The Prince of Brown, by Arthur L. Jenkins

In The Prince of Brown: A Fictional Memoir, Arthur L. Jenkins delivers a raw and deeply human portrait of resilience at the intersections of Blackness, queerness, and survival. Told through the eyes of Denzel Davis, the narrative spans generations of tragedy, family secrets, and rebirth—from the violence that shaped his ancestors to his own struggles with identity, love, and mental illness. As Denzel navigates the worlds of academia, incarceration, the ballroom scene, and self-reinvention, he confronts the dual burden of invisibility and hypervisibility faced by Black queer men.

What begins as a story of trauma evolves into a powerful meditation on healing, artistry, and the dignity of difference. Jenkins weaves grit with grace, illuminating how one man—descended from both suffering and strength—reclaims his story and crowns himself the Prince of Brown: an emblem of endurance, truth, and the beauty that emerges from survival.