Makes Me Wanna Holler by Nathan McCall made me want to – meet him. After having read his autobiography, I was blown away by his life story and the way in which he wrote about what life had been like for him growing up with the negative pressures exerted on young Black men. In his book, maybe for the first time, I was allowed a peek inside of a Black man’s feelings. The emotional honesty with which McCall wrote about his feelings regarding the various situations he confronted, for a moment, peeled away the layers to see and feel the heart of a Black man who displayed his feelings honestly and in print. I was in my early twenties when he wrote the book and I’m not sure when I read it. However, the concept of having a Black man share his deepest, most tender feelings was something I can honestly say I had not been exposed to in my formative years. The boy that McCall was in many ways seemed similar to the boys I grew up with. Not communicating. Communicating desire but not feelings. Creating an identity through posturing instead of being. Yet, the man that he became touched me with the simple honesty of his feelings.
Yes, Makes Me Wanna Holler made me wanna holler the way that you do when your soul is touched by a particularly moving sermon on Sunday. Makes Me Wanna Holler made me wanna holler the way a singer does when they are singing a song you know comes from their soul. Makes Me Wanna Holler made me want to meet the author – and I still do. Not to brag about having met The Nathan McCall but just to sit down and have a conversation about life with a Black man who can have an honest conversation about his feelings. That’s all. Don’t just take my word for how good of a book this is, buy it! Or, borrow it from the library or from someone who owns it. Or Kindle it. Or “liberate” it from someone’s bookshelf to be definitely returned at a future date.