Lawer Nyarko

Lawer Nyarko, whose father, Isaac Nyarko, works at the W Downtown, wrote a non-fiction narrative that won a $1,000 prize. Lawer's narrative is a stream of consciousness that spans a range of thought-provoking images. Regarding his own situation, he writes, "There is always the thought in the back of my mind that someone will just see some black kid and just become scared. And then some people feel like they have to act on this irrational fear and call the police. Then, this police person may have the same irrational fear and use this for grounds to arrest me. Like it isn't that hard for this one thing to spiral into something way worse." We all know how true that is, but Lawer doesn't stop there. He also takes on "Karens," confronting this particularly contemporary issue with a mix of well-deserved criticism as well as sardonic expression. Lawer's narrative would leave many readers saying, sarcastically, "Gee, Lawer, tell us how you really feel." But he really does tell us how he feels in this excellent true tale of self-expression.