Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America

Nivia is a 17-year-old Black student at Caswell Prep, a prestigious art school that her parents and grandfather also attended. The students are in the process of finishing up projects for the Jabec Art Prize.

Nivia returns to her dorm at 3 am, covered in paint and turpentine, and finds her old roommate, Ryan, crying in the bathroom. Ryan is struggling with the theme of the art competition: “Tell. Your. Truth.” (44). Nivia tries to convince Ryan to do something unexpected and to paint what she wants, but Ryan struggles with the pressure that her entire family—whose lives revolve around art—places on her. However, Nivia notes to herself how much the prize would mean to her as well.

The next day, the students discover what Nivia was out doing the night before: painting over a Jabec work in the gallery to enter it into the art competition. However, Nivia fears the disciplinary consequences of coming forward to claim the work as her own. When Headmaster Ewing asks the class about the work, Ryan lies and claims that it was her.

After class, Ryan and Nivia argue about Ryan’s lie. Ryan claims that she needs the Jabec Prize in order to prove her worth to her family, that it means more to her than Nivia since Nivia would not even admit it was her. However, Nivia responds that Ryan does not know what it’s like to be a “black legacy”—that because she is not white, there would be consequences for her that do not exist for Ryan.

During their argument, Ryan mentions the sketchbooks that Nivia never lets anyone see. When Nivia returns to her room, she goes through the sketchbooks, which contain different versions of self-portraits. She gathers all of her self-portraits to submit as an entry for the Jabec Prize, recognizing that they are her “truth.”

At Parents’ Weekend, Nivia’s father questions her about why she never submitted her school applications for law school. She reveals to him that she would like to go to art school instead—something that disappoints him and that he says he won’t allow. He explains to her that, in the real world, the color of her skin won’t “fade” as it does at Caswell; instead, it will always be front and center on everyone’s mind.

During the presentation of the entries, Nivia’s work is shown—with her sketches of moments in her life put together in a collage to display a self-portrait. As one appears of her and her father, she looks to him and sees that his expression has softened. When the crowd is told that the artwork was entered but unsigned and that the creator needs to claim it for it to be considered, Nivia stands, announcing that the project is her “truth.”