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4.61 AVERAGE
4.61 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
dark
informative
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Wow. So I definitely had to go sit with myself after I finished this book in order to fully process what I had read.
Coates blows my mind out of the water, yet again. His sentence structure alone (analyzing microscopically) conveys a deep sense of purpose and passion - as if every sentence he speaks/writes will be his last. I mention this because often when I am reading, it is typically very easy to identify impactful statements. To put it differently, readers sometimes highlight things that resonate with them in a story - excerpts that, perhaps, represent a singular moment of convergence. With Coates, I want you to imagine that I have highlighted every word (not literally).
One of the most shocking things I read in this book was that Hitler was inspired by the US - by our treatment of Native Americans and Jim Crow. I am embarrassed to say I did not know this; that I had not been taught this before. And though I already exist in this world as an empathetic person, though I already knew US history was covered in blood, this realization hurt me.
In school, we teach children that this was Germany’s ugly history. We teach children how brave we were for stepping in. We teach children to learn history so that we are not condemned to repeat it. And yet, not once had I ever been taught of the role we truly played. Not once did we acknowledge or hold accountability for these tragedies.
Coates blows my mind out of the water, yet again. His sentence structure alone (analyzing microscopically) conveys a deep sense of purpose and passion - as if every sentence he speaks/writes will be his last. I mention this because often when I am reading, it is typically very easy to identify impactful statements. To put it differently, readers sometimes highlight things that resonate with them in a story - excerpts that, perhaps, represent a singular moment of convergence. With Coates, I want you to imagine that I have highlighted every word (not literally).
One of the most shocking things I read in this book was that Hitler was inspired by the US - by our treatment of Native Americans and Jim Crow. I am embarrassed to say I did not know this; that I had not been taught this before. And though I already exist in this world as an empathetic person, though I already knew US history was covered in blood, this realization hurt me.
In school, we teach children that this was Germany’s ugly history. We teach children how brave we were for stepping in. We teach children to learn history so that we are not condemned to repeat it. And yet, not once had I ever been taught of the role we truly played. Not once did we acknowledge or hold accountability for these tragedies.
informative
reflective
fast-paced
This book was incredibly moving. It's also brave, bold, and so very timely. Coates dares not only to address the on-going colonization, apartheid, and genocide of the Palestinian people, he does so knowing full well that it will cost him. Speaking truth to power always does. And yet, as he so aptly puts it, "...to imagine the enslaved, the colonized, the conquered as human beings has always been a political act." He goes into this with eyes wide open.
As the intro on the book sleeve notes, with this book, Coates addresses "the urgent need to untangle ourselves from the destructive myths that shape our world - and our own souls - and embrace the liberating power of even the most difficult truths."
If you are looking to have your eyes opened and to challenge your own perceptions of the world that surrounds you, you should read this book.
As the intro on the book sleeve notes, with this book, Coates addresses "the urgent need to untangle ourselves from the destructive myths that shape our world - and our own souls - and embrace the liberating power of even the most difficult truths."
If you are looking to have your eyes opened and to challenge your own perceptions of the world that surrounds you, you should read this book.
informative
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced