“Son, one of the biggest lies ever told is that Black men don’t feel emotions. Guess it’s easier to not see us as human when you think we’re heartless. Fact of the matter is, we feel things. Hurt, pain, sadness, all of it. We got a right to show them feelings as much as anybody … Continue reading
I don’t remember what exactly I was searching for on the library website when I stumbled upon A Smart Girl’s Guide to Staying Home Alone: A Girl’s Guide to Feeling Safe and Having Fun, but I was curious about what advice this publication from American Girl had to offer. Perhaps the ongoing pandemic means that … Continue reading
I wrote this book review on January 4th. I like to work a week ahead when I can. I did not know that on January 6th there would be a violent, white supremacist insurrection at the Capitol. So, I want to leave intact my thoughts from before, but add something as well. America is not … Continue reading
Thus summer, after the killing of George Floyd, there was a movement in Catholic circles on Instagram calling Catholics to #RendYourHearts, praying 18 days for racial justice. There was also an emphasis put on the stories of Black Catholics about their experiences and how the Church can repair from a history of racism and injustice. … Continue reading
The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh This book is an odd one. I’ve seen it described as a dystopian coming-of-age fairytale and I think that is mostly a fitting description, but the fairytale part I’m a bit iffy on. The Water Cure is a story of three sisters, Grace, Lia, and Sky who are raised … Continue reading
Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power I came to Rory Power’s Burn Our Bodies Down not having read her first book Wilder Girls (it’s on my TBR), but knowing that it is an eco-horror, feminist novel. That set my expectation that this novel would similarly take up environmental themes, but I kept waiting and waiting for them. … Continue reading
Say It Louder! Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy by Tiffany D. Cross This book is a little bit of a bait and switch. It is packaged like a more academic nonfiction title, but it’s actually much heavier on personal narrative than I expected. Fortunately, the voice behind that narrative is smart, highly … Continue reading
The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed The Black Kids is set in Los Angeles in 1992, beginning just before the verdict in the Rodney King trial is handed down. Seventeen-year-old Ashley and her prep school friends are busy preparing for the prom. Underneath the dayglow exterior of their lives, though, Ashley has a lot … Continue reading
School busing has been in the news again as a result of the conflict between Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his runningmate Kamala Harris during the primary debate last year over Biden’s stance on busing in the 1980s. School integration has long been a complicated part of race relations in the United States. In … Continue reading
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (Mild spoilers ahead) During the Indian Wars, Philip Sheridan, an army officer, was quoted as saying “the only good Indian is a dead Indian.” That terrible saying was later picked up by Theodore Roosevelt, who said, “I don’t go so far as to think that the only good … Continue reading
Ph.D.s and Pigtails 