Why Morph?

When it comes to personal transformation, Victor Hall knows the perils and profits. Growing up as a tough so-called black child in segregated Alabama, he enlisted as a combat infantryman during the Vietnam War, hoping patriotic service would lead to equality that never came. Afterward, Victor turned toward a lifelong love of art, becoming a painter and obtaining a master’s degree, while witnessing the frequent exclusion of so-called black artists by a so-called white world.Tired of pledging allegiance to a country that didn’t want him, Victor drifted away from Western Christianity toward African culture and spirituality. In the process, Victor changed—or morphed—into a new person: more aware, more analytical, and more African than African American.Part memoir and part art book, Why Morph? The So-Called Black People and So- Called White People Pandemic! is a textual and visual contemplation about how one man changed from who he was to who he became. Each chapter begins with one of twenty-six original paintings created by Victor that represent key turning points in his lifelong transformation and what he now sees in the world around him.Why Morph? The So-Called Black People and So-Called White People Pandemic! confronts the psychological toll of racist exclusion, meditating on survival in a divided world. Throughout the book, Victor discusses and illustrates the historical and contemporary reasons behind systemic worldwide racism and how it is spread toward so-called black people. In an uplifting twist, the story considers how to heal from inherited trauma, offering readers a soul-stirring call to remember, to reckon, and to rise.