Fast and Furious

Ben Passmore’s Black Arms to Hold You Up is a dense, surreal work that demands the reader wrestle with the weight of Black resistance. Remarkably timely given today’s social volatility, the book serves as a visceral call to arms rather than a mere history lesson. The narrative follows a fictionalized Ben through a literal freefall, guided by the specter of his militant father through a nightmarish history lesson of oppression. This journey is designed to stoke a fire under the protagonist’s apathy, forcing him to confront the social upheaval unfolding right outside his window.

If you’re a fan of the film One Battle After Another, you’ll enjoy the frenetic storytelling style. Passmore’s art creates urgency through perpetual motion and deliberate stylistic chaos. By rendering each historical account in a unique style, he reflects the fragmented nature of Black history while offering no reprieve. For example, just as the story of Robert Charles—the laborer whose 1900 shootout with police sparked days of upheaval in New Orleans—comes to a dramatic end, Ben stumbles into the 1914 creation of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association. It is as if the violence of one era births the political resistance of the next.

Nothing Comes Easy

Unfortunately, this constant forward motion prevents these historical moments from resolving logically; the protagonist is left as bewildered as the reader with each leap forward in time. Furthermore, Passmore refuses to provide easy comfort or sanitize the past. He highlights the jarring contradictions of Black leadership, such as Marcus Garvey’s 1922 meeting with the KKK or the violent criminal accusations against Maulana Karenga, the creator of Kwanzaa. These moments force both Ben and the reader to reconcile the flawed humanity of figures often flattened into icons.

We eventually learn this tumultuous narrative is Ben’s attempt to reconcile a complicated upbringing. The absence of his Black father encouraged Ben to embrace harmful stereotypes that led to trouble, and it was only the discovery of figures like Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey that allowed him to understand his ancestry. This framed narrative suggests that our relationship with history is as complex as our domestic and cultural ones.

Protect Yourself at All Times

As Black Arms to Hold You Up races toward a dramatic, confrontational end, the reader realizes that the physical weapons and violence introduced in this graphic novel are iconic representations of the fight for justice in all forms. Passmore isn’t just recounting a bloody past for the sake of stoking senseless insurrection; he is inspiring a “self-defense” of the mind as much as the body to prepare us for the inevitable fight ahead.

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