Surviving the White Gaze

Surviving the White Gaze
Author: Rebecca Carroll
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2021-02-02
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1982174552

A stirring and powerful memoir from black cultural critic Rebecca Carroll recounting her painful struggle to overcome a completely white childhood in order to forge her identity as a black woman in America. Rebecca Carroll grew up the only black person in her rural New Hampshire town. Adopted at birth by artistic parents who believed in peace, love, and zero population growth, her early childhood was loving and idyllic—and yet she couldn’t articulate the deep sense of isolation she increasingly felt as she grew older. Everything changed when she met her birth mother, a young white woman, who consistently undermined Carroll’s sense of her blackness and self-esteem. Carroll’s childhood became harrowing, and her memoir explores the tension between the aching desire for her birth mother’s acceptance, the loyalty she feels toward her adoptive parents, and the search for her racial identity. As an adult, Carroll forged a path from city to city, struggling along the way with difficult boyfriends, depression, eating disorders, and excessive drinking. Ultimately, through the support of her chosen black family, she was able to heal. Intimate and illuminating, Surviving the White Gaze is a timely examination of racism and racial identity in America today, and an extraordinarily moving portrait of resilience.

Raceless

Raceless
Author: Georgina Lawton
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2021-02-23
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0063009498

A Bustle Most Anticipated Debut of the Year From The Guardian’s Georgina Lawton, a moving examination of how racial identity is constructed—through the author’s own journey grappling with secrets and stereotypes, having been raised by white parents with no explanation as to why she looked black. Raised in sleepy English suburbia, Georgina Lawton was no stranger to homogeneity. Her parents were white; her friends were white; there was no reason for her to think she was any different. But over time her brown skin and dark, kinky hair frequently made her a target of prejudice. In Georgina’s insistently color-blind household, with no acknowledgement of her difference or access to black culture, she lacked the coordinates to make sense of who she was. It was only after her father’s death that Georgina began to unravel the truth about her parentage—and the racial identity that she had been denied. She fled from England and the turmoil of her home-life to live in black communities around the globe—the US, the UK, Nicaragua, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, and Morocco—and to explore her identity and what it meant to live in and navigate the world as a black woman. She spoke with psychologists, sociologists, experts in genetic testing, and other individuals whose experiences of racial identity have been fraught or questioned in the hopes of understanding how, exactly, we identify ourselves. Raceless is an exploration of a fundamental question: what constitutes our sense of self? Drawing on her personal experiences and the stories of others, Lawton grapples with difficult questions about love, shame, grief, and prejudice, and reveals the nuanced and emotional journey of forming one’s identity.

Sugar in the Raw

Sugar in the Raw
Author: Rebecca Carroll
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2011-08-24
Genre: Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN: 0307560414

With raw candor, elicited by Rebecca Carroll's perceptive questioning, 15 black women between the ages of 11 and 18, from places as diverse as Brooklyn and Seattle, Alabama and Vermont, speak out about their inner and outer lives. What they say about identity, self-esteem, the role of race in their perceptions and treatment, personal values, and their hopes for the future is both enlightening and moving. 144 pp. National pubilcity. 15,000 print.

Surviving the White Gaze

Surviving the White Gaze
Author: Rebecca Carroll
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2021-02-02
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1982116323

An Esquire Best Book of 2021 A stirring and powerful memoir from black cultural critic Rebecca Carroll recounting her painful struggle to overcome a completely white childhood in order to forge her identity as a black woman in America. Rebecca Carroll grew up the only black person in her rural New Hampshire town. Adopted at birth by artistic parents who believed in peace, love, and zero population growth, her early childhood was loving and idyllic—and yet she couldn’t articulate the deep sense of isolation she increasingly felt as she grew older. Everything changed when she met her birth mother, a young white woman, who consistently undermined Carroll’s sense of her blackness and self-esteem. Carroll’s childhood became harrowing, and her memoir explores the tension between the aching desire for her birth mother’s acceptance, the loyalty she feels toward her adoptive parents, and the search for her racial identity. As an adult, Carroll forged a path from city to city, struggling along the way with difficult boyfriends, depression, eating disorders, and excessive drinking. Ultimately, through the support of her chosen black family, she was able to heal. Intimate and illuminating, Surviving the White Gaze is a timely examination of racism and racial identity in America today, and an extraordinarily moving portrait of resilience.

What White Parents Should Know about Transracial Adoption

What White Parents Should Know about Transracial Adoption
Author: Melissa Guida-Richards
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2021-10-05
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1623175828

The White Fragility for transracial adoption--practical tools for nurturing identity, unlearning white saviorism, and fixing the mistakes you don't even know you're making. If you're the white parent of a transracially or internationally adopted child, you may have been told that if you try your best and work your hardest, good intentions and a whole lot of love will be enough to give your child the security, attachment, and nurturing family life they need to thrive. The only problem? It's not true. What White Parents Should Know About Transracial Adoption breaks down the dynamics that frequently fly under the radar of the whitewashed, happily-ever-after adoption stories we hear so often. Written by Melissa Guida-Richards--a transracial, transnational, and late-discovery adoptee--this book unpacks the mistakes you don't even know you're making and gives you the real-life tools to be the best parent you can be, to the child you love more than anything. From original research, personal stories, and interviews with parents and adoptees, you'll learn: What parents wish they'd known before they adopted--and what kids wish their adoptive parents had done differently What white privilege, white saviorism, and toxic positivity are...and how they show up, even when you don't mean it How your child might feel and experience the world differently than you All about microaggressions, labeling, and implicit bias How to help your child connect with their cultural heritage through language, food, music, and clothing The 5 stages of grief for adoptive parents How to start tough conversations, work with defensiveness, and process guilt

What White Parents Should Know about Transracial Adoption--The Workbook

What White Parents Should Know about Transracial Adoption--The Workbook
Author: Melissa Guida-Richards
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2023-07-18
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1623178711

A companion to What White Parents Should Know about Transracial Adoption, this practical workbook guides readers to better understand transracial adoption and do the work of anti-racist, trauma-informed parenting. A must-read for white parents who have transracially adopted or prospective parents considering transracial adoption, this follow-up to What White Parents Should Know about Transracial Adoption offers a wealth of activities, templates, and questions for self-reflection. Melissa Guida-Richards, who learned at the age of 19 that she was adopted from Colombia as an infant, addresses the complexities of transracial adoption with insight, compassion, and the wisdom of lived experience. Through thought-provoking questions and activities, Guida-Richards guides you to: Consider the role of infant-mother bonding and understand developmental trauma in adoptees Understand the complex history of adoption; recognize illegal and unethical practices, such as trafficking operations and baby factories; and ask the important questions when working with adoption agencies Look more deeply at implicit bias, white saviorism, and white fragility Locate and utilize adoption-competent mental health care Offer culturally aligned education, community, and resources to your child Acknowledge the effects of racism and celebrate your child’s race and culture Throughout the workbook, Guida-Richards guides you to break free from toxic positivity, understand and drop defenses, engage in difficult conversations, and learn to listen to your child’s experience. Whether you are a potential parent considering a transracial adoption, a parent of an adopted child, or a therapist or advocate working with adoptive families, this practical and engaging workbook will help you “do the work” of furthering anti-racist, child-centered, and trauma-informed parenting.

Black Female Perspectives from Predominantly White Institutions

Black Female Perspectives from Predominantly White Institutions
Author: Karen McLean Dade
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2023-07-31
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1666944947

Black Female Perspectives from Predominantly White Institutions: Strategies for Wellbeing in White Spaces and Beyond supports Black women working in predominantly White spaces and further educates their institutions, non-Black counterparts, students, and families in developing an understanding of the challenges and needs of Black women professionals. In the face of world challenges, the authors contend that anti-Blackness continues to be an infectious pandemic that is devastating Black lives around the globe. Black women professionals, who are often at the forefront of racial and gender justice movements at their institutions, have been especially burdened. Such devotion is daunting and often drains the wellbeing of Black women. Institutions frequently ignore the cry of racial battle fatigue that Black employees, and members of communities of color, are experiencing on a large scale. This has become a serious health risk for many Black people, particularly Black women professionals. The authors assert that it is important to use “for us by us” concepts when addressing racial battle fatigue. Therefore, this book is framed using several African descent-centered knowledge systems. It offers strategies to enhance the wellbeing of Black women, such as ancestral wisdom, addressing anti-Blackness, identities and female life cycles, and planting seeds grounded in love. Although the book focuses on Black women, it is encouraged reading for all. It is believed that greater awareness will spark greater change within our society.

Complicit

Complicit
Author: Reah Bravo
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2024-06-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1982154764

A thoroughly researched and deeply personal examination of how women unintentionally condone workplace abuse in a post-#MeToo world—and what we can do to change things for the better. When Reah Bravo began working at the Charlie Rose show, the open secret of Rose’s conduct towards women didn’t deter her from pursuing a position she thought could launch her career in broadcast journalism. She considered herself more than capable of handling any unprofessional behavior that might come her way. But she soon learned a devastating truth: we don’t always react to abusive situations as we imagine we will. When we live in a society where many feminist ideals are mainstream and women hold positions of power, how is it possible that sexual misconduct remains so prevalent? When many employers mandate trainings to prevent harassment of all kinds, why is workplace abuse still so rampant? Weaving her own experience with those of other women and insights from experts, Bravo reveals the psychological and cultural forces that make us all enablers of a sexist and dangerous status quo. By bringing these hard truths into the light, Complicit charts an accessible path toward a better future.

The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be

The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be
Author: Shannon Gibney
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2024-01-09
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0593112016

A Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book Part memoir, part speculative fiction, this novel explores the often surreal experience of growing up as a mixed-Black transracial adoptee. Dream Country author Shannon Gibney returns with a new book woven from her true story of growing up as the adopted Black daughter of white parents and the fictional story of Erin Powers, the name Shannon was given at birth by the white woman who gave her up for adoption. At its core, the novel is a tale of two girls on two different timelines occasionally bridged by a mysterious portal and their shared search for a complete picture of their origins. Gibney surrounds that story with reproductions of her own adoption documents, letters, family photographs, interviews, medical records, and brief essays on the surreal absurdities of the adoptee experience. The end result is a remarkable portrait of an American experience rarely depicted in any form.

Keeping Family Secrets

Keeping Family Secrets
Author: Margaret K. Nelson
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2022-11-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1479815624

"Drawing on 160 published memoirs, this book explores the costs and benefits in the post-WWII period in the United States both for individuals and for families of keeping secrets about homosexuality, institutionalization of children with disabilities, unwed pregnancy, involvement in left-wing political activities, adoption, and Jewish ancestry"--