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660 reviews for:
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
Tiya Miles
4.12 AVERAGE
660 reviews for:
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
Tiya Miles
4.12 AVERAGE
informative
slow-paced
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Colonisation
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
informative
inspiring
informative
sad
slow-paced
Analysis of slavery and
practices via one artefact
practices via one artefact
I’ll remember this book for the rest of my life.
Telling ancestor’s stories by examining the items they held most dear? Excellent. What if those ancestors were enslaved folks who may or may not have had the ability to keep or maintain storage of precious items? What did they give their loved ones when they went away?
I LOVED the analysis of the items found in Ashley’s sack based on cultural customs, oral histories, and slave narratives. I loved how it was explicitly stated that most times we tell the stores of enslaved people, we share the stories of the slave owners because they usually kept better records of themselves- or had the means to keep and maintain storage of their precious items. And how it was explicitly stated that the author could do that, but they weren’t going to. Instead, they focused on the cultural significance of why Ashley would have packed her hair, seeds, scraps fabric, etc. And it paid off. This book is remarkable.
I waited until the end of the book to look up the photo of Ashley’s sack, and I would recommend doing the same if you haven’t seen the sack or read this book. It’s hard to describe the immeasurable sadness of knowing the history and how that combines with the hope and love poured into each stitch. A mother’s love knows no bounds even after the children are forcibly removed from the mother. Truly humbling and a world-altering experience.
This is a great entry level non-fiction for folks that don’t read non-fiction often. The book is written like fiction while making you feel and learn something new and challenging.
I love this book. I’m so happy it exists.
Telling ancestor’s stories by examining the items they held most dear? Excellent. What if those ancestors were enslaved folks who may or may not have had the ability to keep or maintain storage of precious items? What did they give their loved ones when they went away?
I LOVED the analysis of the items found in Ashley’s sack based on cultural customs, oral histories, and slave narratives. I loved how it was explicitly stated that most times we tell the stores of enslaved people, we share the stories of the slave owners because they usually kept better records of themselves- or had the means to keep and maintain storage of their precious items. And how it was explicitly stated that the author could do that, but they weren’t going to. Instead, they focused on the cultural significance of why Ashley would have packed her hair, seeds, scraps fabric, etc. And it paid off. This book is remarkable.
I waited until the end of the book to look up the photo of Ashley’s sack, and I would recommend doing the same if you haven’t seen the sack or read this book. It’s hard to describe the immeasurable sadness of knowing the history and how that combines with the hope and love poured into each stitch. A mother’s love knows no bounds even after the children are forcibly removed from the mother. Truly humbling and a world-altering experience.
This is a great entry level non-fiction for folks that don’t read non-fiction often. The book is written like fiction while making you feel and learn something new and challenging.
I love this book. I’m so happy it exists.
informative
sad
slow-paced