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by Victor H. Hall (Author)
When it comes to personal transformation, Victor Hall knows the perils and profits. Growing up as a tough black child in segregated Alabama, he enlisted as a combat infantryman during the Vietnam War, hoping patriotic service would lead to equality that never came. Afterward, Victor turned toward a lifelong love of art, becoming a painter and obtaining a master's degree, while witnessing the frequent exclusion of black artists by a white world.
Tired of pledging allegiance to a country that didn't want him, Victor drifted away from Western Christianity toward African culture and spirituality. In the process, Victor changed--or morphed--into a new person: more aware, more analytical, and more African than African American.
Part memoir and part art book, Why Morph? The So-Called Black People and White People Pandemic! is a textual and visual contemplation about how one man changed from who he was to who he became. Each chapter begins with one of twenty-six original paintings created by Victor that represent key turning points in his lifelong transformation and what he now sees in the world around him.
Why Morph? The So-Called Black People and White People Pandemic! confronts the psychological toll of racist exclusion, meditating on survival in a divided world. Throughout the book, Victor discusses and illustrates the historical and contemporary reasons behind systemic worldwide racism and how it is spread toward black people. In an uplifting twist, the story considers how to heal from inherited trauma, offering readers a soul-stirring call to remember, to reckon, and to rise.
