At last count of reviews of “My Father’s House” I found five more “ratings” than there are reviews on amazon.com. Somehow I doubt that five people would have bothered to rate without writing a review. Knowing that the accepting/rejecting algorythms operate in mysterious ways, I suspect some of the lonely “ratings” went with reviews that never got published. I know of one person who tried three times to get hers posted. The third time was the magic. But she was never notified that her first two had not been accepted. Obviously I treasure any reviews, so here’s my question. Did any of you write one that you don’t see posted? If so, I’d be most happy if you would keep trying
I just finished writing a review for Ijeoma Oluo’s “So You Want to Talk About Race.” Here it is.
Having read a plethora of books as a member of our “BLM Ally” group I didn’t expect another one could add much. But I was wrong. It was probably the chapters organization that made the difference, but I left it with my heart hurting and my mind brimming. And there were the specific lists – almost “to-do” — that helped as we search for actions we can take while we are confined by COVID-19 restrictions. No matter what reading you have already worked through you’ll find help presented here in an attractive writing style.
So what does that have to do with dinosaurs? Me — and my career.
In the process of writing — and editing a zillion times — My Father’s House, I have come to appreciate that I did lead a privileged life. I confess, I didn’t know it. I was too busy living it. I do remember being upset in High School when I read about Senator Bilbo, though, described in Wikipedia as “a filibusterer whose name was synonymous with white supremacy.” I wish I had saved the essay I wrote.
But that doesn’t make me a dinosaur. It’s my career that did that. I spent years teaching developmental and personality psychology. Now I’d have to rewrite the syllabus, realizing that it was all about white, probably Northern European folks. And the psychology of women? Not only did it not even include women of the top 1%, it also wasn’t about women of any color other than pale white.
Okay, that’s all you get. I’ll save the rest for later. But I hope you get the gist.
No, I don’t feel guilty. Just more aware and motivated.
monagustafsonaffinito 