In Citizen, Claudia Rankine examines everyday racism in America. The writer mixes poetry with art, essays and images from the news to share her own experiences of racism (the girl who doesn't want to sit next to her on a plane because she's black; being overlooked in the checkout line), and to reflect on stories that have made their way into the national conversation about race, like the death of Trayvon Martin and fallout from Hurricane Katrina. She writes, "You are not the guy and still you fit/ the description because there is only one guy/ who is always the guy fitting the description." The message, according to The Rumpus' Shaelyn Smith, is clear: "We must all serve as witnesses. We must all answer to the responsibility of self as citizen. And we all must defend our citizenship, as well as that of those around us."