Unraveling the Enigma: A Poet's Journey through 'Memoir of a Kidnapping'

Poet and author Shane McCrae shares his experience of being kidnapped by his white supremacist grandparents at a young age, who taught him to hate his Blackness. McCrae's curiosity about his background grew, and at 16, he found his father's name in the local phone book and discovered they were living in the same town. Reflecting on his past, McCrae explores his uncertain childhood in his memoir, "Pulling the Chariot of the Sun," and discusses the impact of his grandfather's racism on his identity. Despite the trauma, McCrae's love for poetry remains, finding solace in its irreducible core of mystery.