WeekEND Reading: Julie Lythcott-Haims on her new book, ‘REAL AMERICAN’
By Leslie Lindsay ‘Where are you from? No, where are you from, from?’ Julie Lythcott-Haims tackles race, self-love, how poetry helped unleash her voice, the unique structure of REAL AMERICAN–how the formatting was intentional, and so much more Searingly honest, raw memoir about what it’s like to be biracial in 1970s-today’s America. I tore through Lythcott-Haims’s memoir, REAL AMERICAN; this is such an important read, one everyone ought to take the time to read and reflect upon. In fact, after I finished, a barrage of emotions hit me and also, I began cataloging all my interactions with those of a race other than my own. In first grade, a gangly Black* girl with a head full colorful clips that rattled and clanged as she peered at me through the cracks in the bathroom stall caused me alarm. I told my mother, who was convinced the ‘bussing program’ was a problem. She wanted to have words with my teacher, but I assured her it wasn’t a problem. Also, in first grade, I was made math partners with …
Leslie A. Lindsay| Writer & Creative 