I have started listening to audiobooks and have listened to so many over the last few months that I have been neglecting holding a book and immersing myself in the pages — so I am challenging myself to pick up books again.
The book I completed first was: I’m Still Here (Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness) by Austin Channing Brown.
What a thought-provoking read! Brown takes us on a walk through her life, from childhood to adulthood, sharing stories of encounters she has had with racial variances and how they have affected her. As a pastor, social activist, wife, sister, friend, and student she has felt the pangs of being a black woman. Sometimes the only black woman in a room. She shares the ache of not feeling supported by colleagues and the agony of awaiting her husband’s return home without incident. Brown shares how she found solace, even as a child, in the pews of the black church and comfort in the hand claps and foot stomps of the congregation.
This book was written as though it were a conversation amongst friends. It is light enough to not overwhelm, yet deep enough to challenge the reader to explore their own experiences, whether they or black OR white. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for anyone who is curious about the black experience in an effort to be a better human.