Since participating in an All Nations Impact group, and trying to understand more about racial reconciliation; I have been working on being more aware of events that trigger fear and hate so this title sparked my interest when both my son and daughter recommended it. My daughter is constantly on the lookout for young adult fiction for her kids in her quest to build and educate her kids -two birth daughters, one mixed race son, and one Ugandan son. She is preparing to be ahead of the game when intolerance and prejudice rear their ugly heads, directed at her sons...and it will come.
This story is really good. A 16 year old African American teenager from "the hood" who attends a mostly white school several miles away, and is juggling her two roles.. Starr from Garden Heights and Starr from Williamson High. She tries not to merge her two lives for fear of comments/retaliation from one side or the other, but her lives collide when she becomes the sole witness in the murder of her long time childhood friend Khalil. What a great portrait of what black people face in America: the conscious and unconscious bigoted thoughts and comments from friends; the envy/hate feelings of Starr as she sees her rich, white suburban friends with no clue where she has come from; the pointed comments from her neighborhood friends who feel she has abandoned them, and puts on a "better than you" front. Talk about pressure on a young teen who has lots of other pressures to face!
I enjoyed the family camaraderie, with expectations of high standards and grades for the kids, and the strict enforcements on mis-conduct with lots of grace mixed in. I appreciated that the author included an uncle who was a police officer because he added another dimension of balance in the story. It was also hopeful that Starr's father emerged from a prison sentence with a renewed sense of helping his community and living up to his potential--not often seen in ex-cons. The very emotional and frightening ending with Starr and her friends involved in a protest against the police over the verdict in the murder, was tense; but satisfying because they wanted to use their voices. Most of us shy away from activism because of fear or not believing our voice will count, or not even knowing what we really believe ---because there are so many adamant voices and opinions from all sides. Life and issues can get complicated for those of us who want to try to stay on the fence and not make waves!!!
Although my daughter forewarned me, my deepest struggle with the book was the language, and I am trying to evaluate why. Because I am a believer and had determined long ago that not cussing was a way to honor God, this deeply held view skewers my lenses when I am reading about a Christian family who gather to pray beautiful, heartfelt prayers...but are intensely cursing in the next scene. I asked one of my African American sisters if this was simply a black culture that I know nothing about. She responded that she has seen many varieties of this in black families: some determine not to use language in front of kids, some use full throttle all the time, and others refrain...but all in the context of Christian families. And I am sure that's true in white families too. So, once again I am challenged to love my brothers and sisters whose values differ from mine .... and ask myself if my non-activism causes others to doubt my Christian walk, just as I question theirs when they can't control their tongues??
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