Black History Month

We Can't Breathe

Ronald L. Fair

Novel, 1972

We Can't Breathe, Ronald L. Fair's fourth novel, winner of the American Library Association's Best Book Award, is the author's portrayal of the lives of several African Americans born in the 1930s. Set in Chicago, the novel discusses five African American youths -- Ernie, George, Willie, Jake, and Sam -- who struggle for survival against the challenges posed by alcohol, drugs, violence, poverty, and racism. Throughout their youth, the boys confront tragedy and injustice. The novel, written from the adult perspective of Ernie, offers the narrator the opportunity of self-redemption.