Directors as gatekeepers including Celine Sciamma think claiming colourblindness is progressive. France is a country where the national sense of humour is one of punching down, and the official line is that naming race is racist, which conveniently denies the reality of inequitable experience and keeps the … Read more
★★★
★★½
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★★★★★
While I didn’t connect with the Christian elements, Austin Channing Brown’s essays are concise and stunningly reaffirming in naming and cutting to the core of white supremacy and the structures of racism.
★★★★½
★★★★
The format of a page a day is superb, not overwhelming. The words are well-chosen, usefully balanced between not too common and not too obscure, but the paragraphs that are supposed to introduce the words in context are so awkward and unnatural.
A peripheral impression from this vital autobiography is of Clemantine’s sister Claire not seeing her as a full person in their experiences together, and how most adults don’t treat children with recognition, of having the universal capacity for pain and insecurity and dreams, and as equally … Read more
★★★★½
The parts that are memoir are effortlessly readable. Franchesca is open and self-deprecating about the lifelong process of learning. The activist content is as titled, mostly introductory. There are some odd moments, regarding possible obsessions. Overall, it’s relatable, light-hearted, and revealingly bold.
Above moments of distractingly patchy writing, this is an important work on Black British history and discourse on racism and oppressive structures in Britain and beyond.
★★★★½
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★★★★
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★★★★½
At the side of the central subjects, I identified so much with Brittney’s realisation of and being reconciled to her interpersonal skills and social aura.
