Knight...my Knight in shining armor. I don’t think I’ve ever loved a male main character who wasn’t toxic in some way. But Knight...Knight is the kind of man we all dream of—honest, attentive, handsome, knows what he wants, who he wants, and has no qualms about expressing it. Knight is the kind of guy who handles his responsibilities. Shoot, he even handles responsibilities that aren’t his.
One of the things that I loved most about Knight was the way he loved his mother and sister. He loved his mother so much that he couldn’t stand to love anyone else the way he loved her. He loved his sister so much that he couldn’t stand for someone to disrespect her. Unfortunately, Knight never fully dealt with the grief of losing his mother. His pent-up anger, hurt, and guilt manifested the night Harlem took Knight to meet Tage’s father. When Knight felt as though Tage’s father disrespected Harlem and her baby, he went in...and I mean IN. When Charlie asked Knight what happened, his response was, “I guess maybe that was me unleashing a lot of anger that has been stored up...from everything.”
Grief. Grief can be a beast. The thing about grief is that you can grieve ANYTHING. A job, a pet, a person, a job, a space...literally ANYTHING. When you think of everything we go through just by being BLACK--There. ARE. SO. MANY. THINGS. TO. GRIEVE. As a result, we have to make sure that we stay on top of our mental health. We have to take the proper steps and precautions to make sure that we don’t just snap on somebody because quite frankly, we black folks can’t afford to do that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s ok to grieve. Grieving is healthy when it’s actually done. However, avoidance and denying grief can have dire consequences and repercussions, as exhibited by my boy, Knight.
If you’re grieving something or someone and are unsure of what to make of it, I definitely recommend that you see a therapist. But if you’re hesitant to seek out a therapist, here are a few books that may help you process what you’re going through.
