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phaas's reviews
281 reviews
One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Sexual assault
Moderate: Homophobia
Little Bird by Tiffany Meuret
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism
Black Ghost of Empire: The Long Death of Slavery and the Failure of Emancipation by Kris Manjapra
informative
slow-paced
5.0
Do you ever read something that is so glaringly obvious yet it still blows your mind? Kris Manjapra pieced together the history that I knew, with the things I should have known, sprinkled with honest observations that left me dumbfounded but also telling myself “DUH!” The biggest takeaway for me was that emancipation was done by and for the perpetrators of slavery. It wasn’t informed by Black liberationists. The people with the power to enact change were by and large the criminals and their main priority was protecting their peers and wallets. Not only that, but slave owners received reparations while denying the humans they stole, abused, and often killed any reparations or even apologies. The arguments and pleas made by Black liberationists in the 1860s are frighteningly close to what we hear today from Black people still fighting the same fight. I think this was a really important book for me to read and I would recommend it to all of my friends and family. We still see the effects of emancipations around the world today and it’s important that we are educated on them. When we learn to recognize these harms, we can better work to repair them. (And this time, we should listen to the voices of those who are affected and let them lead.)