D. Watkins has narrated 2 audiobooks on Listento.it by 1 author, with an average listener rating of 5★ across 2 ratings. The most-rated is We Speak for Ourselves.
We Speak for Ourselves
Summary
The critically lauded author of The Beast Side and The Cook Up returns with an existential look at life in low-income Black communities, while also offering a new framework for how we can improve the conversations occurring about them. While author D. Watkins is pleased about the number of books exploring issues of race that are being published, there’s one crucial aspect of contemporary Black life that doesn’t get enough attention: the hood. The Baltimore native knows firsthand what it means to live in poverty, where violence and drugs are inescapable. As he sees it, the perspective of people who live in poor Black communities is largely absent from the work of many of the top intellectuals who speak and write about race. Now, D. Watkins is here to tell his truth. Built upon Watkins's own experiences, We Speak for Ourselves eases us into the bigger conversation about race and the various issues affecting poor Black neighborhoods in America. Unapologetic and eye-opening, We Speak for Ourselves identifies and addresses a range of issues affecting these low-income communities - such as the trouble with misrepresentation and why we need more than one Black voice - and sheds light on the harsh realities of daily life. Additionally, Watkins examines various crucial activist movements, including the civil rights movement, and asks what it means to be a model activist in today’s world. Through the personal retelling of his journey, Watkins aims to illuminate the lessons he’s learned navigating through two very distinct worlds - the hood and the elite sanctums of the prominent Black thinkers and public figures - in hopes of providing actionable solutions.
©2019 D. Watkins (P)2019 Simon & Schuster
The Cook Up
Summary
Reminiscent of the classic Random Family and The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace but told by the man who lived it, The Cook Up is a riveting look inside the Baltimore drug trade portrayed in The Wire and an incredible story of redemption. The smartest kid on his block in East Baltimore, D. was certain he would escape the life of drugs, decadence, and violence that had surrounded him since birth. But when his brother, Devin, is shot - only days after D. receives notice that he's been accepted into Georgetown University - the plans for his life are exploded, and he takes up the mantle of his brother's crack empire. D. succeeds in cultivating the family business, but when he meets a woman unlike any he's known before, his priorities are once more put into question. Equally terrifying and hilarious, inspiring and heartbreaking, D.'s story offers a rare glimpse into the mentality of a person who has escaped many hells.
©2016 D. Watkins (P)2016 Hachette Audio