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 71
... play the Wicked Witch of the West . my I don't tell my mother too much about the play , and she doesn't ask . It isn't a big deal , I say , hoping she won't see through mask of nonchalance ; I don't want to hurt her . I don't want to ...
... play the Wicked Witch of the West . my I don't tell my mother too much about the play , and she doesn't ask . It isn't a big deal , I say , hoping she won't see through mask of nonchalance ; I don't want to hurt her . I don't want to ...
Page 97
Autobiography of a Shifting Self Rebecca Walker. I play Mommy . I want to be the one who is touched more , the one who is done to , the one who is told what to do . Some nights we play with one of my father's old leather belts . I like ...
Autobiography of a Shifting Self Rebecca Walker. I play Mommy . I want to be the one who is touched more , the one who is done to , the one who is told what to do . Some nights we play with one of my father's old leather belts . I like ...
Page 212
... plays , but it creeps back and then she has to ask me to hold it for her , to keep it out of her eyes as she clears the ... play Centipede after school every day here at Dark Star , and they don't . We're also waiting for Luca , Tina's ...
... plays , but it creeps back and then she has to ask me to hold it for her , to keep it out of her eyes as she clears the ... play Centipede after school every day here at Dark Star , and they don't . We're also waiting for Luca , Tina's ...
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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 |