From Crown Heights to Brownsville to Fort Greene, CITY KID: A Writer’s Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success is a candid, colorful memoir about a nerd from the Brooklyn projects who made it big.
At first glance, the Georges were “a living, breathing statistic from the infamous Moynihan report on dysfunctional black families.” A single mom with two toddlers, abandoned by the father and jammed into a crime and poverty-ridden housing project in Brooklyn—things looked dim. Yet out of these circumstance came Nelson George—a boy who would grow up to be an award-winning author, filmmaker and critic.
This family story inspired Life Support, George’s Golden Globe-winning HBO film starring Queen Latifah about his sister's battle against addiction and HIV.
CITY KID is not just the story of a boy overcoming adversity, it is also a love letter to New York in its least lovable days—when heroin returned, then crack outsold heroin; when spiraling crime and collapsing employment set the tone; when bussing, riots and strikes dimmed hope for racial integration; when Shaft became every ghetto kid’s role model.
It’s in this improbable environment that Nelson George finds his way to becoming a successful journalist and filmmaker. He is there at the beginning of Black popular culture and hip hop—writing about, investing in, and clubbing with its most influential characters—Russell Simmons, Spike Lee, Chris Rock. Through these experiences, we see how he came to be the expert on music and pop culture that he is today.
CITY KID is in stores April 6.
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