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gann3b's reviews
90 reviews
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
4.0
Ultimately I would not recommend consuming this book via audiobook like I did (lol).
I appreciated how Kendi broke this book up into different "types" of racism: cultural, biological, ethnic, color, class, etc. And the way he uses example of his own racism really grounds the reader in the pervasiveness of the different types of racism. Because of the book's structure, intersectionality is implied for most of it but only made explicit w/r/t gender and sexuality - this left me wanting more so I will pursue further readings in intersectionality. The last three chapters are the real powerhouse of the book. I had to go back and listen to them a second time!!!
I appreciated how Kendi broke this book up into different "types" of racism: cultural, biological, ethnic, color, class, etc. And the way he uses example of his own racism really grounds the reader in the pervasiveness of the different types of racism. Because of the book's structure, intersectionality is implied for most of it but only made explicit w/r/t gender and sexuality - this left me wanting more so I will pursue further readings in intersectionality. The last three chapters are the real powerhouse of the book. I had to go back and listen to them a second time!!!
I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution by Emily Nussbaum
4.0
Emily Nussbaum's writing is so smart, which allows me to feel smart when I read her work, despite how much goes over my head. It took me a long time to get through this book of essays, for reasons including but not limited to the fact that I had to watch the entirety of Sex and the City after reading the essay about it.
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
5.0
I understand why the author used the story of Jean McConville's murder as the narrative arc, but the best storytelling doesn't really have anything to do with the murder. The Price sisters, Gerry Adams, and Brendan Hughes are the leading characters here. Gerry Adams is perfectly portrayed as the little bitch he is.
Despite Jean McConville being "a perfect victim," the reaction to her murder depended, and still depends, on what side of The Troubles one sat. This made me think of the murder of George Floyd. Typically, only one side has demonstrated outrage over police brutality and killings of Black people. But both sides seemed to agree that George Floyd's murder was too brutal, too unnecessary, too atrocious. Does that represent some sort of shift in the tribalism that defines American and global politics? If so, it probably won't stick, but under peak tribalism, as demonstrated by Jean McConville's murder, it is hard to imagine Republicans and other right-leaning people from showing any sympathy for the murder of a Black man by the police.
When police and prosecutors pursued cases against former British solders, they were accused of a "witch hunt" against young men who were just trying to do their jobs in a difficult environment. To such charges of bias, the top prosecutor, Barra McGrory, responded that there had been no "imbalance of approach" and that investigations of terrorist atrocities far outnumbered cases against the state. But was that not itself a kind of bias? Was it possible to appropriately calibrate the number of investigations of republican murders with those of loyalist murders? Would anything but a perfect one-to-one ratio suffice? People in Northern Ireland talked about the danger of a "hierarchy of victims." Outrage is conditioned not by the nature of the atrocity but by the affiliation of the victim and the perpetrator. Should the state be accorded more leniency because, legally speaking, it has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force? Or, conversely, should we hold soldiers and cops to a higher standard than paramilitaries?
Despite Jean McConville being "a perfect victim," the reaction to her murder depended, and still depends, on what side of The Troubles one sat. This made me think of the murder of George Floyd. Typically, only one side has demonstrated outrage over police brutality and killings of Black people. But both sides seemed to agree that George Floyd's murder was too brutal, too unnecessary, too atrocious. Does that represent some sort of shift in the tribalism that defines American and global politics? If so, it probably won't stick, but under peak tribalism, as demonstrated by Jean McConville's murder, it is hard to imagine Republicans and other right-leaning people from showing any sympathy for the murder of a Black man by the police.
When police and prosecutors pursued cases against former British solders, they were accused of a "witch hunt" against young men who were just trying to do their jobs in a difficult environment. To such charges of bias, the top prosecutor, Barra McGrory, responded that there had been no "imbalance of approach" and that investigations of terrorist atrocities far outnumbered cases against the state. But was that not itself a kind of bias? Was it possible to appropriately calibrate the number of investigations of republican murders with those of loyalist murders? Would anything but a perfect one-to-one ratio suffice? People in Northern Ireland talked about the danger of a "hierarchy of victims." Outrage is conditioned not by the nature of the atrocity but by the affiliation of the victim and the perpetrator. Should the state be accorded more leniency because, legally speaking, it has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force? Or, conversely, should we hold soldiers and cops to a higher standard than paramilitaries?
Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Ann Friedman, Aminatou Sow
3.0
love that friendship is getting its due and it's fun to see behind the curtain of a public friendship. ultimately would this be that interesting if you didn't already follow ann & amina? idk.