Selected Press
July 6, 2019
What the 2020 Candidates, James Comey and Other Politicos Are Reading This Summer
40 political heavy hitters tell us what’s on their nightstand—and what they’re taking to the beach.
Politico
June 13, 2019
Father’s Day Gift Guide: Stylish and Useful Updates to Dad Classics
Dad doesn’t have to give up on polo shirts, camping trips, a cooler full of cold ones, or getting into political arguments at Thanksgiving to keep up though. Here are a selection of gifts that take the masculine classics up a notch.
Erin Vanderhoof, Vanity Fair
June 4, 2019
Damon Young on How to Make It as a Writer in the 2020s: "Move to Pittsburgh"
“Just living there has created this intentionality with me.”
James Dennin, Inverse
May 31, 2019
Damon Young Tells His Story in “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker”
I think that we should all know by now that trying to do or alter our behavior in a way to appease Whites is useless.
Zenobia Jeffries Warfield, YES!
May 15, 2019
Unfiltered: This author uses humor, honesty to talk about race in the US
Writer Damon Young is co-founder of Very Smart Brothas, now part of The Root website. In his recently published memoir, ‘What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker,’ he uses personal stories to address institutional racism.
Candace McDuffie, The Christian Science Monitor
May 3, 2019
'What Doesn't Kill You' Is A Humorous, Authentic Take On Growing Up Black (audio)
In his new book of essays, Damon Young, co-founder of the blog Very Smart Brothas,sticks it to his high school bully — while also offering insights into race, power and how to be a modern man.
Soraya Nadia McDonald, NPR
April 11, 2019
In ‘What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker,’ Damon Young turns an unflinching eye on himself and society
Zoë Gadegbeku, Washington Post
April 3, 2019
Damon Young of Very Smart Brothas worries about everything. A lot.
His new book, ‘What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker,’ takes you into the brain of the most anxious black man in Pittsburgh
Soraya Nadia McDonald, The Undefeated
March 26, 2019
'What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker' Is A Powerful Look At One Black Man's Life
For Damon Young ... being black in America is to "exist in a ceaseless state of absurdity; a perpetual surreality that twists and contorts and transmutates equilibrium and homeostasis the way an extended stay in space alters human DNA."
Gabino Iglesias, NPR
March 25, 2019
Damon Young on the 'Absurdity' of Being Black
The co-founder of the cultural criticism website Very Smart Brothas mines his experiences in a new memoir, “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker.”
Concepción de León, New York Times
March/April
White People Often Don’t See Damon Young. That’s About to Change.
How Damon Young became a voice for young people of color.
Jamilah King, Mother Jones
March 22, 2019
Damon Young finds hilarity and profundity in vulnerability
Karamagi Rujumba, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
February 27, 2019
Damon Young and the trauma of being Black in Pittsburgh
Ryan Deto, Pittsburgh City Paper
February 15, 2019
Writer Damon Young on "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker"
Kristofer Collins, Pittsburgh Magazine
January 18, 2019
What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays (Review)
Publisher's Weekly
November 21, 2016
Very Smart Brothas is the blackest thing that ever happened to the Internet. Period.
Lavanya Ramanathan, Washington Post
April 29, 2015
Blogger left basketball behind to chronicle black experience in Pittsburgh
Laura Byko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette