Wise, essential instruction for all who seek redress for the inequalities that persist in America.
A powerful examination of White assumptions about Black people and the obstacles that stand in the way of social justice.
“One way or another, the white world tries to convince people—even Black people—that there’s no need to organize for racial justice like Black Americans have always done.” So writes Henry, an activist and columnist for Religion News Service. Sometimes the argument takes the form of “racism is not a problem here.” As the author observes, this usually hinges on negative definition—e.g., we’re not racist in New York because we’re not Southerners, or we’re not racist in the South because we don’t belong to the KKK. Henry embarks on a searching exploration of unspoken beliefs about Black people. In the company of the family of longtime White friends, he looks into the thesis that there is “some extraordinary violent impulse unique to Black people,” voiced by one family member who became a police officer. A second encounter with the family occurred when they asked that politics not be discussed at the table, to which Henry responds, “When white people demand the privilege to sit comfortably in restaurants and theaters…without having to consider the violence that pervades their society…they invoke a consumer-capitalist tradition that stretches back to colonial times.” A fellow seminarian ventured the thought that slavery wasn’t so bad, since some slaveholders were nice folks; another White interlocutor encouraged Henry to “get all the facts” surrounding the death of Philando Castile. After presenting these cases and others, Henry demonstrates how White people can be allies, first by not declaring themselves to be so but instead awaiting acknowledgment of that status by Black people. He also encourages a kind of separatism. “Black people may need to rethink the fight for the proverbial seat at the table in white institutions,” he writes. “We need tables of our own.”
Wise, essential instruction for all who seek redress for the inequalities that persist in America.Pub Date: March 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-23988-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Convergent/Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.
The comedian argues that the arts of moderation and common sense must be reinvigorated.
Some people are born snarky, some become snarky, and some have snarkiness thrust upon them. Judging from this book, Maher—host of HBO’s Real Time program and author of The New New Rules and When You Ride Alone, You Ride With bin Laden—is all three. As a comedian, he has a great deal of leeway to make fun of people in politics, and he often delivers hilarious swipes with a deadpan face. The author describes himself as a traditional liberal, with a disdain for Republicans (especially the MAGA variety) and a belief in free speech and personal freedom. He claims that he has stayed much the same for more than 20 years, while the left, he argues, has marched toward intolerance. He sees an addiction to extremism on both sides of the aisle, which fosters the belief that anyone who disagrees with you must be an enemy to be destroyed. However, Maher has always displayed his own streaks of extremism, and his scorched-earth takedowns eventually become problematic. The author has something nasty to say about everyone, it seems, and the sarcastic tone starts after more than 300 pages. As has been the case throughout his career, Maher is best taken in small doses. The book is worth reading for the author’s often spot-on skewering of inept politicians and celebrities, but it might be advisable to occasionally dip into it rather than read the whole thing in one sitting. Some parts of the text are hilarious, but others are merely insulting. Maher is undeniably talented, but some restraint would have produced a better book.
Maher calls out idiocy wherever he sees it, with a comedic delivery that veers between a stiletto and a sledgehammer.Pub Date: May 21, 2024
ISBN: 9781668051351
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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