Passport to Citizenship

Born deep in rural south Alabama, in one of the poorest corners of the poorest counties in the state, the grandson of people born into slavery, Arthur N. Dunning left Alabama as a young airman while the Vietnam War raged half a world away. And then, the burden of accumulated trauma inflicted by the racial caste system he experienced in Alabama melted away when he was removed from it, leaving him free to grapple with and come to terms with it. When outside the United States, Dunning felt free to wander unfamiliar neighborhoods, eat different foods, speak with foreign people, and analyze his experiences without having to look over his shoulder—literally and figuratively. By seeing himself and his country through other people’s eyes, experiencing the rich and ancient traditions of nations around the world, Dunning ended up, like James Baldwin, a new man in a new world. A person curious about the human condition.

Passport to Citizenship reveals how Dunning evolved from a provincial, angry Black teenager who was very much a product of his time into a calmer, more thoughtful person. And while Dunning never despised his country like some of his generation did, he felt the magnitude of its failures, and he was determined to move past them. This is Dunning’s story of how he took what his parents, who were both educators themselves, his grandparents, and his local community in Sweet Water, Alabama, gave him out into the larger world. In so doing, Dunning came to appreciate his upbringing—and his experiences—even more.