The Color Complex

The Color Complex (Revised): The Politics of Skin Color in a New Millennium | Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson, Ph.D., Ronald Hall

so-so

I feel the same way about this book that I did Hair Story... both are really interesting but because of my own lived experiences, much of it seemed like a reiteration of things I've heard or noticed my entire life. Parts were very intriguing but over all much of this I am familiar with. If you've never explored this topic before then it will be a very enlightening read.

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TheNextBook

The Color Complex (Revised): The Politics of Skin Color in a New Millennium | Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson, Ph.D., Ronald Hall

I'm a little over a hundred pages into this book and a lot of what's been written I'm familiar with just based on my lived experiences. Interesting to see so much of the history laid out especially with the global context. Eager to see whats mentioned in this chapter. I feel like Black women's natural hair will always be a topic for discussion seeing how even now in 2017 the debate still rages about what is sint acceptable.

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TheNextBook

The Color Complex (Revised): The Politics of Skin Color in a New Millennium | Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson, Ph.D., Ronald Hall

... 😒

American History.

Leniverse Calling her a concubine seems like putting too fine a spin on it. 😒 7y

JSW “A slave who worked...” what the actual eff. And also what Leniverse said. Argh. Erg. 🔥 7y

TheNextBook @Leniverse @JSW that was really interesting because in New Orleans they had "Quadroon Balls" where they would auction off light skin slaves for the purpose of being concubine. They made a night of it. ? 7y

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moranadatter “Controversial”? WTF? I sincerely hope she meant controversial at the time. 7y

TheNextBook @moranadatter Nope she is referring to controversial now. Then people didnt care. But the Jefferson family has denied for decades that he had children with Sally. It isnt until recently that they began openly acknowledging the descendants. Even now a lot of people will refer to Sally as his "mistress" and not his slave. It's crazy. Historians just found a small room they think was hers attached to his room with, with no windows. 7y

moranadatter I remember hearing about DNA tests being done. About 20 years ago, I think. 7y

TheNextBook @moranadatter yep! I knew someone who was a descendant and they used to have family reunions with other descendants. They knew the truth. I find it funny that the Jefferson family tried to deny the Hemmings line but hey people in the US lie to themselves about this country's history all the time 7y

moranadatter True and some people lie about the present now too. 7y

DreesReads "Keeping" as euphemism. 7y

TheNextBook @moranadatter I'm in a constant of disbelief... 7y

TheNextBook @AudreyMorris "owning"seems too dark 7y

DreesReads @TheNextBook curious to see your review when you finish this book. It looks frustrating from this blurb. 7y

TheNextBook @AudreyMorris it's not. This quote taken by itself may seem jarring but it falls in line with the rest of the text. It's interesting and it's starting at the very beginning of how colorism began to form. Bringing up Sally and her children addressed the issue of the mother's place determined the childs freedom and the issue of owners raping slaves and keeping their own children as stock. 7y

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TheNextBook

The Color Complex (Revised): The Politics of Skin Color in a New Millennium | Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson, Ph.D., Ronald Hall

Time to begin this off my end of the year "must read" list.

Slynn71 I havent read this book in years. Do you plan on reading Passing when it comes out? 7y

TheNextBook @TamaraH71 this is my first time reading this! Tell me about this book Passing! I knew of one written years ago but I havent heard of a new one 7y

Slynn71 Im looking for the book right now. IIRC I saw it on Book Riot Insiders. It wasn‘t just about black people passing, it discussed all the ways minorities passed in a white society. I probably meant to bookmark it but i didn‘t. 7y

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TheNextBook @TamaraH71 ooohhh please let me know if you find it! I would love to read it. 7y

Slynn71 Found it! It just came out Oct 10. https://www.amazon.com/We-Wear-Mask-Stories-Passing/dp/0807078980 7y

TheNextBook @TamaraH71 yep! I'll be buying that! Thank you for sharing 7y

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TheNextBook

The Color Complex (Revised): The Politics of Skin Color in a New Millennium | Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson, Ph.D., Ronald Hall

Because @BlackandBookish and @BookishFeminist have me ordering new books in a search for social justice! I need to read to recommend and I have a lot of people who I would love to enlighten themselves!

Riveted_Reader_Melissa Add

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Broke_Girl_Reads If you haven't already, I'd also recommend

The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race

BookishFeminist There's more 👀 (also thanks for the reminder- I need to order the color complex!) and the two recommendations above are excellent. 👍🏼

Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education

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TheNextBook @Riveted_Reader_Melissa got that one! Thanks @Broke_Girl_Reads @BookishFeminist adding all! I recommend

Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul

BookishFeminist @TheNextBook On my shelf partially finished :) it's a great one! And also this one (this is just going to wind up like a tennis match that never ends 😂 but it'll be the best tennis match)

The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America

BlackandBookish Oh Invisible Man gave me the longest book hangover ever. But so worth the knowledge and the writing style. The New Jim Crow is on my shelf, unread. ✊🏾 8y

TheNextBook @BlackandBookish Invisible Man was amazing!!! Loved it! @BookishFeminist just adding to the list! Also this one. A great overview of African American history as a whole.

Hard Road to Freedom: The Story of African America

TheNextBook Wait I didnt have that Invisible Man but I just stacked it. Like a boss! 8y

BookishFeminist @TheNextBook Ooh stacking that one! That looks good. What about this one? I haven't finished it but what I've read is anger-inducing but really good:

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

BlackandBookish @BookishFeminist oh I really want to read that. 8y

Laalaleighh What's the best place to start? Something engaging and comprehensive but that I might be able to make it through without ugly crying. A gentle introduction before I throw myself into say, Underground Railroad and the like? I'm new to this and I'm so empathetic that reading about trauma done to others makes me physically sick sometimes. 8y

Laalaleighh @BlackandBookish @TheNextBook @BookishFeminist 8y

BookishFeminist @Laalaleighh I gotcha- it makes me physically sick too sometimes. Embarrassingly so. My recommendation is Ta-Nehisi Coates. He discusses the trauma but has a great realistic and empathetic approach that is powerful and reminiscent of James Baldwin- important and affecting. You may ugly cry but it's more moving than anything IMO.

Between the World and Me

BlackandBookish @Laalaleighh I agree that Coates is a great place to start. Nothing is really comprehensive, but anything about black culture will have some hard stuff to sit through. I read a book about hair and it started with slavery and some of the painful things that happened during that time. I wasn't really expecting it.

Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America

BookishFeminist @Laalaleighh Or if you want a quick funny intro to black cultural issues and many of the microaggressions embedded in our behaviors, this is a funny, engaging & informative book. Doesn't get into trauma but it's a nice little overview of how to basically not be a jerk to people but also learn the origins of problematic things. It's also super short & has hysterical illustrations!

Dear White People

BookishFeminist @BlackandBookish Oh that's been on my list! I've gotta grab that soon, especially with the Americanah readalong. So much cultural stuff about hair in that book. 😊 8y

TheNextBook @Laalaleighh I would start with the book I mentioned earlier as an intro to African American history. It's all encompassing and explains a lot about the political situation as well. @BlackandBookish I still need to get hair story! @BookishFeminist I need to get Dear White People! Did anyone see the movie. It was a mess. One of my favorite movies about race is still Higher Learning. I need to read my Coates. So much out there when you look! 8y

BookishFeminist @TheNextBook I didn't see the movie! How was it a mess?? LOL. The book is just a funny anecdotal thing- I loved its flow chart of "when it's okay to use the n-word" (NEVER and the number of white people I still see doing this is ridiculous ?) and it's chart on where current black stereotypes come from historically & why they're damaging. I know nothing about the movie aside from it existing. I'm gonna have to get Higher Learning! Sounds good. 8y

BlackandBookish @TheNextBook and @BookishFeminist Oh I saw the movie. It was ok. Oh. @Laalaleighh, A short history I loved was Voices of Black America. Super short, factoid book.

Voices of Black America: Mlk, Jr. to Jay-Z

TheNextBook @BlackandBookish stacking that! 8y

TheNextBook @BookishFeminist the movie was basically a play on race that culminates with hip hop party that is an excuse to wear black face! Give that every side eye you can imagine!!! 😒😞😫😕😳 Interesting but a mess! Watch Higher Learning 90's classic by Spike Lee 8y

Laalaleighh @BlackandBookish I'll start with Coates, Dear White People, Voices of Black America, and @TheNextBook hard road to freedom / Democracy in Blabk. Thank y'all!!! 8y

Laalaleighh Black* my autocorrect hates me 8y

TheNextBook @Laalaleighh No problem! 8y

MrBook Nice duo! 8y

Riveted_Reader_Melissa @BlackandBookish I hadn't heard of Hair Story, I'm definitely adding that one. It looks so interesting! 8y

Riveted_Reader_Melissa @Laalaleighh I'd recommend starting with The New Jim Crow too, I read that one this year, lots of facts so not overly tear inducing, but a lot of it was very topical today and relevant (at least to me) to all the current police abuse stories, etc that are currently in the news. It wasn't a hard read, and actually very good on audiobook too if you like to listen while commuting or anything else. The first real 'race' book I ever read, was.... 8y

Riveted_Reader_Melissa ... In HS, and it's a bit dated know, but still very powerful...especially when you consider how much still hasn't really changed....Black Like Me was about a while journalist who went 'undercover' more or less as a black man.. It sounds wrong on many levels, but it's definitely a good start on trying to put yourself into another's shoes. It was recently on sale in kindle and might still be...

Black Like Me: The Definitive Griffin Estate Edition, Corrected from Original Manuscripts

theshrinkette This is another good one.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

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BlackandBookish

The Color Complex (Revised): The Politics of Skin Color in a New Millennium | Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson, Ph.D., Ronald Hall

I was asked what books I would suggest (5-10) on Blackness. By no way exhaustive. Feel free to add more books in the comments. @Bi-Polar_Reader

BlackandBookish

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

BlackandBookish I read this in grad school. All the black women completely agreed with the content. All the white women told us we were nuts and overreacting.

Taking it Personally: Racism in the Classroom from Kindergarten to College

BlackandBookish

Women, Race, & Class

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BlackandBookish

Who's Afraid of Post-Blackness?: What It Means to Be Black Now

BlackandBookish

Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America

Stacy84 Great list. I would also add any book by Jesmyn Ward. I have Americanah, Color Complex, & Hair Story. It's many more I need to get. 8y

AThousandLives87 I have a question: do you feel that Women, Race, & Class is a bit outdated as it was published in 1983? Side question: how do you feel about Sister Citizen?

Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America

BlackandBookish @Bi-Polar_Reader I love Sister Citizen. I should have added it. Yes, definitely. What I like about older stuff by Angela Davis is the history. This is my opinion, but part of blackness, more so than whiteness, is the shared history. So knowing how the suffrage movement was racist give understanding to intersectionality, which is so important today. Same with Assata and understanding the Black Panther Movement.

Assata: An Autobiography

BlackandBookish Anything by Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and Terry McMillan. They have all dedicated their writing to the complexities of black womanhood. 8y

AThousandLives87 @BlackandBookish I have Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and at least 2 books by Terry McMillan so I think I'm good on fiction. But Assata sowed up in my Amazon related items...should have added it. I'm adding books to my Amazon wish list. Lmao 8y

BlackandBookish @Bi-Polar_Reader you're much more attuned than you think. ☺️ 8y

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BlackandBookish

The Color Complex (Revised): The Politics of Skin Color in a New Millennium | Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson, Ph.D., Ronald Hall

Yes. This chapter is just about color prejudice all over the world. How so many of these started thousands of years ago. And it doesn't include American Colorism- that gets its own chapter. I knew colorism was world wide, but I was taught it was due to colonization. That doesn't seem to always be the case...

LauraBeth This sounds interesting - says the white blond girl who married a Dominican, had a kid and now have people constantly ask if I'm her mom...🙄 8y

TheNextBook @LauraBeth I get the same thing. I had a kid in kindergarten ask me, in front of my really light skinned, if he was adopted. @BlackandBookish have you ever watched the documentaries Dark Girls or Light Girls. Both were really interesting. Focuses more on American Colorism. 8y

BlackandBookish @LauraBeth I get it too. My kids look very much like me but with light skin. That's when you know people aren't really looking at you. @TheNextBook I've seen Dark Girls and want to see Light Girls. I had my white husband watch with me. I wasn't surprised by the content but a complete eye opener for him. 8y

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TheNextBook @BlackandBookish I wasnt surprised by it either. My husband, also white which explains the really light skinned child, didnt watch this with me. But I feel like we covered a lot of these topics when I was pregnant and he is there when I talk to my son about race. I'm disgusted I have to even have these conversations with my son but I would rather him learn from me. 8y

TheNextBook @BlackandBookish I just saw what you said "thats when you know people aren't really looking at you" ???????? and it makes me so mad! We cant act like color doesnt matter when thats all some people see! Let me just stack this so I can educate people. 8y

LauraBeth @TheNextBook and @BlackandBookish - I haven't seen these documentaries - going to go look for them now 8y

BlackandBookish We also talk a lot about this, but when he heard it from women he had never met, seeing how these ideas hurt women all over, it really got him thinking. I'm more interested in the Light Girls one because I had to explain how even though people ALWAYS compliment our girls, what they are sometimes saying is "thank goodness you aren't dark." 8y

BlackandBookish @TheNextBook and @LauraBeth you might also want to check out the documentary Little White Lie about a mixed race girl raise not knowing she was half black and what she does to try and come to terms with it. 8y

LauraBeth Thanks for the recommendation @BlackandBookish - I'll definitely check it out 8y

TheNextBook @BlackandBookish yes! Seeing how many people it affects makes such a huge difference. I'll have to find that documentary. 8y

BookishFeminist This looks like a really fascinating book. I've been trying to learn more about colorism & this book and those documentaries look like great resources! It's infuriating when I see colorism in action so I can't imagine how you ladies feel to have your own children questioned. People can be the worst. @BlackandBookish @TheNextBook 8y

TheNextBook @BookishFeminist @laurabeth found the Little White Lie documentary on Netflix. I'll be watching tonight. Thanks for the rec @BlackandBookish 8y

BookishFeminist @TheNextBook Oo good call! Didn't even think to check Netflix. Gonna watch that soon, too. Seconded on the great rec @BlackandBookish 8y

AThousandLives87 So, I have an interesting proposal for you.... Name 5-10 books about Blackness (racial injustice, skin colour divides, police brutality...whatever topic) for a lower middle class white woman (that's me!) to read to educate herself further. I've read a lot of feminist literature...but now I need to make it more intersectional. 8y

BlackandBookish Ooo. @Bi-Polar_Reader I'll make it a new post😊 8y

TheNextBook @BlackandBookish this movie is too much. I cant believe the mom let her go through this and have this identity crisis. Then her dad's reaction... I can't 8y

BlackandBookish @TheNextBook It felt very selfish on her parents part. On anyone that knows her really. She is clearly brown. But I liked that she wanted to tell this story. 8y

TheNextBook @BlackandBookish she needed to tell this story!!! The way she talks about being raised white and the lack of racial awareness only to go to college and realize how much racial awareness is a part of being black 😳 My nephew's girlfriend has a little sister who is obviously biracial and the mom is trying pass her and the rumors are circulating and it makes me wonder how long the mom thinks she can get away with lie. Her dad is not her dad or... 8y

TheNextBook @BlackandBookish someone in the very recent past, passed and thise genes are coming up. She will have the same issues growing up if no one speaks for her. Selfish and damaging. 8y

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BlackandBookish

The Color Complex: The Politics of Skin Color in a New Millennium | Kathy Russell-Cole, Midge Wilson, Ronald E. Hall

Feeling better. Kids wanted waffles. Colorism fascinates me, as a dark skin women and as a mother with light-skinned, mixed girls. Super excited to dig into this. #noeggos #homemade

BookishFeminist This sounds really interesting- let us know what you think of it! 8y

BookishFeminist And those are tasty looking waffles! 🍽 8y

Smrloomis Ditto and ditto 👍🏽😀 8y

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