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What Members Thought

This was a 4.5 read for me.
My thoughts:
We have been told to be aware of the “one story”, and Ms. Jefferson’s unflinchingly frank memoir of the black elite is a well-needed puzzle piece to add to the complexities of the race discussion. Ms. Jefferson, whose work as a cultural critic has garnered her recognition and prizes, turns the lens towards herself as she looks over the privileges, the constraints, the changes of her life with affection, openness, and analysis. To set the tone of the book, t ...more
My thoughts:
We have been told to be aware of the “one story”, and Ms. Jefferson’s unflinchingly frank memoir of the black elite is a well-needed puzzle piece to add to the complexities of the race discussion. Ms. Jefferson, whose work as a cultural critic has garnered her recognition and prizes, turns the lens towards herself as she looks over the privileges, the constraints, the changes of her life with affection, openness, and analysis. To set the tone of the book, t ...more

I’m a chronicler of Negroland, a participant-observer, an elegist, dissenter and admirer; sometime expatriate, ongoing interlocutor.
I call it Negroland because I still find “Negro” a word of wonders, glorious and terrible. A word for runaway slave posters and civil rights proclamations; for social constructs and street corner flaunts. A tonal-language word whose meaning shifts as setting and context shift, as history twists, lurches, advances, and stagnates.
Oy! I'm allergic to the word "int ...more

Attempts to address important issues regarding the intersection of race, class, and gender, but is ultimately such a boring writing style.

Aug 17, 2015
Shannon Wallner
marked it as to-read


Aug 27, 2015
Cheryl
marked it as started-may-finish

Sep 10, 2015
O'Rissa
marked it as to-read

Sep 12, 2015
Jen
marked it as wishlist

Nov 16, 2015
Elizabeth
marked it as to-read

Dec 01, 2015
ChristineElizabeth
marked it as to-read

Dec 29, 2015
Beth
marked it as to-read

Feb 10, 2016
Ching-In
marked it as to-read

Dec 09, 2016
Annika
marked it as to-read

Jan 18, 2017
Rebecca
marked it as to-read

May 07, 2017
Terri
marked it as to-buy


Sep 04, 2020
Laura
added it

Mar 31, 2023
Tracyene
marked it as to-read