Discussed in this essay:
Self-Portrait in Black and White, by Thomas Chatterton Williams. W. W. Norton. 192 pages. $25.95.
What a strange thing is “race,” and family, stranger still.
—Elizabeth Alexander, “Race”
“Empty Wall,” by Nick Meyer © The artist
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been!” declares Wanda Sykes in her 2016 Epix special, What Happened . . . Ms. Sykes? As one of her fans, I was glad to hear it. As a member of a racially and culturally mixed family, I was particularly charmed to learn the circumstances of Sykes’s joy.…