Tag Archives: #racialjustice

Racial Justice Reads

What I expect from the book that I will read which is “Ordinary Girls” is to in some way connect with not only the author, but the book, and understand it. When I read “La Otra” by Jaquira Diaz, I was able to connect with her because of the Spanish terms she used. Hearing an author say some of the terms or phrases you heard growing up and still hear, feels like you’re at home and safe, it feels like you’re reading something meant for you. I hope to connect to “Ordinary Girls” the same way I did with “La Otra.” As I watched this video, I noticed that each author has their own stories and their own struggles. They’ve all been through so much to get to where they are now, and listening to they’re powerful words in their book makes you want to know, what caused them to write about that? Why? When Jaquira Diaz read a page from Ordinary Girls, I was able to reminisce and remember when I was growing up and since I have curly hair, it would be referred as “bad hair” since it’s usually big and thick. These authors have the gift of impacting so many peoples lives in many good ways. They each have a different background, Meredith being an albino filipino transgender women, Kiese being a black man, and Jaquira being a Puerto Rican woman. In other words, people will be able to relate to them, one way or the other.

Racial Justice Reads

Throughout the video “Racial Justice Reads”, we are given excerpts of the books Fairest, Ordinary Girls, and Heavy by their respected authors.  All of the excerpts give insight and a taste of what each respected book would bring to the table. Something that stuck to me was the excerpt for Ordinary Girls, in which Jaquira Díaz, reads from the first chapter. The excerpt depicts the time Jaquira Díaz’s hair was cut short by the hands of her grandmother, Mercy, due to her having “bad hair” (9:22). The way Mercy treated Jaquira Díaz pissed me off and when Mercy blamed her bad hair on Jaquira Díaz’s father and his black family made me realize how lucky I am, coming from a Hispanic family I’ve never experienced. The book review I chose helped me gain further insight into Ordinary Girls and what Jaquira Díaz would go into later on in life. The reason I’m choosing to read Ordinary Girls is mostly because of my Hispanic background, I know ill be able to relate to this book because of it. When reading “La Otra” I already felt myself relating to Jaquira Díaz as my expectation and interest grew. I want to read about her uprising in a Hispanic household with a white mother, did she struggle to balance being Hispanic and American? Did her grandmother accept her later on in life? Something I’m expecting is to know how did Jaquira Díaz find her footing with her family and life in general, how did she overcome and figure who she is as a person, how did she grow?

Racial Justice Reads: Thoughts and post

  • I like how Meredith Talusan is praised by her grandmother in the prologue, but I don’t understand why the grandmother refers to herself as, “Not dark and ugly like me,” when comparing herself to her granddaughter.
  • I don’t like how Mercy treated Jaquira Díaz as less than because of her physical appearance, especially blaming her and her father for her looks.
  • I like that Kiese spoke about issues he wanted to overcome in his passage, specifically about wanting to take back what white people owed the black community, as well as wanting to fight them and not lose to them ever again.
  • I hadn’t ever thought about literary lineage before, so its interesting to hear the responses from the three authors about how it related to them.

My reactions are informed by my previewing actives due to the nature of their relationship towards the authors, and their pieces of writing. Such as the library assignment, which instructed me to write about a summary I chose, which relates to a book I decided to choose, and I picked Fairest. I feel like my reaction to Meredith Talusan’s prologue is filled with confusion, followed by questions regarding skin color, and I believe that reading Fairest will give me a better idea of what the author is trying to say. After I read, “La Otra,” “The Cover of my Face,” and “Quick Feet,” I found myself annotating to each text, hoping to discover more about the issues described in each story. These stories definitely gave me a better idea of what to expect from the book I chose, especially since I have no prior knowledge to go off of. Based on what I said so far, I expect this book to be filled with stories, pain, sorrow, dreams, and accomplishments.

I feel like these discussions and previewing readings set me up for more than I bargained for, which is great since I’m hoping to learn more about myself, whilst also understanding someone else’s experiences.

Racial Justice Reads: Kiese Laymon, Jaquira Díaz, Meredith Talusan. Dir. RC. Perf. Kiese Laymon, Jaquira Díaz, Meredith Talusan. Racial Justice Reads: Kiese Laymon, Jaquira Díaz, Meredith Talusan. Race Forward, 17 July 2020. Web. 18 Sept. 2021. <https://youtu.be/D4BQuha4jA4>.