“How do you admit you’re a man who was sexually assaulted?” editorial comics artist Chris Kindred asks in his short comic My Black Skin Is Not An Invitation on Matter.
This beautiful piece uses the comics form flawlessly, walking the reader through the morning after the assault, his friends’ reactions, and his own framing and reframing of the experience. Kindred interweaves questions about race, reputation, masculinity, survivorship, and intimacy, gracefully telling the essential details of a long and painful story.
He concludes the story with the statement “I don’t have the strength to confront it. Not for a while, at least.”
Yet, he had the strength to make a comic about it, and I feel lucky to have read it.
Grab Back Comics 
Leave a comment