Kiese Laymon was a black American writer and professor of English and writing in Jackson Mississippi. This memoir is also to be considered, as an autobiography was published October 16,2018 by Scribner. In 2019 the book won a Carnegie medal for nonfiction and Los Angeles Times book pies among other awards and nominations. This memoir was ultimately written to his mom, as a tell all account of all that he has been through throughout his life. This is because the relationship he had with his mother was kind of iffy. His mother, a black woman from Mississippi, was a single mother, political science professor, and was abusive towards him, and demanded excellence in English. At the time this was written, and the location of where Laymon was in it is considered that Jackson Mississippi was in a poor state and class, and race played a very big part in his community, as well as was living in an abusive hustle, really shaped how he wrote this memoir. He wrote this based on the idea of writing for yourself, using this as a way to relate to other people, and getting other people to relate to him as well. The purpose of Laymon’s text is multifaceted; it serves to chronicle his own journey of self-discovery, confront societal norms and injustices, and foster empathy and understanding among readers. Laymon’s primary audience comprises individuals navigating the complexities of race, identity, and family relationships in contemporary America.