aman757's reviews
34 reviews

Finding Your Roots: The Official Companion to the PBS Series by Henry Louis Gates Jr.

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

I had been previously introduced to the work of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. through the "companion" PBS series and his appearance in the TV series Watchmen, but this was the first book of his I was blessed enough to read. Before reading this book, my knowledge of ancestry research was very limited. I had previously tried to gain some insight into my family's pre-American history by searching the Internet for family name origins. Through these searches, I was able to generate some ideas of where my family may have come from, but not enough to really develop any real sense of identity. And while I recognize too that much of my desire to learn about my family's ancestry probably comes from a selfish desire for grounding and culture, I also feel like this type of knowledge is necessary in many ways. Also, though, as a European-American, I recognize too that there are historical injustices that must be recognized through one's process of discovering roots and ancestry, particularly colonization and slavery. And for Henry Louis Gates, Jr., himself a mixed-race man with African ancestry, to be able to sit down with people from numerous different backgrounds and ethnicities, and help guide them through the process of discovering their family ancestries in such a precise, compassionate way is truly amazing to me. I hope to engage with more of his work, and I hope too that Mr. Gates receives all the respect he deserves for his exceptional contributions to genealogy and humanity at large. Lastly, one more point discussed in the book I'd like to highlight is the way genetic research can be used to accurately identify individuals with mixed-ethnicity or mixed-race ancestry. The application of this process that stood out the most to me was with identifying the ways Native American, African-American, and European American genetics have mixed throughout the country's history because this seems to be an important step in achieving healing from the scars left from the previously mentioned injustices of colonization and slavery. I have still yet to do one of these DNA tests (although my deceased grandmother did one which I was recently able to see some of the results of), but this book illuminated some of the reasons for the importance of knowledge of family history for finding true self-knowledge and has inspired to continue striving toward that goal.

Homelands: Four Friends, Two Countries, and the Fate of the Great Mexican-American Migration by Alfredo Corchado

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I chose to read this book, in part, because I have been reflecting a lot recently on my own identity as an American in the United States. This feeling has been a sort of push-and-pull dichotomy between wanting to find joy in living in a country with probably the richest history of immigrants in world history, and trying to connect with my own family immigration history in a way that respects the struggles and discriminations faced by others who have faced greater challenges to finding their identity in this country. Alfredo Corchado's book was very much inspiring and educational for me on this journey. I appreciated how it was told in a way that included multiple perspectives on the topic of bi-national identity, all engaging with one another through the lens of personal relationships among Corchado and his friends. I also enjoyed the primary setting where these perspectives were shared being a restaurant in Philadelphia, founded by Corchado's friend David, called Tequilas. I believe food and drinks are the staple of creating healthy and positive cultural exchanges, so it felt right to include details about how David sought to develop his own identity and concept of what it means to be a proud Mexican immigrant in the United States through the development of his restaurant. I also find this to be an important reason why I want to better understand my family's immigration story, in order to gain a better concept of what I can "bring to the table" to share with other family's who have been very generous in sharing parts of their cultures with me, Mexican Americans being one of the main people who have shown this generosity to me Another one of Corchado's friends, Ken, was born in New Mexico and grew up in a much more Americanized home than the other three friends. I definitely related to aspects of Ken's story too in regard to my own personal desire to develop a stronger connection to my ancestral history in order to understand my own place in the United States and better relate to people in my community. Corchado's third, "mysterious" friend Primo also connected with me in his love for music, another very important part of cultural exchange and development, as well as how he looked past the surface of mainstream narratives about his people. Overall, this book gave me hope in moving forward in my own journey of connecting with my cultural heritage, while also continuing to appreciate the achievements of immigrant groups I am not a part of, but who have shown me love through my journey of personal development.

Mango and Peppercorns: A Memoir of Food, an Unlikely Family, and the American Dream by Lyn Nguyen, Tung Nguyen, Katherine Manning

emotional hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

I hear the term "American Dream" used so often and to describe goals and achievements of such varying degrees that I cannot help but be disillusioned seeing this term used in a book title. However, I do believe that the story of Tung and Katherine, as told in Mango and Peppercorns, does illuminate some positive aspects of what kind of possibilities can unfold in the mixing and molding of different cultural backgrounds in this country, particularly in the shared human experience of cooking. I also appreciated the honest portrayals and personal accounts from both owners of the restaurant. For Tung, an immigrant to the United States following the fall of Saigon in Vietnam, these personal accounts often included discussions of how she maintained the passion she first developed for cooking in her small farming village in Vietnam, while adapting to her new environment and motherhood in the United States. In these accounts, she did not hold back in voicing her struggles and frustrations in her relationship with her host and business partner Kathy, who often held different opinions and feelings about the goals of their restaurant, particularly with regard to financial matters (Kathy was not always on time keeping the water and electric paid and was known to give out samples of Tung's cooking to try to create relationships with the local community). Likewise, Kathy's accounts were also very emotionally open and honest. Drawing inspiration from her mother's past with helping raise foster children and an overall spirit of giving, Kathy felt personally called to help out with housing and caring for immigrant families coming to the United States after hearing about the fall of Saigon. On the surface, this is also a common storyline that would make me suspicious. Namely, that of a generous benefactor from the United States who takes in a less fortunate immigrant and provides them with the guidance and support they need to better their lives in their new country (often ignoring the United States' involvement and fault in creating some of these conditions in the first place). However, that is not the impression I got from this book. Rather, I felt like it highlighted the strengths Tung had already developed from her childhood in Vietnam and her vital importance to the restaurant. And instead of portraying Kathy as an all-generous, faultless benefactor, it highlighted many of the struggles she faced in forming a working relationship with Tung, whom she originally met as a migrant in need of assistance but whom soon became a friend that she relied on just as much. And lastly, with regard to the discussions of food in the book, and how nearly every chapter is followed by a recipe from the restaurant, I was struck by how organically many of these recipes developed, both from Tung and Kathy drawing from their personal histories as well as innovation developing from the meeting of tradition and cultural exchanges. This sharing of cultures can often be difficult to navigate, and may sometimes bring painful memories of times these exchanges were not equitable, but I believe that the story of Tung and Katie offers a very real, honest example of how these type of exchanges can remain positive by maintaining mutual respect and care, while not being afraid to voice how one feels.

Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8: A Young Man's Voice from the Silence of Autism by Naoki Higashida

hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

As someone who attempted to find work helping counsel children on the autism spectrum, who struggled to consistently gather the right energy to positively influence these children's lives, Mr. Higashida's book provided me with hope that I may one day be able to attempt to find this type of work again by bettering my understanding of how to relate to neuro-atypical children. While I have read before about autism being best interpreted as more of a permanent aspect of personality, rather than an illness to be remedied, this book greatly furthered my understanding of why that is the case. Higashida illuminates many complex, deeply personal emotions and insights through a series of short reflections, and shows that readers should not write off or box in him or others on the spectrum because of their diagnoses. This style he employs, using short chapters of personal introspection, successfully conveys aspects of Higashida's thought processes related to his diagnosis. However, he also displays great range of thought and creativity through interspersing beautiful poetry and a longer dreamlike short story. This short story, in particular, was one of the most memorable parts of the book for me because, even though it depicted themes specific to those on the autism-spectrum, it also contained messages that would surely resonate with anyone who has reflected on aspects of the human experience that keep all of us more or less contained within our own minds as individuals. Lastly, I personally connected with the way he begins and ends the book with expressing his desire to show gratitude to his mother for all she has done for him throughout his life. Higashida's story is very inspiring, and one I would definitely recommend for those on the autism spectrum in their lives, and anyone who wishes to better their understandings of what connects us all as humans.