torilarett's review
5.0
I live in Temescal, just blocks from Emerson Elementary. This book is about my home. As a white woman, I was acutely aware that moving to this gentrified neighborhood would require me to wrestle with and work through my relationship to white supremacy much more openly than when I lived in Berkeley. I don't have kids, but the questions that Martin grapples in this book are relevant to everyone trying to practice anti-racism. This is a book for white people. The struggle Martin feels between wanting to be active in Black and POC spaces and provide support without crossing the boundary of white saviorism is one I think daily in my work as an attorney working with nearly all BIPOC clients. Desegregation is messy, and our words don't always come out sounding great, and sometimes mistakes are made. But Martin provides the compelling case for why working through the mess and discomfort is worth it for everyone.
carriepond's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this. This is largely a memoir, but the author uses her personal experiences to discuss broad societal issues, namely, the gap between White progressives’ professed beliefs and actions when it comes to participation in systems that benefit us to the detriment of Black and brown people and our moral responsibility to align the two.
fornia's review
4.0
this was painful to read in the way that books are when they take up your entire brain for a few days straight
like it's just so extraordinarily vulnerable and Honest and imperfect
this whole topic is something i thought a lot about before and still think about a lot now too
going to a hella rich, predominantly white college will do that to you
it's complex and i do not pretend that i do not own several kinds of privilege but it is Not the kind that goes "my family owns property on martha's vineyard and my 21k-person town has nine country clubs and consumers advocate named it the wealthiest community in the country and you've never been to a regatta?!?! oh em GEE you applied for FINANCIAL AID???? oh we always had people to cook and clean for us back home<3" way [darien ct this Is a direct attack] and anyways there are so many layers to living in a society [we live in a society], so many layers of overprivileges and underprivileges and just a lot of shit i've been thinking about lately because like. i haven't eaten good chinese food in eleven days. yes, i've been counting. i'm the only nonwhite person in my clinical group. a couple times a week i am the only nonwhite person at a sports practice. my friend [who is also an east-asian woman] were at the same lab table and our white male lab partners would Not Stop stealing our bones [i'm taking an anatomy class]
but yes fuck darien ct and thank you courtney martin
like it's just so extraordinarily vulnerable and Honest and imperfect
this whole topic is something i thought a lot about before and still think about a lot now too
going to a hella rich, predominantly white college will do that to you
it's complex and i do not pretend that i do not own several kinds of privilege but it is Not the kind that goes "my family owns property on martha's vineyard and my 21k-person town has nine country clubs and consumers advocate named it the wealthiest community in the country and you've never been to a regatta?!?! oh em GEE you applied for FINANCIAL AID???? oh we always had people to cook and clean for us back home<3" way [darien ct this Is a direct attack] and anyways there are so many layers to living in a society [we live in a society], so many layers of overprivileges and underprivileges and just a lot of shit i've been thinking about lately because like. i haven't eaten good chinese food in eleven days. yes, i've been counting. i'm the only nonwhite person in my clinical group. a couple times a week i am the only nonwhite person at a sports practice. my friend [who is also an east-asian woman] were at the same lab table and our white male lab partners would Not Stop stealing our bones [i'm taking an anatomy class]
but yes fuck darien ct and thank you courtney martin
cherreadssharereads's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Really great fodder for thought. Super complicated topic but I love the relevancy and how close to home this hits.
kritter513's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Appreciated the super short chapter format… like it’s written for parents. Spoke to so many thoughts I’ve had myself in thinking through school “choices” and the common good.