and then a job with The New York Times, where he is the youngest newsroom department head in the history of the newspaper. Blow also marries, has three children, and gets divorced, which is all detailed on a single page.

I don’t usually seek out memoirs, and honestly, I’m more interested in reading Blow’s thoughts about politics and civil rights in The Devil You Know, but if you want to know more about Blow’s own life, Fire Shut Up in My Bones is a fascinating account of his childhood and adolescence.