Street Shadows - 9780803240957

Street ShadowsA Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption\nAuthor(s): Jerald Walker\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: University of Nebraska Press, United States\nImprint: Bison Books\nISBN-13: 9780803240957, 978-0803240957\nSynopsis\nStreet Shadows recounts Jerald Walker's renunciation of the \""thug life\"" he had embraced as a teenager on the South Side of Chicago in favor of the education and middle-class life his parents had always dreamed of for their children. By turns ironic, humorous, angry, and poignant, Walker's narrative dramatically captures his pursuit and embodiment of the \""American dream\"": the effort to rise above obstacles such as racism and poverty through hard work and determination.\nWalker explores questions of race and identity through the lens of personal choiceincluding decisions he made as a high school dropout, a drug and alcohol abuser, a returning student, a young academic, a visitor to Africa in search of his roots, and a husband and father, as well as the d.