Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power

For anyone that thinks Canada is a bastion of inclusivity - this book holds a mirror to every wrong assumption and ingrained, systemic anti-Blackness and anti-Indigeneity. Cole writes of a year of activism in Canada, wraps each story and chapter with care and concern for those whose stories he shares, and demonstrates failures in a racist settler-colonial system. This should be mandatory reading across the country, and hopefully then the activists working to dismantle these harmful institutions will be joined by more Canadians.

Content Warnings

spec_tacles's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

Content Warnings

lizard800's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

butlerebecca's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

Content Warnings

emmanuellechang's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

A necessary read for all Canadians to understand the state of Black and Indigenous peoples in this country. Cole intertwines personal experiences, historical context, and hard-hitting journalism to illustrate what it means to be Black in Canada.

Content Warnings

mandkips's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

Content Warnings

angelinazahajko's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

3.75 stars

the skin we’re in by Desmond Cole serves a very important purpose: to dismantle the widespread illusion that Canada is post-racial and does not support white supremacist structures and ideals like our Southern neighbours. It’s bold and punchy; it’s a wake-up call for Canadians and a love letter to Canada’s Black activists.

It is undeniable that Cole succeeded in his goal of dismantling Canadian illusions about anti-black racism. While I was aware of many of the cases within this book, I was also unaware of the details — gory details that Cole does not shy away from and add power to his narrative. for this, I give Cole massive credit; however, where this book fell flat for me was it’s structure. it looks genius on paper: each chapter dedicated to a month of black resistance in Toronto? so creative! but, besides months June-October, I felt that this structure actually hindered the book’s flow because often there either a) wasn’t enough to talk about in a month, resulting in a couple unrelated stories put into a chapter or b) the event that did occur required a lot of context that took you out of the action in order to explain. I wanted to be enamoured by this book but, by the time I finished it, I was okay with my reading experience being over.

I still would argue that this book is essential reading for GTA residents who buy into the delusion outlined earlier, especially because there are so little books that exist on anti-black racism in Canada compared to the American literature. for me, this might just be a classic case of unjustifiably high expectations and that’s okay!

Content Warnings

More...