Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Miss Major Speaks: The Life and Times of a Black Trans Revolutionary by Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

6 reviews

readingpicnic's review

5.0

I love you, Miss Major. This was such a wonderful book and gave me hope for trans* futures. I adored reading about Miss Major's perspectives on the queer and trans* communities, as well as social justice needing to start from the very bottom with grassroots projects. I recognized a lot of the events and people that she mentioned from taking LGBTQIA+ classes for my WGS minor, so I feel like this book helped me build my knowledge on queer and trans* history from the perspective of someone who was there through it all. Her point about Stonewall not being an end-all-be-all was very true, and I appreciate her bluntness and honesty about how the queer community, especially the white queer community has historically ignored, harassed, and excluded the trans* community, especially trans* people of color (like literally just watch the speech that Sylvia Rivera gave at pride where she was booed off the stage by white queer people for talking about transness). Her openness about what trans* can mean is very refreshing and doesn't exclude or require explicit labels. I also love her emphasis on community and that change has to come from within the community; that they should get to make the decisions about their own lives. She has such a distinct voice that really shines through on the page, and this was overall an incredible start to my Trans* Rights Readathon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Deadnaming

wai's review against another edition

fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, and Police brutality

introvertsbookclub's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

Forthright and uncompromising, this book is a balm against hopelessness and isolation, insisting upon the necessity of community and mutual care for all people, not just those you identify with most immediately. The conversations contained within range over decades and topics, but throughout they remain focused on resistance, disruption and uplifting marginalised and abused people. Miss Major is not just a Black Trans icon, she is a guiding light for the future.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, Transphobia, and Homophobia

megansoetaert's review against another edition

emotional inspiring fast-paced

5.0

so glad we now have more of Miss Major’s voice and preaching enshrined. her activism has made her into this holy figure in the queer community, but this memoir helps remind us that she is just one woman who, yes, has done so much, but who mostly just wants to help other trans women, especially Black trans women, LIVE and love. 

toshio captures her voice without restraint. she is everything, and i hope we can all be more like her: proud community builders who don’t back down from anything. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Transphobia

jainabee's review

adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

Miss Major has been every there and done every that and is still ticking and kicking ass. First hand lived experience of the last 60 years of queer history told with joyful shamelessness and tender affection. Here's a book that deserves to be on every high school history curriculum reading list.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Violence, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Classism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Medical content and Fire/Fire injury

omx, the content warnings are just TILIFI (read the book to learn what that means). Miss Major has survived all of this and more and still the overall tone of the book is positive and hopeful.

kshertz's review

emotional informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

Miss Major is a legend. Her book is just like her documentary. She is real and speaks the truth. She doesn’t care if you can handle it or not. This woman should be as big as any other queer hero you have. This book is unapologetic just like her. I think it’s a must read for anyone who cares about queer history, queer elders or just wants a new perspective on life. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Biphobia, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Grief, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Hate crime, Racism, and Trafficking