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lukenotjohn's review
3.0
Aurora Levins Morales's poem "V'ahavta" is possibly my favorite piece of writing ever, so I was eager to check out a collection of published writing by her. Incidentally, her brother Ricardo is also an artist whose work I appreciate (and I didn't realize they were related until about 2 years after buying one of his pieces!), so it felt like another a fun surprise that her mother was a co-author here offering a chance to "meet" yet another member of this talented family. I found the book itself to have highs and lows; it certainly feels less polished than some of the other work I've come across by Aurora, much of it more stream-of-consciousness and plainspoken.
I most appreciated the work here that embraced an overt politicism. Both women recognize themselves as participants in the struggle for justice via radical politics and communism, and their writing took on a particular set of teeth when focusing there that felt lacking elsewhere. "Letter to a Compañero" and "If I Forget Thee, Oh Jerusalem" are two of the strongest for me –– the first addressing the prevalence of sexism oft-ignored under the guise of "solidarity" in organizing spaces, the second a stunning wrestling with Jewish identity as Israel has taken to perpetuating the same patterns of oppression against Palestinians they themselves endured. Both feel powerfully vulnerable, a glimpse into the complicated realities of the struggle for justice. "Bad Communist" offers more of this, serving as a confession for Rosario of the ways her desires for comfort and self-interest prove to be pervasive obstacles to her participation in radical politics (tremendously relatable). "I Am the Reasonable One" and "Class Poem" were also stand-outs for me. However, the majority of the pieces (poems? stories?) here are oriented elsewhere –– memories of time in Puerto Rico, reflections on family and childhood. I personally didn't enjoy these as much, but still appreciated the book as a whole.
I most appreciated the work here that embraced an overt politicism. Both women recognize themselves as participants in the struggle for justice via radical politics and communism, and their writing took on a particular set of teeth when focusing there that felt lacking elsewhere. "Letter to a Compañero" and "If I Forget Thee, Oh Jerusalem" are two of the strongest for me –– the first addressing the prevalence of sexism oft-ignored under the guise of "solidarity" in organizing spaces, the second a stunning wrestling with Jewish identity as Israel has taken to perpetuating the same patterns of oppression against Palestinians they themselves endured. Both feel powerfully vulnerable, a glimpse into the complicated realities of the struggle for justice. "Bad Communist" offers more of this, serving as a confession for Rosario of the ways her desires for comfort and self-interest prove to be pervasive obstacles to her participation in radical politics (tremendously relatable). "I Am the Reasonable One" and "Class Poem" were also stand-outs for me. However, the majority of the pieces (poems? stories?) here are oriented elsewhere –– memories of time in Puerto Rico, reflections on family and childhood. I personally didn't enjoy these as much, but still appreciated the book as a whole.
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