[bksvol-discuss] Re: Wishlist Book Request
- From: "Shelley L. Rhodes" <juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2007 17:48:00 -0400
Monica,
I just placed a hold on it at my library, so we shall see how long it takes
to come in.
Shelley L. Rhodes M.A., VRT, CTVI
and Judson, guiding golden
juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Guide Dogs For the Blind Inc.
Graduate Alumni Association Board
www.guidedogs.com
More than Any other time, When i hold a beloved book in my hand, my
limitations fall from me, my spirit is free.
- Helen Keller
----- Original Message -----
From: "Monica Willyard" <rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2007 5:00 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Wishlist Book Request
I'm writing to make a book request for a book I
heard about from an interview with the author on the radio. The book is:
Fade: My Journeys in Multiracial America
by Elliott Lewis
The author is biracial and writes about his
experience as a person who is never completely
black or white but who is much-loved by his
parents. My daughter is biracial, and I'd like
to be able to read the book and talk with her
about it. My family and I are white, and her
father hasn't been around very much since she was
little. I'm hoping to find some guidance as a
parent and some understanding of how a growing
number of people in our country experience their
lives. Here's some info on the book from Amazon.
Former CNN reporter Lewis's head-scratcher of a
book argues against pigeonholing and reductive
classification systems (he mentions frequently
the "one drop" rule that deems a person black if
they have one drop of black blood and that the
2000 Census was the first in which a person could
check multiple racial identity boxes) and for "a
new racial compass." However, the compass in the
borrowed metaphor can "grow old," and, for many
biracial people, is "more sensitive"
and "must be calibrated more often." However,
Lewis does little to illustrate this concept in
the real world, where he instead recounts many
instances of people asking him (sometimes
elaborate) variations of "What are you?" By way
of answering, Lewis interviews other bi- and
multiracial people, examines statistics, recounts
his own experiences and offers up a new
definition of race ("a catch-all term referring
to a loosely defined population group"). Lewis is
more interested in finding different ways to look
for answers than in providing pat responses; all
of Lewis's interviewees come to different
conclusions about what they are and how they
forged their identities. Written in
conversational prose, Lewis's book is an
approachable and thoughtful meditation on
a controversial topic.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division
of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. -- From Publishers Weekly
Broadcast journalist Lewis looks at the
ever-shifting landscape of self-identification
among individuals of mixed racial heritage,
including himself. Focusing on the generational
differences in perceptions, Lewis observes that
older individuals of biracial heritage identify
primarily as black, while the younger generations
emphasize their biracial identity as primary, if
not exclusive, from black status. Lewis, whose
parents are of mixed racial heritage but have
always identified themselves as black, also
identified himself as black while growing up but
evolved into a biracial self-identity. From his own experience,
in a chameleon-like context, Lewis has been
identified as black, Latin, or Jewish, expanding
the dilemma for many blacks of mixed racial
heritage. He examines the substantial and
informative experiences of other multiracials,
including those mixtures outside the black-white
context. This is a most interesting read on
evolving notions of racial self-identification in America. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved -- From
Booklist
Television journalist Elliott Lewis weaves his
memoirs as a black-and-white biracial American
with the voices of dozens of multiracial people
who are challenging how we think and speak about race today.
"What are you?" This seemingly ordinary but
politically charged question has become a
touchstone for debate around race and ethnicity.
Now, more than ever, mixed race Americans are
calling themselves biracial and multiracial
rather than feeling forced to choose only one
race. Nearly seven million people checked
more than one racial category in the 2000 US
census, the first time in history Americans had
the option to mark more than one box.
With Fade, Lewis offers a comprehensive look at
the multiracial state of the union. Here he
speaks with dozens of individuals, tackling hot
button issues such as the often complicated lives
of multiracial people in communities of color,
interracial dating, transracial adoption, and the
birth of the multiracial movement. The author
also shares his own moving - and often humorous -
firsthand experiences with race, along with
intimate stories from those at the forefront
of nationwide efforts to formally recognize the multiracial population.
"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today!" Will Rogers
Monica Willyard, rhyami@xxxxxxxxx
Add rhyami to your Skype if you'd like to chat.
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