A review by wellreadsinger
How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Safiya Sinclair’s “How To Say Babylon”  is a gut-wrenching reminder of how imperative it is for little black girls to find that thing in life that will free us. For Safiya it was poetry; words spoken in a rhythm laden with a pain no child should know became her lifeline. 

Babylon is in the body, it is in the mind, it is even in our homes. Safiya’s Rastafarian household was supposed to be a safe haven from colonialism’s iron grip, but it came through the front door every day in the form of her father. It spoke loudly in her mother’s silence while his red belt came down upon her body. Who will protect black girls even from those that share the same blood as them?
 
Safiya’s family lived in the shadow of colonial wealth. Safiya attended a school where her friends had different homes for different seasons while she only had one in which her and her siblings shared a room. Every moment spent outside in Babylon’s stolen splendor comes with a reminder of all that is missing from your own home where you make do with the cards you’ve been dealt. 

Babylon is in the mind and it is up to us decolonize, unlearn, and do away with it in our mental fortress. Babylon is everywhere and seeks to reside in all of us. Its violence can be found in your home and in the spirits of those you love. Like Safiya, we must flee from it and all its forms for not only our safety, but for our freedom. 
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