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alanabenjamin's review against another edition
3.0
This is a brave and personal memoir of how poverty, transgenerational trauma and the racial history works in America. It centers around the author's life growing up in many parts of California and finally Nevada to reach collegiate life at Howard University in the 80s and 90s. It is very fascinating story of girlhood surrounding her relationships with the members of her family, friends and community. The author also discusses the highs and lows of her relationship with her mother, giving a really sad story of being a young mother.
It is also a great remainder that grit is always necessary to achieve and that people can touch your life in the slightest way and change its trajectory forever.
Honestly, there were parts of the story that could have been left out but the book is only 238 pages so there was alot of filler.
However, it is good simple, quick read. Skip the audiobook, it is very monotonous.
It is also a great remainder that grit is always necessary to achieve and that people can touch your life in the slightest way and change its trajectory forever.
Honestly, there were parts of the story that could have been left out but the book is only 238 pages so there was alot of filler.
However, it is good simple, quick read. Skip the audiobook, it is very monotonous.
estherd1's review against another edition
4.0
It was a sad, but fascinating read. The protagonist gave a glimpse into a world I was never part of. I gave this 4 stars, because it ends very abruptly, leaving the reader with many questions as to how she managed getting through college etc. Her fight didn't end there, but the book does.
ma1's review against another edition
5.0
C. Nicole Mason is one very smart woman. She’s a graduate of Howard University and has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is currently a professor at Georgetown and the CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research here in DC.
Born Bright is Mason’s memoir of growing up as an academically gifted African American girl. It was interesting for me to contrast her experiences as a poor African American girl who was academically gifted with mine as a poor white girl who was academically gifted. My family was so far below the poverty line that families making 100% of the federal poverty line seemed wealthy to us. Nevertheless, nobody ever doubted my giftedness or tried to hold me back from achieving my potential because of my poverty. Mason was not so privileged. Nobody expected her to achieve anything and she was actively discouraged from aiming for the success she ultimately did achieve.
Mason starts her book by telling a story that illustrates how people now use her success as an excuse to blame African Americans for not bootstrapping themselves out of poverty. But nobody should ever have to face the lack of support for achieving their goals that Mason had to overcome, and we can’t blame those who don’t have her luck and determination for not living up to their potential.
Born Bright is Mason’s memoir of growing up as an academically gifted African American girl. It was interesting for me to contrast her experiences as a poor African American girl who was academically gifted with mine as a poor white girl who was academically gifted. My family was so far below the poverty line that families making 100% of the federal poverty line seemed wealthy to us. Nevertheless, nobody ever doubted my giftedness or tried to hold me back from achieving my potential because of my poverty. Mason was not so privileged. Nobody expected her to achieve anything and she was actively discouraged from aiming for the success she ultimately did achieve.
Mason starts her book by telling a story that illustrates how people now use her success as an excuse to blame African Americans for not bootstrapping themselves out of poverty. But nobody should ever have to face the lack of support for achieving their goals that Mason had to overcome, and we can’t blame those who don’t have her luck and determination for not living up to their potential.
elisabethshelby's review against another edition
4.0
Ah, this book! You need to read this book!
I have attempted to read this book on three other occasions before work and life got in the way and I'd have to return it to the library. This time, I was determined, and once I started it took me only about 24 hours to finish.
This book speaks SO MUCH to me, about a world I knew existed but never truly understood. I grew up in the 1990s, in an all white neighborhood in the middle of nowhere. There was poverty, and we saw it, but it never touched me personally. As a child, I did not understand the advantages that had been given to me, the opportunities I was offered simply because I was raised in the family I was raised in.
This book really helps an outsider to understand how hard it is to break the poverty cycle. Dr. Mason shows it beautifully through her own choices - deep down she knew many of the choices her friends and family were making were the wrong choices, but pressure, and loss of hope sometimes encouraged her to make the same choices. The system set up to equally educate all students did not offer her the same experiences I had. I am not sure at what point I was told, "To get into college, you must take the SATs". I just know that I sort of always knew that. It put me at an advantage over other students, like Dr. Mason, who had no idea. They were always behind the eight-ball, so to speak.
The ending of this story is bittersweet. You want to be happy for the writer, and to say to yourself, yes, she made it, she fought the poverty cycle and she won. Yet at the same time, you see all of those she left behind, still stuck in the endless cycle, and you realize just how much is left to be done.
This book is excellent, and you should read it.
I have attempted to read this book on three other occasions before work and life got in the way and I'd have to return it to the library. This time, I was determined, and once I started it took me only about 24 hours to finish.
This book speaks SO MUCH to me, about a world I knew existed but never truly understood. I grew up in the 1990s, in an all white neighborhood in the middle of nowhere. There was poverty, and we saw it, but it never touched me personally. As a child, I did not understand the advantages that had been given to me, the opportunities I was offered simply because I was raised in the family I was raised in.
This book really helps an outsider to understand how hard it is to break the poverty cycle. Dr. Mason shows it beautifully through her own choices - deep down she knew many of the choices her friends and family were making were the wrong choices, but pressure, and loss of hope sometimes encouraged her to make the same choices. The system set up to equally educate all students did not offer her the same experiences I had. I am not sure at what point I was told, "To get into college, you must take the SATs". I just know that I sort of always knew that. It put me at an advantage over other students, like Dr. Mason, who had no idea. They were always behind the eight-ball, so to speak.
The ending of this story is bittersweet. You want to be happy for the writer, and to say to yourself, yes, she made it, she fought the poverty cycle and she won. Yet at the same time, you see all of those she left behind, still stuck in the endless cycle, and you realize just how much is left to be done.
This book is excellent, and you should read it.
tdnwallace's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent read! This is a great resource for anyone who desires to understand the long term impact of poverty. I highly recommend it for case managers, teachers, school administrators and social workers.
eileenanddogs's review
5.0
Fantastic book. The author tells the story of growing up in extreme poverty and achieving her goal of higher education. Her intent is not to lionize her own achievements, but to shed light on the reasons why most people can't escape poverty. Her world was dangerous and crushing.
This would be a good book for people who are open to learning about their white privilege, although I think she never even uses that phrase. Very moving book.
This would be a good book for people who are open to learning about their white privilege, although I think she never even uses that phrase. Very moving book.
bookwormmichelle's review
4.0
Beautiful memoir of a young girl born black and in poverty, and her many struggles as she grew up and eventually was able to go to college and graduate school and escape poverty. She also uses her story to show just how high the barriers are, and how difficult they can be to overcome. I'm just floored by her descriptions of schools where no one cared if anyone even came to class, or sat and listened. When she did manage to get into advanced classes, teachers and students acted like she shouldn't have been there. We have a long ways to go and a lot of work to do before we can claim that all kids get fair opportunities in life. Books like this help us realize that.
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