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A review by lunabbly
This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga
4.0
I thought it was an interesting collection of essays and writings from women of color in the 1970s and 1980s. It was powerful and important to have women of color voices and lesbians of color voices proudly declare their heritage, talk about being white-passing, and also their sexuality because it was too taboo. Had they not done this work, I'm not sure where the feminist movement would be now.
Still, I wish the book contained more trans voices, gender-fluid, nonbinary, more pansexual, demisexual, asexual voices. It felt like because they were coming out -- lesbian women of color -- together as a collective so strongly, that they needed to be united on that front, and that left little room for other identities to be heard through this collection of essays, which is disappointing. But that's what I also loved -- a strong sense of community and vying for community.
And unfortunately, the book didn't include Southeast and South Asian voices, nor Western Asian voices. I would have loved to have read from a Palestinian woman / femme writer for example, or to hear from dark-skinned Latina/es. I felt that a majority of the narratives from Asian and Latine folks in this collection of writings were light-skinned folks. Which I understand, light-skinned privilege needs to be talked about, but I want to hear from dark-skinned folks more and to have their voices uplifted, supported, and to create the conditions in which they are allowed to not only survive, but thrive.
I recommend as it was transformational and a lot of the writers I had never heard of, but am now reading their works. I also think it's a lovely book for an introductory course.
Still, I wish the book contained more trans voices, gender-fluid, nonbinary, more pansexual, demisexual, asexual voices. It felt like because they were coming out -- lesbian women of color -- together as a collective so strongly, that they needed to be united on that front, and that left little room for other identities to be heard through this collection of essays, which is disappointing. But that's what I also loved -- a strong sense of community and vying for community.
And unfortunately, the book didn't include Southeast and South Asian voices, nor Western Asian voices. I would have loved to have read from a Palestinian woman / femme writer for example, or to hear from dark-skinned Latina/es. I felt that a majority of the narratives from Asian and Latine folks in this collection of writings were light-skinned folks. Which I understand, light-skinned privilege needs to be talked about, but I want to hear from dark-skinned folks more and to have their voices uplifted, supported, and to create the conditions in which they are allowed to not only survive, but thrive.
I recommend as it was transformational and a lot of the writers I had never heard of, but am now reading their works. I also think it's a lovely book for an introductory course.