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lillieguo's review
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
its hard to know what to expect when you begin this book—i found myself wondering if this was akin to a peer-reviewed sociology article in the form of a book, a love letter to south la, a description of black-brown relations and organizing in a very unique setting…and it ended up being all of these things!
i read this book alongside my book club, which exists within an organization that works with young people from south central through longterm mentorship. many of our members are from different parts of california or even the country or world, and up until a few years ago, we were overwhemingly white (and some may say that is still the case). extensive knowledge about simply the historical aspects of south la, like the watts or the rodney king riots, or the demographic changes, or even the fact that south la is historically black, was unknown to a lot of our counselors (myself included), much less the deeper sociological aspects or even the spirit, love, and challenges that south la is so familiar with.
this book is fantastic in that it reveals that south la cannot be simply explained. it is neither the conflict ridden, bursting-to-riot warground that many still picture it to be, nor is it a case study on peaceful, utopic multiculturalism that others aspire to. i am grateful to this book for the information that it’s given to me. learning about south central is a process that stretches as far as you can see, wherever you’re at. along w the authors, its allowed me to feel love and a second-hand pride for the neighborhood, all its history, and where it’ll look to next.
i read this book alongside my book club, which exists within an organization that works with young people from south central through longterm mentorship. many of our members are from different parts of california or even the country or world, and up until a few years ago, we were overwhemingly white (and some may say that is still the case). extensive knowledge about simply the historical aspects of south la, like the watts or the rodney king riots, or the demographic changes, or even the fact that south la is historically black, was unknown to a lot of our counselors (myself included), much less the deeper sociological aspects or even the spirit, love, and challenges that south la is so familiar with.
this book is fantastic in that it reveals that south la cannot be simply explained. it is neither the conflict ridden, bursting-to-riot warground that many still picture it to be, nor is it a case study on peaceful, utopic multiculturalism that others aspire to. i am grateful to this book for the information that it’s given to me. learning about south central is a process that stretches as far as you can see, wherever you’re at. along w the authors, its allowed me to feel love and a second-hand pride for the neighborhood, all its history, and where it’ll look to next.
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