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They Were Her Property

Jun 3, 2022

They Were Her Property

Stephanie E Jones-Rogers

After that one person was elected president in 2016, I remember the pink pussy hats were out and many women across the nation took to the streets to protest his inauguration. Soon after it was revealed that almost half of all white women voted for that man. There was something not right here…

THEY WERE HER PROPERTY by Stephanie E Jones-Rogers will make your blood boil. History books and the media often try to let white women “off the hook” so to speak, think Scarlett O’Hara or the damsel in distress. They couldn’t REALLY know about the horror of slavery, right? That had nothing to do with them, it was all the men, right? In Jones-Rogers’ thoroughly researched book she just about slams the door on that harmful narrative. Written with incredible detail, she goes through wills, estate sales, birth and death records, newspaper archives, diaries, letters, congressional testimony and so much more to prove that white women who enslaved Black men, women and children were more than just complicit, but actively participated in and even found legal loopholes to gain financial independence and security. It was challenging to get through on many levels, I mean obviously its a book about slavery, so reading about the details of it would make anyone want to throw up, but it was also just relentlessly detailed. And I get why Jones-Rogers made that choice. It is really hard to argue against the facts here (although clearly many are trying). In giving us a fuller picture of how white women stood much to gain (and eventually lose because of its abolition) from slavery, its easy to connect the dots to our present moment in history and the dissection of white feminism. The final chapter lays down the hammer and brings this point home way better than I ever could here in a measly instagram post, but intersectional feminism is the only way forward. Thanks @histroywithher for hosting the buddy read. This is a book I will never forget.

#TheyWereHerProperty #NonFictionBooks #AmericanHistory #UnitedStatesHistory #HistoryBooks #IntersectionalFeminism #ReadMoreBooks #PlantsAndBooks #History #CaliforniaReaders #alwayslearning

They Were Her Property by Stephanie E Jones-Rogers

Thought I Go, Stunt Boy, Me Moth, Dear America, Passing, Pachinco, The Library Of The Unwritten, Everything Inside

Jun 3, 2022

Thought I Go, Stunt Boy, Me Moth, Dear America, Passing, Pachinco, The Library Of The Unwritten, Everything Inside

Just your standard #libraryappreciation post. I had some time to browse while picking up some holds the other week. Pictured are the books THOUGH I GO by Yz Chin (influenced by @ricetwicethrice) STUNTBOY by Jason Reynolds (I got a classroom copy but I want to read it myself) ME, MOTH by Amber McBride (influenced by @readwithemilyg), DEAR AMERICA by Jose Antonia Vargas (@mpjustreading), PASSING by Nella Larsen, PACHINKO (trying to reread before I start the series) THE LIBRARY OF THE UNWRITTEN by AJ Hackwith (@queer.subtext ) and finally EVERYTHING INSIDE by Edwidge Danticat (Forget who, but I’ve seen it around and have not read anything by Danticat yet)

#LibraryBooks #Libraries #UseYourLocalLibraries #Bookstagram #LosAngelesPublicLibrary #LibrariansAreTheBest #LibraryGlareDontCare

Thought I Go, Stunt Boy, Me Moth, Dear America, Passing, Pachinco, The Library Of The Unwritten, Everything Inside

Iron Widow

Jun 3, 2022

Iron Widow

Xiran Jay Zhao

“A primal scream of a novel” indeed. Was it perfect? No. Did I love it? Yes. It was deliciously weird and the author was definitely like “fuck it, I’m just gonna go for it.” And go for it they did. The action did not let up and it was just so random and weird I was completely buckled in for the ride. I see some adults kind of nitpicking at this, but this book is YA through and through, we are not the intended audience and that is fine. I absolutely love that this book exists for young people. A badass female in a polyamorous relationship instead of a boring love triangle? Why not? It was unexpected and fun. It gave me exactly what I needed and the ending made me want to throw the book across the room. That cliffhanger!! Book 2 is sure to be just as explosive and I am here for it. Thanks for rec @sarahs.thoughts.on.books it was perfect.

#IronWidow #PlantsAndBooks #ScienceFiction #FantasyBooks #Bookstagram #ReadersOfInstagram #CaliforniaReaders #Bookatagrammer #ReadMoreBooks #YA #QueerYA #youngadultbooks

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake

Jun 3, 2022

All That She Carried The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake

Tiya Miles

It is easy to see why Tiya Miles’ ALL THAT SHE CARRIED won the National Book Award for nonfiction. Although clearly an academic text, it is imbued with so much love and care I got lost in its pages easily. Miles’ writing is top notch, and pushes back against the thought that academic text should be completely objective. She accepts that there is no such thing, and why should there be? When talking about human lives, especially those that had their life taken due to the shackles of enslavement shouldn’t we do all we can to restore their record and honor them? They deserve that and so much more. This is a book filled with tenderness and such careful attention to detail. I think about it all the time. From the importance of handed down objects to the spirit of Black motherhood, this is a nonfiction book I highly recommend. I reflected on the quilt my grandma made for me. Something I cherish deeply, but now see in a completely new light of appreciation. The jewelry my father made when he was in San Francisco has also taken on new meaning.

Sidenote: While most of it is easily accessible, there were some parts that were a challenge to get through, so please keep in mind that yes this is a meticulously researched text, and do not let that deter you. It is unlike anything I have read, and I personally love that Miles dives DEEP into all topics that surround Ashley’s sack (she even tries to grow her own pecan plant and shows us detailed pics, it even comes with RECIPES!!!), but just know that going in so you can prep your brain a bit, because it WILL get stretched. I learned so much reading this, and have already found myself going back to reread certain passages.

[ID: The books ALL THAT SHE CARRIED: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles rests against plants outside.]

#AllThatSheCarried #TiyaMiles #NonFictionBooks #TeachHistory #AmericanHistory #NationalBookAward #GreatBooks #ImportantBooks #BooksEveryoneShouldRead #FamilyHeirlooms #20BooksByBlackWomen #ReadMoreBooks #Bookstagram #Bookstagrammer #plantsandbooks

All That She Carried The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles

What Storm, What Thunder

Jun 3, 2022

What Storm, What Thunder

Myriam JA Chancy

“We all know however, it is we will ourselves to move through this: afterward, the terrible thing never goes away. It dims but remains, lurking, an uninvited guest, a leech. The more you try to forget, the more it hangs on. One side of the scissor to the other, back and forth, conjoined, not able to leave. The feeling uniting a dream and pain lasts eternally, but you yearn for the return to a blank space, the in-between suspension between the two before they came to be jointed. You yearn for the sweet, open-eyed innocence, the comforting warmth of the blankness, to never become aware of the jointing itself, of then having to live in the after, always, remembering the before.”

Is it too early to name your best books of the year? This novel is deeply affecting. It forces you to slow down. Chronicling the lives of Haitian people affected by the 7.0 earthquake on January 12, 2010, it hits you right in the gut. Powerful and astute, nothing I say here will even come close to doing it justice. Myriam J.A. Chancy has created something truly special here, and I think everyone should read it.

[ID: The novel What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam JA Chancy, resting against green succulents. The novel features two hummingbirds on the cover. It half blue and half black]

#WhatStormWhatThunder #Novels #BestBooksOfTheYear #Haiti #Earthquakes #BooksAboutNaturalDisasters #AlwaysReading #ShortStories #InterconnectedStories #ImportantBooks #BooksEveryoneShouldRead #LibraryGlareDontCare #ReadMoreBooks #Succulents #plantsandbooks

What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam JA Chancy