Scan barcode
A review by readermonica
All the Women in My Family Sing: Women Write the World: Essays on Equality, Justice, and Freedom by Deborah Santana
4.0
All the Women in My Family Sing is a wonderful collection of essays by women on color from a wide variety of backgrounds writing about a interesting set of topics. I worked my way pretty slowly through this anthology so that I didn't have any issues with the essays running together in my mind. If you are the kind of reader who skips forwards, don't with this one! The forward is written by Deborah Santana and nicely sets the tone for the entire collection.
Although I enjoyed the collection as a whole there are three that were my favorites. This Is How You Do by Phirooza Petigara, Outlaw by Matilda Smith, and Black Dolls For Everyone by Mercy L. Tullis-Bukhari. To showcase some of the goodness in this collection the best thing is to just share a snippet from each of my three favorites.
From This Is How You Do:
'But while I marveled at all the things I was getting to do, the people in the tiny Parsi community to which I belong were appalled at all the things that I was not doing. It took time for the subtext to sink in. "So, where is your husband?" Actually meant, " Why aren't you home feeding him?" "When are you going to have children?" meant, "Writing is not an appropriate use of time for a young woman with viable ovaries." My claim that I was child-free by choice was ignored: "Don't worry there's still time!"
From Outlaw by Matilda Smith:
'My brother, who was ten years older than I, was a major criminal: He read banned literature-magazines written by the Teachers' League with articles about what history children should be learning.
From Black Dolls For Everyone:
"Why wouldn't she have a Black Barbie?" I responded. "Her mother is Black, she is Black, so why wouldn't she have a Black Barbie?'
This is very readable collection of relatable essays that I am glad to have read.
You can find me at:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @MonlatReader
Instagram: @readermonica
Facebook: Monica Reeds
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
Although I enjoyed the collection as a whole there are three that were my favorites. This Is How You Do by Phirooza Petigara, Outlaw by Matilda Smith, and Black Dolls For Everyone by Mercy L. Tullis-Bukhari. To showcase some of the goodness in this collection the best thing is to just share a snippet from each of my three favorites.
From This Is How You Do:
'But while I marveled at all the things I was getting to do, the people in the tiny Parsi community to which I belong were appalled at all the things that I was not doing. It took time for the subtext to sink in. "So, where is your husband?" Actually meant, " Why aren't you home feeding him?" "When are you going to have children?" meant, "Writing is not an appropriate use of time for a young woman with viable ovaries." My claim that I was child-free by choice was ignored: "Don't worry there's still time!"
From Outlaw by Matilda Smith:
'My brother, who was ten years older than I, was a major criminal: He read banned literature-magazines written by the Teachers' League with articles about what history children should be learning.
From Black Dolls For Everyone:
"Why wouldn't she have a Black Barbie?" I responded. "Her mother is Black, she is Black, so why wouldn't she have a Black Barbie?'
This is very readable collection of relatable essays that I am glad to have read.
You can find me at:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @MonlatReader
Instagram: @readermonica
Facebook: Monica Reeds
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase