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zombiezami's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
Cicely Tyson is someone who my mother and grandmother both admired a lot. I didn't know much about her. My main connection to her was watching her on How to Get Away with Murder. I really enjoyed hearing about Tyson's career, outlook, and overall life in this book. I had no idea she was in a relationship with Miles Davis (because I also don't know much about his personal life), and I was really amazed and saddened that someone as talented and important as she was believed it was her job to fix his life. I also thought it was my job to fix a boyfriend's life when I was in high school. It's amazing how pervasive that messaging is for women.
Although I liked the book a lot overall, there was a lot of respectability politics throughout, which I suppose isn't surprising for someone of Tyson's generation. For example, it struck me as very odd that she railed so hard against Blaxploitation films for their stereotypical depictions of Black folks, while at the same time being close friends with Tyler Perry and championing his work.
Although I liked the book a lot overall, there was a lot of respectability politics throughout, which I suppose isn't surprising for someone of Tyson's generation. For example, it struck me as very odd that she railed so hard against Blaxploitation films for their stereotypical depictions of Black folks, while at the same time being close friends with Tyler Perry and championing his work.
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Sexual content, Slavery, Vomit, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
Minor: Biphobia, Cancer, Genocide, Blood, and Stalking
Lynching, serophobia
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