Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting SelfIn a memoir about the power of race to share one's personal identity, the daughter of Jewish father and African-American mother recalls her confusing but ultimately rewarding life lived between two conflicting ethnic identities. When Mel Leventhal married Alice Walker during the civil rights movement in the late 1960s, his mother declared him dead and did not reconcile until after the birth of her first grandchild. After Mel and Alice divorced, their daughter, Rebecca, alternated homes every two years, spending time in Mississippi, Brooklyn, San Francisco's Haight Ashbury, Washington, D.C., the Bronx, and suburban Westchester. With each new place came a new identity and desperate attempts to fit in: as white or black, as Puerto Rican or Jewish, as a party girl, a fighter, or a lover. Confused, and mostly alone, she turned to sex, drugs, books, and a cast of dangerous and thrilling characters. Black, White, and Jewish is the story of a child's unique struggle for identity and home when nothing in her world told her who she was or where she belonged. Poetic reflections on memory, time, and identity punctuate this gritty exploration of race and sexuality. Rebecca Walker has taken up the lineage of her mother, Alice, whose last name she chose to carry, and has written a lucid and inventive memoir that marks the launch of a major new literary talent. |
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Page 227
... drive me to the airport . He steers the Volvo down the Boston Post Road and onto the 95 highway . As everything goes ... drives to the airport as if we're going no farther than Yankee Sta- dium or to visit Grandma in Brighton Beach . I ...
... drive me to the airport . He steers the Volvo down the Boston Post Road and onto the 95 highway . As everything goes ... drives to the airport as if we're going no farther than Yankee Sta- dium or to visit Grandma in Brighton Beach . I ...
Page 244
... drives me to school , stopping first at the McDonald's on Van Ness for a Sausage and Egg McMuffin . On the weekends he drives me to my job at Ivory , the hair salon my mother goes to on California Street . After I spend the day sweeping ...
... drives me to school , stopping first at the McDonald's on Van Ness for a Sausage and Egg McMuffin . On the weekends he drives me to my job at Ivory , the hair salon my mother goes to on California Street . After I spend the day sweeping ...
Page 262
... drives me to school , except in- stead of driving out to the Avenues with the flat suburban - style houses and wide empty sidewalks , he drives me into the heart of the Haight , past the panhandle of Golden Gate Park and the stores with ...
... drives me to school , except in- stead of driving out to the Avenues with the flat suburban - style houses and wide empty sidewalks , he drives me into the heart of the Haight , past the panhandle of Golden Gate Park and the stores with ...
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Andrew arms blue body boys brown camp close color comes Daddy dark door drives everything eyes face father feel floor friends front girls give goes Grandma green hair hand hard head hear hold imagine inside Jewish keep kids kind kitchen late later laugh leave legs Lena light Lisa listen living look Mama means meet Michael mind mother move never night parents pick play pull pushing remember says shirt side Sing sister skin smile sometimes stand starts stay stepmother stop street sure talk tell thing told trying turn Uncle waiting walk wall watch wearing whole window woman women write yellow
References to this book
Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism Jennifer Baumgardner,Amy Richards No preview available - 2005 |