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114 reviews for:
The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers
Bridgett M. Davis
3.92 AVERAGE
114 reviews for:
The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers
Bridgett M. Davis
3.92 AVERAGE
Enjoyable memoir that's really a love letter to the author's mother. I loved the descriptions of her mother's classy extravagance, down to her home decor and outfits. I also really enjoyed the Detroit history mixed in with the author's family history. The four-star rating is because I wish there was a little more family details mixed in (I know the story is about Fannie but I wanted more about her siblings and other family/friends) and I found myself zoning out in parts during the very detailed descriptions of the numbers.
What an enlightening book this was! Before reading Bridget Davis memoir on her mother Fannie Davis I had no idea on the Detroit number system provided for Black communities across the United States. Fannie was a marvel of a woman. A touching memoir I'm sure her mother would be proud of.
IQ "The one thing Mama often said about herself was 'I'm very sensitive.' This statement had a twofold meaning for my mother, and she expected everyone in her life to deal with her accordingly. First, it meant, 'Watch your mouth. You're not gonna just say whatever you feel like to me.' She let you know that her feelings could be hurt by your words, and 'You took it the wrong' was not a good defense. 'Maybe you said it the wrong way,' she'd often shoot back." (187)
Before we get to Fannie herself I want to first marvel at how this book ends up being a meditation not only on motherhood but on underground businesses and how they funneled wealth into the Black community. Those business owners or participants then became part of the 'blue collar black bourgeoise' in ways that are specific to Detroit but also could likely be applied to other major cities with a large Black population during this time. It's a cultural and economic history of Black Detroit and the United States as a whole as Davis portrays the crime, complicated race relations, gentrification and general turmoil sweeping through the nation. I also knew nothing about the numbers and never had a strong interest in gambling. After finishing this book I still don't fully understand the math behind the numbers but I have become more skeptical of political claims about the benefits of the state lottery. I was also aghast (even though I really shouldn't have been surprised) to learn that the lottery as always been part of Black American history and white people didn't like that which primarily drove the gambling legalization movement. They wanted to capitalize on our idea and take away our financial independence. It was also fascinating to read about not only how resourceful everyone was but how they poured their wealth and resources back into the Black community which is not something I had truly considered as making a large economic impact. "What an ironic rationale, given that Numbers men were historically the very ones who provided the black community with programs and facilities and resources that the state neglected to provide. By the late 1960s and 1970s, these men (and yes, women) directed their largesse toward black organizations like the NAACP, funded black political candidates; campaigns, and sustained vulnerable social programs, all to further African-American progress. My mother contributed to these very causes, while she also regularly sent money to upstate prisoners, hired out-of-work young black men, and donated to the beloved but beleaguered college for low-income blacks, Shaw College at Detroit. Moreover, she patronized black businesses almost exclusively. These contributions add up, have a cumulative effect; how naive to believe that once the profits made by informal Numbers were taken out of the hands of black operators and turned over to the state's coffers, Michigan's elected officials would miraculously start meeting African-American residents' needs" (172). Not only did I get a better understanding of the underground business economy but the book also details predatory housing schemes that took advantage of potential Black homeowners and the beginnings of the drug epidemic and the economic devastation that swept through Detroit and altered the city.
But it's not all doom and gloom. Detroit is still the bustling Motor City for most of the book and there are a lot of fun Motown references, at one point Davis lives a block away from Diana Ross and she details her glamor in full. She also rubs elbows with some of the Detroit elite which provides an interesting glimpse into upper class Black Detroit. And then there's the dynamic Fannie. It also must be impossible to not fall in love with Fannie Davis, she's charming, clever, entrepreneurial, fancy and resilient. In a lot of ways she reminded me of my own mother. She is in short, a complicated woman, never a Black caricature, yes she is strong and takes care of her entire family. At the same time she was not an entirely absent or cold mother nor is she described as some saintly figure which is usually how it goes. She cares for them and shelters them for the risks of her business. And Bridgett herself manages to walk a fine line between inserting herself in the story and not making it all about her. She is also at times appreciative of her mother and other times resentful, it's a normal healthy relationship with up and down moments. There's also a beautiful part toward the end where Bridgett reflects on what she was able to achieve with her mother's money, she set up her family up to build generational wealth.
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO FANNIE DAVIS is a touching memoir that is both an ode to Black parenting and their hustle as well as a moving portrait of an incredible mother with an indomitable spirit. We don't often get to see these loving mother-daughter relationships portrayed in media about Black families so this was refreshingly sweet and different. There's also an astonishing level of cultural, economic and social detail that brings everything together and provides context that makes the book even richer. It's an emotional real life story and also surprisingly climatic as you get swept up in the world of numbers runners and hope nothing happens to the family. I couldn't put this one down, it's a fast read and is as engaging as the most pleasing and intense of novels. I only wish we had gotten a memoir from Fannie herself.
Before we get to Fannie herself I want to first marvel at how this book ends up being a meditation not only on motherhood but on underground businesses and how they funneled wealth into the Black community. Those business owners or participants then became part of the 'blue collar black bourgeoise' in ways that are specific to Detroit but also could likely be applied to other major cities with a large Black population during this time. It's a cultural and economic history of Black Detroit and the United States as a whole as Davis portrays the crime, complicated race relations, gentrification and general turmoil sweeping through the nation. I also knew nothing about the numbers and never had a strong interest in gambling. After finishing this book I still don't fully understand the math behind the numbers but I have become more skeptical of political claims about the benefits of the state lottery. I was also aghast (even though I really shouldn't have been surprised) to learn that the lottery as always been part of Black American history and white people didn't like that which primarily drove the gambling legalization movement. They wanted to capitalize on our idea and take away our financial independence. It was also fascinating to read about not only how resourceful everyone was but how they poured their wealth and resources back into the Black community which is not something I had truly considered as making a large economic impact. "What an ironic rationale, given that Numbers men were historically the very ones who provided the black community with programs and facilities and resources that the state neglected to provide. By the late 1960s and 1970s, these men (and yes, women) directed their largesse toward black organizations like the NAACP, funded black political candidates; campaigns, and sustained vulnerable social programs, all to further African-American progress. My mother contributed to these very causes, while she also regularly sent money to upstate prisoners, hired out-of-work young black men, and donated to the beloved but beleaguered college for low-income blacks, Shaw College at Detroit. Moreover, she patronized black businesses almost exclusively. These contributions add up, have a cumulative effect; how naive to believe that once the profits made by informal Numbers were taken out of the hands of black operators and turned over to the state's coffers, Michigan's elected officials would miraculously start meeting African-American residents' needs" (172). Not only did I get a better understanding of the underground business economy but the book also details predatory housing schemes that took advantage of potential Black homeowners and the beginnings of the drug epidemic and the economic devastation that swept through Detroit and altered the city.
But it's not all doom and gloom. Detroit is still the bustling Motor City for most of the book and there are a lot of fun Motown references, at one point Davis lives a block away from Diana Ross and she details her glamor in full. She also rubs elbows with some of the Detroit elite which provides an interesting glimpse into upper class Black Detroit. And then there's the dynamic Fannie. It also must be impossible to not fall in love with Fannie Davis, she's charming, clever, entrepreneurial, fancy and resilient. In a lot of ways she reminded me of my own mother. She is in short, a complicated woman, never a Black caricature, yes she is strong and takes care of her entire family. At the same time she was not an entirely absent or cold mother nor is she described as some saintly figure which is usually how it goes. She cares for them and shelters them for the risks of her business. And Bridgett herself manages to walk a fine line between inserting herself in the story and not making it all about her. She is also at times appreciative of her mother and other times resentful, it's a normal healthy relationship with up and down moments. There's also a beautiful part toward the end where Bridgett reflects on what she was able to achieve with her mother's money, she set up her family up to build generational wealth.
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO FANNIE DAVIS is a touching memoir that is both an ode to Black parenting and their hustle as well as a moving portrait of an incredible mother with an indomitable spirit. We don't often get to see these loving mother-daughter relationships portrayed in media about Black families so this was refreshingly sweet and different. There's also an astonishing level of cultural, economic and social detail that brings everything together and provides context that makes the book even richer. It's an emotional real life story and also surprisingly climatic as you get swept up in the world of numbers runners and hope nothing happens to the family. I couldn't put this one down, it's a fast read and is as engaging as the most pleasing and intense of novels. I only wish we had gotten a memoir from Fannie herself.
Fascinating history and touching tribute to a well-loved mother. Nice companion read to The Warmth of Other Suns and The Color of Law.
This is part a biography of the author's mother and part a history of Numbers, which I only knew about because I read Daddy Was a Number Runner when I was a kid. I still have it on my shelf and should read it again, as it's been 10 or 20 years. I was interested in the subject matter--a strong, Black woman making her way in a world where everything was stacked against her, but ultimately found the writing a little dry and gave up. The issue is surely me, not the author, since my social isolation reading concentration is for shit.
Bridgett Davis combines memoir with history and social commentary in The World According to Fannie Davis. The reader not only learns about her coming of age with pressure to keep family secrets and her mother’s successful, but often tortured life, but also abou the history of Numbers in the African American community. Davis ties Numbers to Hope, to the sustainability of a community, which is the perspective that was the most surprising and intriguing about this book. Davis is a talented writer, and this book is filled with researched facts as much as it is tender moments of growth for both Bridgett and her mother.
I really enjoyed Bridgett Davis's storytelling. I feel like I got to know and admire her mother. She weaved in stories from different family members, descriptive details, and her own feelings at the time to create rich imagery.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I think is was my favorite non-fiction read this year. Fannie Davis was a pistol and someone I wish I had met. I grew up in Detroit the same time as the author did and it was fun remembering the streets and store of that period (Ah, Winkleman's). I loved the story of the teacher and the shoes! I'm glad that Bridgett got the ok from her family to tell this story it was so interesting. I hope they a movie from the book.