Reviews - Tell Me the Dream Again: Reflections on Family, Ethnicity, and the Sacred Work of Belonging

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

22 reviews for:

Tell Me the Dream Again: Reflections on Family, Ethnicity, and the Sacred Work of Belonging

Tell Me the Dream Again is Tasha Jun’s story of growing up biracial (white American father, Korean mother), suppressing the Korean side of her to try to assimilate and belong in both secular and Christian circles, finding that Jesus wants her to embrace all of herself, “kimchi breath” and all, and gaining the courage to take up space in her very-asianness and help make room for other people of color to belong.

Parts of Tasha’s story will be familiar to any of us who grew up with first generation immigrant parents or between two cultures — the feeling of never being Asian enough or American enough or some other type of enough leaves wounds that reopen with every racist mention of the “ch!na v!rus” or call to “go back where you came from.” But I’d encourage my single-culture privileged friends to sit with Tasha’s words as well, as she generously shares her most vulnerable moments, because Jesus’ invitation to everyone is to be deeply known by him, which will include deeply knowing yourself and your own history and heritage.

As a mother to three biracial boys who herself doesn’t have a strong grasp of my own culture and background (other than making some pretty yummy food), I read Tasha’s words with hope that I can show my boys through example what it can look like to accept and celebrate all of my cultural influences and continue learning more about my cultural heritage, and make way for them to do the same.

mrsbekahzraik's review

4.5

challenging inspiring

aweekinthelife's review

3.75

hopeful reflective medium-paced

Jun describes her experience as a mixed Korean and white woman trying to find her place in the church amongst people that tell her that her racial and cultural identity is not important to her faith.

I think there’s a sub-genre of faith books, especially ones by people who are still more in the environment that aren’t quite what I am looking for in this season, but I think for people who are in that type of setting and headspace, this is probably a helpful reflection.

Content Warnings

eaclapp41's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

kansel512's review against another edition

3.5

emotional reflective fast-paced

clementineecho's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed hearing about her search for Jesus, herself and her ethnic roots. At times it was a little dry and heavy on her Christianity, but I still valued listening to her personal experiences.

Touches a lot on racism, generational trauma, search for oneself, culture, family, food etc.