A review by kait_unicorn
Those Bones Are Not My Child by Toni Cade Bambara

4.0

I do not read mystery genre style books often, as it’s just not my interest, and this book definitely had qualities of mystery fiction that I find hard to follow - BUT this book is amazing. It’s speculative non-fiction. Filling in the gaps and view of a case that is an absolute miscarriage of justice and really makes me wonder how Black folk in America are not angrier. Bambara’s writing is timeless, using the context of just one case where Black voices are disregarded and the value of Black lives minimised to point to the damage caused in any context by systemic oppression of a people.

Some lines are so damn poignant I had to pause and just soak them up after reading:
“Legend making was the impulse to exempt the ordinary self from responsible action” for example.

An epic read, but worth it for anyone who seeks to understand better the complexity of experience in America.