Scan barcode
A review by falturani
Black White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker
4.0
A quick, engaging read, Walker covers the terrain of her fascinating, if troubled childhood, split between multiple homes, schools and identities. Simultaneously, she paints a rich portrait of the different layers to American culture in the 1970s and 80s. As a child of divorce whose parents took two-year turns with her in different cities and then on separate coasts, she was often left to her own devices and had access to many different communities, of which she never felt quite a part. Walker has a great ear as a writer and a keen sensitivity to culture, gender and race, which together go a long way toward understanding not only herself but this country.
I have a guilty pleasure for memoirs, even if it's one I don't over-indulge. I may also have been partial to this title because of our shared mixed-race and part-Jewish backgrounds, and general political bent (Walker's a progressive and a prominent third-wave feminist). Indeed, while race and heritage are immensely important to Walker, she has never capitulated to what people, particularly from her respective backgrounds, have wanted her to be or expected of her. My own childhood was undoubtedly different, but it was interesting to see someone arrive at similar positions and utilize the same approaches to understand certain issues.
I have a guilty pleasure for memoirs, even if it's one I don't over-indulge. I may also have been partial to this title because of our shared mixed-race and part-Jewish backgrounds, and general political bent (Walker's a progressive and a prominent third-wave feminist). Indeed, while race and heritage are immensely important to Walker, she has never capitulated to what people, particularly from her respective backgrounds, have wanted her to be or expected of her. My own childhood was undoubtedly different, but it was interesting to see someone arrive at similar positions and utilize the same approaches to understand certain issues.