Monday, March 14, 2016

Microblog Mondays - Between the World and Me

I am caucasian--or as my daughter says "peach".
I have privilege, and I am very much aware of it.

I did not rage like people with black skin at the death of Treyvon Martin, but I did indeed rage.
I did not weep the way my friends with black skin wept at the deaths of Eric Garner and people too numerous to name, but I did indeed rage.

So when a friend suggested I read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, I bought it on Audible and waited.

Today I listened to it.

It blew my mind.

I felt so very many emotions.

Shame.
Discomfort.
Awe-struck.

This is a brilliant piece of work. It won numerous awards last year and deserved every one of them. It is not an easy read. It is not comfortable. But it is important.

I highly recommend it.

Now I ask--what books have you read that made you uncomfortable? Do you recommend them or not?

2 comments:

  1. Josh just read this, so we own it. I will have to give it a read. I'm trying to think of a book that made me uncomfortable. It's usually something like American Psycho that I would never recommend to another human being. I get more uncomfortable when, as the reader, I don't feel as if the author actually wants me as their audience.

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  2. I'm reading "Waking Up White" and it's very uncomfortable to read a book that turns the mirror on yourself.

    I totally recommend it.

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