A tour-de-force collection of essays on issues surrounding race, education, and American history.
Enfield explores America’s racial legacies in this debut collection of essays.
In the opening essay of this book, the author, a biracial millennial, takes readers to a North Texas middle school classroom where the young teacher struggles to get his class to engage with the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, echoing attempts by many educators of recent years to “pimp” their lesson plans by including rap lyrics in their literary analysis. While the author is inherently skeptical of white instructors who overcompensate by trying to be hip, the piece offers practical guidance for teachers. One essay highlights the psychological anguish the author experienced as a 13-year-old when his teacher tasked the class with making paper shackles, replete with stickers and glitter, for a lesson on the experiences of enslaved Africans during the Middle Passage. Another piece juxtaposes the decolonial and antiracist pedagogy of scholars like Edward Said and bell hooks with their sometimes strained practical applications in the classroom. Other essays blend autobiographical vignettes with biting commentary on American society. These include a survey of the conservative memes about Martin Luther King Jr. posted online by the author’s white aunt and his mother’s encounter with a skinhead at her workplace. With an MFA in creative writing, Enfield is a skilled wordsmith with a keen sense of American history and a deep appreciation for the Black intellectual tradition, reflected in the book’s bibliography. Particularly effective is the author’s recognition of the power of language, as he makes a deliberate stylistic choice to lowercase proper nouns like “america” and “dallas,” which he claims are “agents of state-sponsored violence.” This is juxtaposed to the capitalization of Black as a descriptor of men and women, with the author emphasizing “Black will stand tall, as we do, in this lower case america.” This literary subversion is illustrative of a collection that forces readers to think deeply about power, identity, and history.
A tour-de-force collection of essays on issues surrounding race, education, and American history.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-952897-33-7
Page Count: 157
Publisher: Split Lip Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
PERSPECTIVES
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
IN THE NEWS
PERSPECTIVES
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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