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 81
... thing into my hand and tell me to go ahead . I am afraid of the loud noise , of the dull gray thing that can kill so heavy in my hands , but I plant my feet on the ground and I point it out into the woods and I pull on the trigger ...
... thing into my hand and tell me to go ahead . I am afraid of the loud noise , of the dull gray thing that can kill so heavy in my hands , but I plant my feet on the ground and I point it out into the woods and I pull on the trigger ...
Page 141
... thing . But of course it is even more complicated than that . Lena and I were as close as two girls could be , and then things get in be- tween us , things like language and fashion and color . I feel every inch of our separation , miss ...
... thing . But of course it is even more complicated than that . Lena and I were as close as two girls could be , and then things get in be- tween us , things like language and fashion and color . I feel every inch of our separation , miss ...
Page 172
... things like ownership come to understand this . Alice has to get permission for every- thing from him , which is why she is always on his porch with her clipboard and pencil in hand , and he is the one who masterminds all the Color War ...
... things like ownership come to understand this . Alice has to get permission for every- thing from him , which is why she is always on his porch with her clipboard and pencil in hand , and he is the one who masterminds all the Color War ...
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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 |