A review by emmaito
A Measure of Belonging: Twenty-One Writers of Color on the New American South by

4.0

i really loved the essays in the collection, particularly “suddenly, an island girl,” by m. evelina galang, in which she explores her identity as a midwestern pinay transplanted to miami. she relays some of her father’s experiences in north carolina, where he faced the jim crow binary of Black & white & was directed to use the “Colored” bathrooms at gas stations but the “whites only” doors to the hospital. this reflects a lot of the history i work to uncover, where asian americans were often stuck in between these rigid binaries.

so many of these essays resonated with me & as a japanese american in richmond, virginia, who studies asian american & southern history, it made me even more bummed when i finished & realized there were no essays featuring virginia. don’t get me wrong, the essays featured in this are fantastic & i absolutely recommend this book. but, when i was growing up in rural new kent, virginia, i remember my cousin telling me va wasnt the “real south.” yall. virginia is absolutely the real south & the lack of a virginia essay was the only shortcoming to this otherwise excellent collection. def a good read for nonfiction november & i think a needed read for many folks who want to explore & learn more about the many nuances in the south. the south is an incredible place full of resistance & fights for civil rights, both historically & now