Damon Young (writer)

Damon Young (born 1979)[1] is an American writer and editor. He is the co-founder of the website Very Smart Brothas. Young released his first book, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker, in 2019 with HarperCollins.[2]

Damon Young
Born1979 (age 42–43)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationWriter, editor
LanguageEnglish
EducationCanisius College
GenreNon-fiction
Notable worksWhat Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker
Years active2008–present
Children2

Early life and education

Young was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Vivienne and Wilbur Young.[3] He spent most of his adolescence in East Liberty. As a teenager, Young lived in Penn Hills where he became a basketball player for Penn Hills High School.[4] He earned a basketball scholarship at Canisius College, graduating with a degree in English in 2002.[5]

Career

Young co-founded a website called Very Smart Brothas (VSB) in 2008 with D. Marcellus Wright, who uses the pen name Panama Jackson.[1] The website featured essays on pop culture, politics, and absurdist humor written for an African-American audience. Gizmodo Media Group acquired VSB in 2016. It is now a vertical on the website The Root.[6]

He is also a columnist for GQ, and a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times.[6][7] In February 2022 he joined The Washington Post Magazine as a contributing columnist with a weekly column.[8]

Young signed a two-book publishing deal with HarperCollins' Ecco imprint in November 2016.[1] His first book, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays, was released in March 2019.[9] Consisting of a collection of personal essays primarily about race, gender, class, and Black identity,[10] the book received positive critical attention. Publishers Weekly wrote in a review: "Young's charm and wit make these essays a pleasure to read; his candid approach makes them memorable."[11] Karamagi Rujumba wrote for the Post-Gazette: " 'What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker' is in equal parts a deeply introspective account of a life and an astute critique of the contours along which black people survive the limitations of historic and systemic racism."[10] Michael Kleber-Diggs wrote for the Star Tribune: "Readers who know Young's work from the blog he co-founded, Very Smart Brothas, will recognize his voice, his fondness for lists, his precise, comprehensive and spectacular references to pop culture, his wit, and his keen mind."[12] The book won the 2020 Thurber Prize for American Humor.[13]

Ebony named him to its Power 100 2017 list under the Luminaries category.[14]

Personal life

Young is married and has a young daughter and son. He resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[2][15]

Works
  • Your Degrees Won’t Keep You Warm At Night Lexington, KY: Very Smart Brothas Media, 2011. ISBN 9781453708767, OCLC 702658318
  • What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker New York, NY: Ecco, 2019. ISBN 9780062684301, OCLC 1090242570

References
  1. Ramanathan, Lavanya (November 21, 2016). "Very Smart Brothas is the blackest thing that ever happened to the Internet. Period". Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  2. Simon, Scott (March 23, 2019). "'What Doesn't Kill You' Navigates The Challenges Of Existing While Black". NPR.org. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  3. Cunningham, Lisa (February 27, 2019). "Damon Young's What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker". Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  4. Byko, Laura (April 29, 2015). "Blogger left basketball behind to chronicle black experience in Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  5. "Canisius College Welcomes Damon Young Back to Campus". Canisius College. March 21, 2019. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  6. Weidenhof, Alex (July 8, 2017). "Gizmodo Media Group acquires Very Smart Brothas blog". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  7. Young, Damon (9 April 2021). "Opinion | Racism Makes Me Question Everything. I Got the Vaccine Anyway". The New York Times.
  8. "Damon Young joins The Washington Post Magazine as a contributing columnist". The Washington Post. January 24, 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  9. León, Concepción de (March 25, 2019). "Damon Young on the 'Absurdity' of Being Black". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 30, 2019.
  10. Rujumba, Karamagi (March 22, 2019). "Damon Young finds hilarity and profundity in vulnerability". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  11. "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays". Publishers Weekly. January 17, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  12. Kleber-Diggs, Michael. "Review: 'What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker,' by Damon Young". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  13. "Thurber House — THURBER PRIZE WINNER — Literary Center and James Thurber Museum". www.thurberhouse.org. Archived from the original on 2018-12-06.
  14. Ebony.com. "EBONY Power 100 2017 Honoree - Damon Young". EBONY Power 100 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  15. King, Jamilah (March–April 2019). "White people often don't see Damon Young. That's about to change". Mother Jones. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
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