A review by caterina
My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

So torn. There is valuable stuff in here about embodiment and racialized trauma. But also very reformist-apologist approach to police (barely made it through the "police bodies" sections), some concerning comments on physical health (e.g. fatphobia), and other things in need of critique. Yet - in the end, thinking about intergenerational trauma for both white and Black bodies and thinking about racialized trauma in bodies was worth the read. And the body practices were, on the whole, solid.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Police brutality, and Racism

Moderate: Slavery

Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, and Fatphobia

The animal cruelty and animal death is the first few paragraphs of chapter 16, and it's very shocking and jarring.