I've Known Rivers: Lives Of Loss And Liberation - Softcover

Lawrence-Lightfoot, Sara; Lawrence Lightfoot, Sara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0201581205 ISBN 13: 9780201581201

Publisher: Basic Books, 1994

Synopsis

A narrative of six different lives combines the interviews and dialogues of people experiencing change, scrutinizing their lives, reflecting on the consequences of their decisions, and preparing for the future. By the author of Balm in Gilead. Tour.

About this title

About the Author

Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot is Professor of Education at Harvard University.

From Kirkus Reviews

A refreshing and inspiring look into the lives of six successful African-Americans. Lawrence-Lightfoot (Sociology/Harvard; Balm in Gilead, 1988, etc.) is perturbed by some sociologists' portrayal of the black middle class as ``materialistic bourgeois assimilationists.'' To counter that perception, she richly portrays six African-Americans. In extended conversations with her, they detail their experiences: the often riveting events that have molded their feelings about race, their attempts to negotiate the crossing between black and white society; the lives they have created for themselves, both personally and professionally. Among these exemplary people are: Toni Schiesler, a female candidate for the Episcopal priesthood; Charles Ogletree, a criminal defense lawyer and professor at Harvard Law School; Felton Earls, an epidemiologist and psychiatrist at Harvard's School of Public Health; and Cheryle Wills, entrepreneur and owner of radio and television stations. While all have achieved great success in their fields, their backgrounds differ widely. Schiesler was the illegitimate daughter of a rape victim. Earls, on the other hand, was born into a solidly middle-class family that had deep roots in New Orleans. Yet a few themes do recur. One is the cultural obsession with skin color among middle-class blacks, and a caste system favoring lighter complexions. Another theme is their intense empathy for less fortunate African-Americans. All six claim to understand the rage that surfaced in L.A. in 1992--seeing the riots as symptomatic of racism in American society. ``It wasn't senseless...it was the decades of brutalization,'' says Wills. The book doesn't present a full picture of the black middle class, with its diverse approaches to politics and debates about assimilation--but it doesn't claim to. Lawrence-Lightfoot presents successful people determined to remember where they--individually and as a people--came from, and she brings her formidable storytelling gifts to their lives. (Book- of-the-Month Club main selection; author tour) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0201581205
• ISBN 13: 9780201581201
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 654