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 25
... door . He is drunk , and twirling a Swiss Army knife between his nimble , tennis - champion fingers . " Are you really black and Jewish ? " he asks , slurring his words , pitching forward in an old raggedy arm- chair my roommate has ...
... door . He is drunk , and twirling a Swiss Army knife between his nimble , tennis - champion fingers . " Are you really black and Jewish ? " he asks , slurring his words , pitching forward in an old raggedy arm- chair my roommate has ...
Page 79
... door for him and ask him where he's been . I hear how he doesn't answer and imagine him pushing by her to get inside , her mother in one of the upstairs bedrooms , pretending to be asleep . It's not just that the houses are close ...
... door for him and ask him where he's been . I hear how he doesn't answer and imagine him pushing by her to get inside , her mother in one of the upstairs bedrooms , pretending to be asleep . It's not just that the houses are close ...
Page 105
... door onto the street . Robert is bigger than me , blacker , with messed - up crooked teeth that are green at the gum ... door I feel the metal of the bars cut hard into my back . From the other side of the door , the outside side , I ...
... door onto the street . Robert is bigger than me , blacker , with messed - up crooked teeth that are green at the gum ... door I feel the metal of the bars cut hard into my back . From the other side of the door , the outside side , I ...
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Common terms and phrases
Andi Hirsch Andrew arms baby bathroom bedroom best friend Bethany bike black girls blue body boyfriend boys Bronx camp Colleen color comes Daddy Dakeba dark Dark Star door drives eyes face father feel Fire Lake floor front Gloria Vanderbilt Grandma green hand head high school inside Japantown jeans jelly shoes Jewish kids kitchen Larchmont laugh legs Lena Lena's Lisa Lisa's listen living room look Malaika Mama Mervyn's Michael mother movie never night parents pick play Price Is Right pull pushing Rebecca Rebecca Walker remember Roberta Flack San Francisco says Sergio Valente jeans shirt shit side Sing sister skin smell smile stand stepmother stop street talk tell Theresa thing tiny trying Uncle Bobby Utne Reader waiting walk Walker watch wearing window woman yellow
References to this book
Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism Jennifer Baumgardner,Amy Richards No preview available - 2005 |