Reviews
Wandering in Strange Lands: A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots by Morgan Jerkins
loyaltolit's review
I learned SO much and it sparked my curiosity to do my own research on some of the topics Jerkins explored, which to me is the ultimate sign of a great text.
sarabeckman617's review against another edition
4.0
If you've read [b:Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents|51152447|Caste The Origins of Our Discontents|Isabel Wilkerson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597267568l/51152447._SY75_.jpg|75937597] you should pick up this book. Morgan Jerkins talks about the black/white binary (caste) often especially when she ends up parts of her history that blended the lines between black/white/indigenous groups.
The book would also be fascinating to anyone interested in family history or genealogy. Jerkins weaves together many threads of American history that impacted her family roots in the American South including the exclusion of Native tribes in the 1830s to Indian territory.
This book is a great reminder that we are not all just one thing. That history is not as simple or as straight forward as we are lead to believe.
The book would also be fascinating to anyone interested in family history or genealogy. Jerkins weaves together many threads of American history that impacted her family roots in the American South including the exclusion of Native tribes in the 1830s to Indian territory.
This book is a great reminder that we are not all just one thing. That history is not as simple or as straight forward as we are lead to believe.
da_mekah's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
I really loved certain aspects of the book, especially the knowledge about Creole and Gullah people since that is also in my ancestry.
One thing I personally did not care for was the author’s choice to not capitalize the word ‘Black’ when referring to race. It seemed an interesting choice for a Black author writing a book about the effects of slavery and steady migration of Black people.
The other thing that really put me off was the insensitivity displayed in the author’s references to Native Americans. It’s been shared knowledge for quite some time that the word I*ndi*n is a slur that reflects the pov of colonizers. I expected much better from a book released in 2020.
One thing I personally did not care for was the author’s choice to not capitalize the word ‘Black’ when referring to race. It seemed an interesting choice for a Black author writing a book about the effects of slavery and steady migration of Black people.
The other thing that really put me off was the insensitivity displayed in the author’s references to Native Americans. It’s been shared knowledge for quite some time that the word I*ndi*n is a slur that reflects the pov of colonizers. I expected much better from a book released in 2020.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs
_geminigenres's review
I think Morgan Jenkins is not for me. Her audience isn't geared toward me.
bluebirdsongs's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
A really powerful look at how the last half-millennium of systemic racism on America's shores has excluded so much of black history from the "official record". Using the threads in her family's oral histories as a starting off point, researcher Morgan Jerkins explores the gaps in where she and others like her came from and unburies a tapestry of interconnectivity that centuries of exclusion and oppression tried to discredit and erase. But those stories live on as her people live on, and those narratives have always needed to be heard and respected.