Literature and Poetry

Jo Freeman Reviews Vice President Kamala Harris: Her Path to the White House

Vice President Kamala Harris: Her Path to the White House

by Malaika Adero

New York: Sterling, 2021, 186 pages with 120 photos, $29.95 hardcover

If you like photos, you’ll love this book. It is packed with some of the most striking photos of KH and her life that I have seen.

While it’s mostly photos, there is some text. It has many of her own speeches, including her 2011 inaugural address as California Attorney General, her 2020 speech accepting the Democratic nomination, and several commencement addresses.

The author provides some fascinating tidbits of information. Where else can you read that Harris’ sorority sisters donated checks written for $19.08 to the Biden-Harris campaign, commemorating the founding of Alpha Kappa Alpha in 1908? The author says that the Biden Victory Fund received more than 11,000 such checks, from an AKA membership of 300,000.

There are also some holes. The author is not familiar with Berkeley in the Sixties, even though it was very important to Harris’ parents, who were Cal graduate students at that time. One striking photo shows her mother and a friend at what the caption says is a civil rights protest in Berkeley but without a specific date or place. Since I was a Cal undergraduate during those years, and very active in the civil rights movement, I recognized the scene. It was a small plaza at the southern entrance to the campus, where we put up our tables and passed out literature. The photo does not depict a civil rights protest, though the signs on the tables clearly indicate that it was late Spring of 1963 during or after the Birmingham demonstrations.

The book raises lots of questions. KH’s mother was a high caste Hindu but sent her daughters to a Christian church in nearby Oakland. Why? Both parents were active in the civil rights movement in Berkeley but KH chose electoral politics rather than radical politics. I well remember the split in California during KH’s formative years, with radicals often denouncing those who pursued elective office as sell-outs. Nor is there anything about her political mentors or her base. Electoral politics requires money, contacts and name recognition. Where did KH find these?

Given her international origins, one might expect her to study international affairs rather than go to a local law school and from there become a criminal prosecutor. “Her path to the White House” must have been very curvey.

KH’s parents separated when she was eight. She was raised by her mother. Nonetheless, one gets the impression that KH saw herself as fundamentally a Black woman. Although she visited her relatives in both India and Jamaica, this book paints those identities as more background than foreground. Having participated in electoral politics in Brooklyn, where we have people from everywhere, I know that African-Americans and West Indians don’t like each other. Yet KH chose Black as her primary identity.

This is a gorgeous book, well suited to be a graduation present for a young woman of any color. Buy it for the photos, not for the text.

Tags: african-americans, alpha kappa alpha, civil rights movement, electoral politics, inaugural address as california attorney general, west indians

Ferida's Wolff's Backyard; A Tree Hug; Life Carries On: Each day seems more of a meditation now than just a function

Ferida Wolff writes: "As our communities become more urbanized, the natural features around us tend to get pushed into the background and often go unnoticed. In Ferida’s Backyard, I look at the details of nature locally, from a neighborhood perspective, frequently from a backyard vantage point. It excites me to share what I see. An awareness of the natural connection can beautifully enhance our lives...I was invigorated by the tree hug and went along with a bounce in my step. It helped me to be more aware of what I was seeing now, even if I had seen it all before." more »

The Scout Report: Civil Rights Toolkit; Be All Write; Plants Are Cool, Too; NextStrain; Women'n Art; 500 Years of Women In British Art

With comforting and challenging) content, the Ilkley Literature Festival's Be All Write portal is a wonderful resource for literature enthusiasts. Dr. Chris Martine created and hosts the channel, bringing together his interests and expertise in biodiversity, botany, and ecology. OER TOOLKIT Educators looking for guidance as they expand the role of open educational resources (OERs) in their classrooms can turn to this resource. Open-source data projects provide valuable access to research, and NEXTSTRAIN harnesses this data to promote public health through its "real-time snapshot of evolving pathogens." The Feminist Art Coalition (FAC) brings together arts institutions rooted in social justice and structural change, working "to generate cultural awareness of feminist thought, experience, and action." Spanning the 16th through 20th centuries, 500 YEARS OF WOMEN IN BRITISH ART shows the evolution of how women were represented in art and art history, both as muses and makers. Created by Natasha Moura (an independent writer, art curator, and educator), Women'n Art is "committed to the role of women in the arts and culture." This involves highlighting women artists and depictions of women in art. more »

Julia Sneden: Lessons From a Lifetime in the Classroom: YOU AND I, ME, US, THEY, THEM, WHATEVER! (and “Mike and I’s wedding”)

Julia Sneden wrote: "Somehow we have forgotten how to teach grammar using simple, clear rules. When I was young, we were introduced to the difference between subjective and objective and possessive pronouns at an early age. I remember my fourth grade teacher parsing the subjective pronouns with us: “I, you, he-she-it; we, you, they,” and then demonstrating how and where to use them in a sentence. After a few days of that, there was literally no chance that any of us would begin a sentence using “Her and me went to the store,” because we were well aware that her and me weren’t subject material. more »

Jo Freeman Reviews The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage and Justice

Jo Freeman reviews: Every feminist should read this book. Spread out over four countries in western Asia, the Kurds, at different times, have tried to become a separate state, or to just be allowed to govern their own people, speak their own language and practice their own culture within existing states. Written as narrative non-fiction, this book reads like a novel, but is based on factual reportage. The author is an American descendant of a Kurdish immigrant who has written about this region for years. Her main subjects are four women in the YPJ – a Kurdish acronym for Women’s Protection Units. They are organized separately from the male YPG, though they carry the same weapons, get the same training and do the same jobs. Every feminist should read this book. So should those in the military, particularly those who think, or used to think, that women don’t belong on the front lines of war. more »