Author of the week

Emmanuel Acho

Emmanuel Acho might just redeem the idea of lockerroom talk, said Andrew Lawrence in TheGuardian.com.

To the NFL linebacker turned Fox Sports commentator, the football locker room is a place where young men routinely engage in productive conversations about race. He even calls it a model for society. “You have people of different races, different religions,” he says. “But because you have a common goal of beating the opponent, you don’t care about differences.” As the 30-year-old Texas native sees things, Americans have a common opponent as well, but have yet to realize it. “The opponent is hatred, systemic injustice,” he says. Since spring’s George Floyd protests, Acho has put himself forward as a bridge builder, and succeeded wildly. He launched a YouTube series, Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, that became so popular it has spun off a best-selling book.

The book takes on thorny issues with admirable directness, said Arielle Avila in Texas Monthly. Should a person say “black” or “AfricanAmerican”? What is implicit bias? What can prevent reverse racism? Each chapter concludes with actions the reader can take to bridge divisions. Acho has spent much of his life in the role of cultural translator, first as one of the few black students at a Dallas prep school, then as a University of Texas player facilitating dialogue between black and white teammates. One more football metaphor expresses his aspirations as a writer. “My book is hopefully going to be the play called in a huddle,” he says. “We’ve huddled together around these words; hopefully you now can digest the play and go execute.”