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 87
... smell and feel of my mother down into a very tight place in the middle of my stomach . Driving up to our new house , I see red brick and green weeds , a tiny path leading to a front door . My stepmother opens the door and I drag my ...
... smell and feel of my mother down into a very tight place in the middle of my stomach . Driving up to our new house , I see red brick and green weeds , a tiny path leading to a front door . My stepmother opens the door and I drag my ...
Page 239
... smells like a mixture of animals and cigarette smoke , with some sweet sticky menthol smell in the air that I can't place . Right away I love Jesse's apartment . It's small , only two rooms , a bathroom and a tiny kitchen , but on one ...
... smells like a mixture of animals and cigarette smoke , with some sweet sticky menthol smell in the air that I can't place . Right away I love Jesse's apartment . It's small , only two rooms , a bathroom and a tiny kitchen , but on one ...
Page 246
... smell a mixture of grease , cooking food , and dishwashing cleaner in his hair , all around his collar , and on his hands . Before we go home to my house to scrub him clean , we might take a walk around the fountains at the center of ...
... smell a mixture of grease , cooking food , and dishwashing cleaner in his hair , all around his collar , and on his hands . Before we go home to my house to scrub him clean , we might take a walk around the fountains at the center of ...
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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 |