Thumbs Up Reading Corner

PHD (Po H# on Dope) to Ph.D.: How Education Saved My Life by Elaine Richardson, Ph.D.  /New City Community Press, 2013

This raw autobiography explains what happens when a young Black girl fails to see a positive image of herself in the eyes of those she loved, in popular culture, or those in the neighborhood thus eroding her self-esteem and self-perception. She writes, for example:

Everytime someone came on TV that had long flowing hair or lightskin, he’d say, “she pretty.”  He would always say, “She ugly” for Black ladies with short natural hair, thick lips, or other African features.  If a lady was dark skinned, her hair had to be flowing and her lips couldn’t be thick for her to get a “she pretty.”  My brother didn’t realize that that meant that I was ugly.  But I did. 

One experiences the deep pain felt by Richardson in these pages, particularly, as another Black woman.  Likewise one experiences pride as she battles to emerge from the depths of corruption.  And although, “From the time when I was young, I noticed that a lot of men didn’t respect and protect sistas from da hood, just on GP,” she learns to stand on her own two feet and shine with the love and support from folk in unexpected places. The power of a testimony, (that’s what this is) sometimes, enables one to learn a truth about life without having to wallow in a life of misery.  This is an unforgettable story and one that many young women can relate. 

The Cooked Seed: A Memoir  by Anchee Min  / Bloomsbury, 2013

First of all the title is compelling.  The painful comparison of a woman to a cooked seed is powerful and suggestive of mental repression. She was molested as a second grader. Min is a determined young woman who described her life in a work camp: “There were no weekends, holidays, sick days, or dating.  We lived in army-styled barracks without showers or toilets.  We worked like slaves.  Since childhood we had been taught that we owed our lives to the Communist Party.” 

Living in the United States one rarely is exposed to the kind of poverty and overt oppression that existed in China during the Cultural Revolution.  Imagine four children and two parents sharing one room.  Even after the children grew to adulthood, “There was no privacy.  Everyone was constantly in each other’s way.  We shared a toilet with twenty other neighbors. …Relationships between neighbors were constantly strained because the toilet room was also used as a kitchen, laundry, and sink.” 

Although Min’s parents were educators, their politics caused their family to live like peasants.  “To be strong and dependable was what my parents expected of me.  No matter how scared I was, I had to wear a brave mask.” She succeeded in fooling a succession of folk that she spoke American English.  Overcoming all odds she managed to gain a visa to the United States to earn a degree.  Reading about her life in Chicago, as she attempts to learn English and fit into the culture, enables a reader to also understand what it means to be different—a poor, woman, seemingly illiterate, Chinese, immigrant—in a culture that has a rigid view of who and what matters. Her observations of Chicago remind folk of what natives take for granted.  This is a story of a woman who fights, literarily and figuratively, for every inroad she makes. Min struggles for everything she achieves navigating a patriarchal society.  Ultimately, this is a woman’s touching story of triumph.  I’ve read this in 2013 and again in 2014.

Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat / Knoph Doubleday, 2013

First of all Edwidge Danticat is a great storyteller and essayist.  Her latest offering is the magical novel Clair of the Sea Light.  Clair is a motherless seven year-old.  Her father is a poor fisherman who wants to make life better and anticipates giving Clair, on her birthday, to a businesswoman whose daughter had died.  This is an emotional novel full of symbolism set in an island that Danticat’s prose make visible. 

Clair’s mother dies giving birth to Clair.  Sadly, Clair is missing. Did she run-away or was she abducted?  Interestingly in an interview with The Coffin Factory Danticat states “A lot of my anxieties about motherhood are in that book [Claire]—like dying and leaving a child behind. …There is also this feeling that if anything happen to you, you would want to feel like you could reach your children, even from the great beyond.  That is what I think Claire wishes and what her mother would have wished.”  My experience reading this novel differs from Danticat's intention. The bookcover is perfect.  I don’t want to be too revealing but I recommend reading this when you have several hours to escape and ponder. 

Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity Love & So Much More by Janet Mock  /Atria Books, 2014

This is an autobiography from a rather determined young woman with a spellbinding story.  The book is aptly titled as it explores the fear and pliable nature of gender from an attractive trans woman.  I believe in the power of the word; yet often debate with myself about what I’m about to say because of the shock and rejection of others.  Mock writes “I remained silent because I was taught to believe that my silence would protect me, cradle me, enable me to have access, excel, and build a life for myself.  My silence and my accomplishments would help me navigate the word without others’ judgments and would separate me from the stereotypes and stigma.”  As Audre Lorde states and Mock learns ‘your silence will not save you.’  “Redefining Realness is my attempt to extend that nakedness and vulnerability to you.  It is about those parts of ourselves that we silence every day; those parts that we all store away in boxes deep within, where they gather the dust of shame that clouds us.  In this book, I aim to open those boxes, display their contents, and be accountable to my truth.” 

Fortunately, we are all unique individuals and not cookie cutter creations meant to mimic the constructed models of femininity or masculinity. We differ in how we behave, think, what we like or dislike, how we grieve or celebrate and in whom we love and why. In a never-ending attempt to fit in, some folk are apprehensive to express different point of views. To stand in one’s truth is empowering.  Asking herself “Who will ever love you if you tell the truth” caused Mock to wear a mask temporarily. To read Mock’s story is to understand various levels of disclosure that folk manage daily.

There is much more in this intimate story of how one is a woman.  This is not simply a story of a trans woman.  This also gives insight into “gender and gender identity, sex and sexuality, are sphere of self-discovery that overlap and relate but are not one and the same.  Each and every one of us has a sexual orientation and a gender identity.”  Mock contextualizes gender and sexuality for those who are confused about the concepts.  The opening quote from the poet, writer, and activist Audre Lorde encapsulates the overall message of this book: “You become strong by doing the things you need to be strong for.  This is the way genuine learning takes place.  That’s a very difficult way to live, but it also served me.  It’s been an asset as well as a liability.”  Being real is always a fight in a world that is comfortable with pretense.  Thumbs up to being real.