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A review by blankpagealex
We Are Meant to Rise: Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World by Carolyn Holbrook
5.0
Never has a book felt simultaneously so familiar and yet so remote for me. This collection of authors, poets, playwrights, and essayists of color who have some sort of connection to Minneapolis delves into the various events and movements that surrounded the early months of the COVID pandemic and the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a police officer. These authors from my own community write about places I've been to, streets I've driven on, and events I've participated in. Yet their experiences as people of color in a city that continues to grapple with racist policies and prejudice from multiple directions describe an experience that is wholly different from my own and it was eye-opening and fascinating to hear their perspective.
In reading this book I often found my own biases challenged and my mind racing to recollect where I was during the moments described by the writers. Some of the authors include fascinating history lessons from our state like Louise Erdich's section about the fight against tribal termination policies in the 60s and 70s. Others include deeply personal stories about growing up as an immigrant in St. Paul or as a person of color in a mostly white suburb. I jotted down several authors names to see if I can track down some of their other writings.
Not all of the essays are winners - a few came across sounding like those long Facebook posts everyone was sharing in June 2020. However, the book as a whole is a worthwhile read, especially for people in Minnesota who noticed that something changed in our state in 2020 and want to understand more.
In reading this book I often found my own biases challenged and my mind racing to recollect where I was during the moments described by the writers. Some of the authors include fascinating history lessons from our state like Louise Erdich's section about the fight against tribal termination policies in the 60s and 70s. Others include deeply personal stories about growing up as an immigrant in St. Paul or as a person of color in a mostly white suburb. I jotted down several authors names to see if I can track down some of their other writings.
Not all of the essays are winners - a few came across sounding like those long Facebook posts everyone was sharing in June 2020. However, the book as a whole is a worthwhile read, especially for people in Minnesota who noticed that something changed in our state in 2020 and want to understand more.