One Thousand Words

I was lucky enough to win this book as part of a Good Read’s First Reads giveaway.

“The Rebellious Life of Mrs Rosa Parks,” by Jeanne Theoharris, is a look at the very full and very politically active life of Mrs Rosa Parks. Most people, when they think of Mrs Parks, think only of that defining moment on the bus, her refusal to stand. They remember the easy to digest story that she was a simple seamstress, that she was tired. But there was a lot more to her life, and her political action, than that.

Mrs Parks grew up in the very segregated south, where lynchings were common and where her daddy sometimes spent nights sitting up with a rifle across his lap just in case someone came to harass his family. She and her family members sometimes slept in their clothing just in case they had to make a quick getaway. She grew up to become a very active community organizer and to work with the NAACP for over a decade before her stance on the bus. Part of her NAACP work involved trying to press charges against the police for harassment, assault, and rape against Black members of the community. She also worked closely with two other young women who had refused to relinquish their seats to whites on the bus. When Mrs Parks refused to give up her seat she was not the first person, or the first woman, to do so. And her activism didn’t end there, either.

Mrs Parks continued working with the NAACP and MIA and other orgs both in Montgomery and then in Detroit, a move she had to make out of fear for her life (she was receiving harassing phone calls and messages and several other leaders, including Dr King, had had their homes bombed) and because nobody would hire her. In Detroit, she continued her political work. She marched, she spoke, she wrote letters, she gave interviews. She supported Black militant groups including Malcolm X, and worked to end Apartheid in South Africa.

The book touches also on the ways sexism and classism touched her life and her activism. Although male civil rights leaders referred to her as one of the “mothers of the movement,” she was often precluded from speaking while men were given the floor. She, and other working class leaders, struggled against the upper class leadership of the NAACP and other groups. Sinecures and paid positions offered to men where not offered to her, despite her experience and influence, leaving her in poverty for much of her life.

The book additionally gives a broader look at the political and social situation surrounding her refusal to move back and the ensuing bus boycot. It provides a very full look at a dark time in US history, as well as showing that much of the attitudes and opinions of then are still very much alive… and the tactics used to silence civil rights activists then are still being used now, even when they don’t make as much sense (for example, civil rights leaders were accused of being “communists,” during a time when being a communist was a career ending allegation. compare that to allegations that President Obama, pushing for a revamped insurance policy and greater social safety net, is also a communist.).

“The Rebellious Life of Mrs Rosa Parks” is scholarly without being dry, interesting and horrifying, and gives a great, full look at Mrs Parks’ life and legacy as well as a pretty awful time in US history. We need more books that unflinchingly examine the struggles against racism in the US, more books like this.

Mirrored from Thoughtful Consumption.

“Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance,” by Lois McMaster Bujold, is the latest installation of the Vorkosigan Saga. Is it really a saga now? Not just a series? Saga? Seriously? Well.

Bujold has a gift for writing interesting, complex female characters. Sometimes they are allowed to stand on their own like Ista (Paladin of Souls) or Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan (before she becomes a full time wife and mother) but more frequently they exist as interesting sexy puzzles for male protagonists to solve and conquer and collect and romance/marry. The latest book is just one more example of this.

Confirmed bachelor Ivan X. Vorpatril is drawn into sexy intrigue by professional gad-about-town and secret agent Byerly Vorrutyer and, on the spur of the moment, gets married to an illegal immigrant/galactic refugee despite knowing almost nothing about her other than her cup-size. OF COURSE they wind up falling in love (it’s a slapsticky romantic comedy, after all), and it’s an interesting look at both Ivan and By, characters who are pretty minor but interesting in the course of the series. It was really great seeing Ivan developed more. Bujold has long handled him well, presenting his public face as one of genial self-effacement and near-idiocy who sunnily manages to always come out on top. Of course, that’s the safest face to present, one of bumbling good will, when one is so very close in line to the Imperial Throne and with such politically savvy, and active, relatives as Miles Vorkosigan. There have long been hints and glimpses that Ivan isn’t as stupid as he pretends to be, and he gets to shine in this book. But Ivan’s time in the spotlight really seems to come at the expense of his wife and of his mother.

It’s long been hinted in the series that Lady Alys, Ivan’s mother, has a complicated relationship with her (deceased) husband, that she has mixed emotions about him and his death. And while it might otherwise be a normal thing to really dig into her relationship with her husband after her son’s marriage, now that he is a husband as well, the longer the series goes on the more I resent the lack of a woman focus. They’re just kind of there. They’re wives and mothers and they have large breasts that men stare at and they have long legs and long hair and they’re smart and capable but their physical appearance is just so important (which is so very odd considering how very ugly Miles is, but he gets a pass because he’s CLEVER and works hard) and Bujold is very happy to continue the presentation of man-as-sex-obsessed-beast.

Look. I like Ivan. I’m glad he got his own book. The fake marriage that oops is a real one has been done before, a lot, but it’s handled well. I’m interested in Ivan’s future career as a diplomat.

But I’m disappointed, too.

Bujold is really really great at making interesting and complex female supporting characters and I wish we’d get to see more of them promoted to main characters… or at least not delegated to secondary status as soon as they hook up with a dude (Cordelia, Ekaterina).

Mirrored from Thoughtful Consumption.

Let me get this out of the way before I say anything else.

If your objection to a book is OH GOSH THERE ARE HOMOSEXUAL PEOPLE  AND THEY ARE TREATED AS HUMAN BEINGS then I don’t want to know you. If you think including gay couples and persons of color in a book is “political correctness run amuck,” then you’re welcome to find the door. Not surprisingly, most negative reviews of “Everywhere Babies” by Susan Meyers, which portrays families that are not composed entirely of apparently white apparently straight people, pick just that to complain about.

“Everywhere Babies” is a rhyming book about babies. The text is gentle and lively and the babies are adorable and do a lot of different things (walk, run, eat, sleep, smile, cry). My 2.5 year old loves this book. He likes the text, he likes the rhythms of it, and he LOVES the babies. He identifies some of the babies (fat babies versus thin babies, for example; crying babies versus happy babies), he narrates what the babies are doing, he makes up stories about the babies. It’s a pretty solid hit with him, something he requests re-reads of.

As mentioned– as, I think, it’s known for– the book depicts same-sex couples parenting babies/children as well as just walking around, and there are black-looking babies, Hispanic-looking babies, Asian-looking babies, etc. along with the white-looking babies. There are also what appear to be mixed-race families. So if that’s something you’re looking for in a book, this one has it, and not in an OBVIOUS way. It’s not “Heather Has A Black Mommy And A White Daddy,” it’s not the SUBJECT of the book, it’s just there. Not commented on. Treated as normal. Another thing treated as normal is the idea that male-appearing people will do child care duties without female-appearing people around. It’s not all mommies and babies. There’s a lot of dads and grandpas taking babies on walks, feeding them, etc. So there’s a hearty dose of gender balance as well, which I haven’t seen touched on as much in reviews (except, again, someone complaining on amazon that OH MY GOSH BABIES NEED THEIR MOMMIES and shouldn’t leave the house before they’re a full year old. Say it with me. WHAT.)

In summary, it’s a good solid book with well written text, a high readability level, and lush artwork. We checked this out of the library but I’d rate it as a “buy” quality book, and one I’d give to other babies as a gift.

Mirrored from Thoughtful Consumption.