Archive for September 2009
Quick Review: I’m Down – A Memoir
Mishna Wolff’s I’m Down starts with a sensational premise – white girl grows up in black neighborhood and tries to fit in. What was so very disappointing about this book was the author’s two-dimensional portrayal of African Americans. Her white father, doesn’t hold down a job, doesn’t feed his children, and sells weed – but it’s the black people who are portrayed as mean and shftless – the children ready to throw down and fight, or play the dozens at a moment’s notice.
The white folks who will be her saviors, have money, and drive to make the magic leap into upper-middle class lifestyles.
Yet, the author fails to acknowledge that the people who have let her down the most are white, her mother who never stood up for her, and her father, who never stood up for his family. At every turn from the cover photo to the inside flaps, we’re told this is supposed to be funny – but I’m still looking for the humor.
Sadly, My Mother Was Right. You Get What You Pay for
I want my money back.
What I thought I was getting has turned out not to be as advertised. It seems like years ago that I oh-so-naively sent more than $1,000 to Barack Obama’s campaign of hope and change. And many, many people whom I assumed were mean spirited – or just plain wrong – told me I had lost my mind. They called then-candidate Obama an empty suit, with lofty rhetoric. A short-term Senator, he was labeled, who wasn’t ready to govern.
