Makes Me Wanna Holler

Nathan McCall’s 1994 autobiography, Makes Me Wanna Holler, is about growing up in a working-class black section of Portsmouth, Virginia in the 1960s and 1970s. McCall was a smart boy, but despite a strong family unit and a caring community, he fell into crime. From a young age, he was tormented by racism. He recounts violent racism when attending an integrated elementary school, a depressing level of inequality of opportunity when looking for work as a teenager, and both observing and experiencing very racist labor conditions while working for whites. Angry, and with a desire to avoid the white man’s system, McCall first began shoplifting, then breaking and entering people’s homes, selling drugs, and finally turned to armed robbery. He was arrested first as a teenager, for shoplifting; when older, he shot a man in the chest. Luckily, the man lived, and McCall received only probation. After a botched armed robbery of a McDonald’s in a white neighborhood, he was sentenced to twelve years in prison.

McCall improved himself in prison. He was ready for a change. He had been sliding uncontrollably and knew he was capable of more. In jail in Norfolk, he began educating himself by reading black authors. For the first time, he was learning from intelligent black people and it made sense. He embraced Christianity, then left it when he reasoned it was a tool used by white people to control blacks. He served three years of his twelve-year sentence, and during the three years embarked on a philosophical journey of self-improvement. Aided by jailhouse scholars, prominent authors, and his own resolve, he developed a clear image of himself, his people, the problems plaguing them, and the best way to live. He shed the macho street mentality that governed his prior existence but held onto his anger and used it to establish positive change. He transformed into an intelligent, enlightened, strong black man. When paroled after serving three years of his sentence, he learned a trade and lined up a college scholarship to study journalism.

Immediately following prison, life was again difficult for McCall. A black ex-felon, he couldn’t find work. The time between his release and the start of college was spent broke, being rejected from jobs, and growing angry. At his most desperate, he considered slipping back into the criminal set, but his newfound strength and purpose prevented that. When college began, he obtained a part-time, on-campus job and a meal plan, which helped his situation. He graduated college in three years, with honors, and after some difficulty because of his ex-con status, landed a job with his local newspaper. His family, the community, and most of all he himself were proud of his life transformation. The position brought new challenges, though, as he was now part of white America. His life clashed with the lives of many in his community and he also dealt with the racial pressures of working for the white man, something that plagued him throughout his career. To move on from his past, he had to move on from Portsmouth. He moved to Atlanta to write for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Atlanta had more black people, and more prominent black people than Portsmouth. Still, his paper was one of the most racist in the country and was not a place where black journalists flourished. His career did improve in Atlanta, especially when the paper brought in management from New York to shake things up, but his personal life faltered. He and his girlfriend became pregnant shortly before moving to Atlanta, and they became an unhappy unit, together only for the good of the baby. Racial pressures also grew on McCall. After a bitter divorce, another child, and descent into debt, McCall accepted a job at The Washington Post. He hoped Washington DC would be better, but racism persisted, and his personal problems followed him wherever he went. Confronting insurmountable adversity, McCall learned to rely on his inner resolve and philosophical reasoning to overcome and thrive.

Throughout the memoir, McCall uses his own experiences and the experiences of those around him to illustrate the broken racial system that exists in the United States, and the broken system of governance the white man established for the United States. The book challenges the reader to confront unpleasant realities, extrapolate from characters and situations the broader situation, empathize, sympathize, and confront their own selves, regardless of their background. The beauty of this book is its ability to make the reader think about the country in which they live and question its very principles in a detached, nonjudgmental fashion.