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. |
From inside the book
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Page 56
... Night after night Mama and I are tucked into our king - size bed on the warm side of the blood - red velvet curtains , and night after night I fall asleep with my pudgy copper arms wrapped around her neck . As we drift out of ...
... Night after night Mama and I are tucked into our king - size bed on the warm side of the blood - red velvet curtains , and night after night I fall asleep with my pudgy copper arms wrapped around her neck . As we drift out of ...
Page 71
... Night ? How else can I explain that Bryan Katon doesn't like black girls and if she comes he will definitely know that I am , in fact , a black girl , and all of my other efforts to be a not black girl will be washed away ? How else can ...
... Night ? How else can I explain that Bryan Katon doesn't like black girls and if she comes he will definitely know that I am , in fact , a black girl , and all of my other efforts to be a not black girl will be washed away ? How else can ...
Page 173
... Night , began for real . Sing is my favorite part of Color War . I love the corny roman- tic songs about Fire Lake , I love standing up on the benches , pounding my fist in the air to encourage the younger campers to keep up , to punch ...
... Night , began for real . Sing is my favorite part of Color War . I love the corny roman- tic songs about Fire Lake , I love standing up on the benches , pounding my fist in the air to encourage the younger campers to keep up , to punch ...
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Common terms and phrases
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 |