A review by nqcliteracy
Light in the Dark/Luz en lo Oscuro: Rewriting Identity, Spirituality, Reality by Gloria E. Anzaldúa

4.0

This is not a book for everyone, but I ended up really appreciating it. It took me a forever to get through it, as its prose is dense and weighty, but overall it was one of the most interesting I've read. Anzaldúa, a queer Chicacana scholar whose final text was published posthumously, tackles issues of race, writing process, art as catharsis, connectivity, labeling and rewriting ourselves anew. It is hopeful and at times, incredibly beautiful. It blends genres:introspective, researched, spiritual and poetic at once. Anzaldúa suggests that we break from cages of binary labels to forge a new community and existence that is fluid, free, and connected to our roots, in a "new tribalism" that can sustain us as fluid, moving individuals with constantly-evolving ideas about ourselves and the world. She shuns white dominant culture and demands, relies on "writing comrades" for support, and calls us all to "spiritual activism." And, her incredible translanguaging abilities - inserting Spanish words fluidly and easily into sentences - thrilled me. Dualities exist. Embrace process.