An AfricanAmerican writers concise heartfelt take on the state of his nation exploring the war between the values he has always held and the reality with which he is confronted in twentyfirstcentury America. In the tradition of James Baldwins The Fire Next Time and TaNehisi Coatess Between the World and Me comes Clifford Thompsons What It Is. Thompson was raised to believe in treating every person of every color as an individual and he decided as a young man that America despite its history