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moonyreadsbystarlight's review
reflective
5.0
Beautifully shows joy and pain but above all, the divine. It's a celebration of ancestors and community, while also sharing in grief and getting at what causes the pain, calling people in as well. A wonderful call back to the original text but a sacred text all on its own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Transphobia, Racism, and Rape
Minor: Blood, Kidnapping, and Police brutality
teelight's review
5.0
This book is powerful. I love how Dane Figueroa Edidi writes poetry. It just flows so well. This is the third poetry book of hers I've read and it is the best one so far.
The first poem in this book, FOR BLACK TRANS GIRLS, is worth picking up this book by itself. It is amazing. It is a call to arms and it is strong. It's the kind of poem that should be read out through a megaphone. The poem about dating cis men and the one about her trans aunt are wonderful as well.
One thing that I find important about this book is Edidi's direct writing about race. Her writing forces me to take account of myself and see where I still have room to grow on the subject. It feels like as a white trans woman this book is calling me to task, and I just need to be better. It would be easy for me to take offense from just how direct she is, but what Dane Figueroa Edidi has to say in this book is valid.
This is going to be a treasured book for me going forward. Edidi's writing is so on point and I love it. At this point I can't tell if she's self publishing just to stick it to capitalism or if publishing houses are just blind. Her books need to be spread as far and wide as possible.
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Edit/Update 8/19/2020:
Something I said in my original review has been bugging me. It's what I mention in the second to last paragraph. I do appreciate Dane Figueroa Edidi's work for that reason, but I don't like how I worded it. Especially the use of the word valid. It feels more like I'm doing that annoying thing where someone says, "You're seen, you're valid" as opposed to what I actually mean. I'm leaving the poor wording up because as I mentioned in the review I still have growing to do. I don't know if anyone will ever read this, but I feel it's important to acknowledge a mistake when I make it and try to address it.
When I mention the offense and the book being valid I was talking about a few poems specifically. The one where Lady Dane talks about how white gay culture has stolen a lot of things from black LGBTQ+ culture and the poems towards the end when she calls out white women. Sure she specifies that it was for cis white gay men and cis white women, but it still felt like it hit close to the mark. My knee jerk reaction was to be offended. "I'm not like that!" I haven't stolen those words. I don't turn a blind eye. Having that reaction hit me. Especially this year (summer of 2020). Because if anything that is part of the problem. We all feel that it's not us, when really we need to take account of and correct the things we do as a culture. The things that erase voices and keep people held back from benefits other groups enjoy.
Dane Figueroa Edidi is right. Her writing forced me to look at some aspects of myself that need work. In the same way reading James Baldwin, the Nameless Woman anthology, Janet Mock, and Akwaeke Emezi has made me call my own views into question. The way more authors will down the line. Reading work that challenges your world view is important, and I'm very appreciative that Dane Figueroa Edidi is putting her work out there. I apologize for the poor word choice.
The first poem in this book, FOR BLACK TRANS GIRLS, is worth picking up this book by itself. It is amazing. It is a call to arms and it is strong. It's the kind of poem that should be read out through a megaphone. The poem about dating cis men and the one about her trans aunt are wonderful as well.
One thing that I find important about this book is Edidi's direct writing about race. Her writing forces me to take account of myself and see where I still have room to grow on the subject. It feels like as a white trans woman this book is calling me to task, and I just need to be better. It would be easy for me to take offense from just how direct she is, but what Dane Figueroa Edidi has to say in this book is valid.
This is going to be a treasured book for me going forward. Edidi's writing is so on point and I love it. At this point I can't tell if she's self publishing just to stick it to capitalism or if publishing houses are just blind. Her books need to be spread as far and wide as possible.
---------------
Edit/Update 8/19/2020:
Something I said in my original review has been bugging me. It's what I mention in the second to last paragraph. I do appreciate Dane Figueroa Edidi's work for that reason, but I don't like how I worded it. Especially the use of the word valid. It feels more like I'm doing that annoying thing where someone says, "You're seen, you're valid" as opposed to what I actually mean. I'm leaving the poor wording up because as I mentioned in the review I still have growing to do. I don't know if anyone will ever read this, but I feel it's important to acknowledge a mistake when I make it and try to address it.
When I mention the offense and the book being valid I was talking about a few poems specifically. The one where Lady Dane talks about how white gay culture has stolen a lot of things from black LGBTQ+ culture and the poems towards the end when she calls out white women. Sure she specifies that it was for cis white gay men and cis white women, but it still felt like it hit close to the mark. My knee jerk reaction was to be offended. "I'm not like that!" I haven't stolen those words. I don't turn a blind eye. Having that reaction hit me. Especially this year (summer of 2020). Because if anything that is part of the problem. We all feel that it's not us, when really we need to take account of and correct the things we do as a culture. The things that erase voices and keep people held back from benefits other groups enjoy.
Dane Figueroa Edidi is right. Her writing forced me to look at some aspects of myself that need work. In the same way reading James Baldwin, the Nameless Woman anthology, Janet Mock, and Akwaeke Emezi has made me call my own views into question. The way more authors will down the line. Reading work that challenges your world view is important, and I'm very appreciative that Dane Figueroa Edidi is putting her work out there. I apologize for the poor word choice.
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