Homeboy

ABSTRACT In this autobiographical article, the veteran writer Michael Gonzales reflects upon Black culture in Harlem in the decades following Langston Hughes’s death in 1967. While alluding to films, authors, and musicians who helped shape Black expression, Gonzales provides a snapshot of Black working-class life for Harlemites, especially young Black men, during the early stages of the post–civil rights era. In doing so, Gonzales sheds important light on cultural experiences that swayed his decision to become a writer.