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Self-Portrait in Black and White

Unlearning Race

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Self-Portrait in Black and White

Written by: Thomas Chatterton Williams
Narrated by: Thomas Chatterton Williams
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About this listen

A meditation on race and identity from one of our most provocative cultural critics.

A reckoning with the way we choose to see and define ourselves, Self-Portrait in Black and White is the searching story of one American family's multigenerational transformation from what is called Black to what is assumed to be White. Thomas Chatterton Williams, the son of a "Black" father from the segregated South and a "White" mother from the West, spent his whole life believing the dictum that a single drop of "Black blood" makes a person Black. This was so fundamental to his self-conception that he'd never rigorously reflected on its foundations - but the shock of his experience as the Black father of two extremely White-looking children led him to question these long-held convictions.

It is not that he has come to believe that he is no longer Black or that his kids are White, Williams notes. It is that these categories cannot adequately capture either of them - or anyone else, for that matter. Beautifully written and bound to upset received opinions on race, Self-Portrait in Black and White is an urgent work for our time.

©2019 Thomas Chatterton Williams (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Biographies & Memoirs Social Sciences
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Good writing. Good Arguments. Fascinating Family

Parts 1 and 2 gave wonderful context and story and part 3 pushed my thinking in the way I hoped it would. Thomas's voice is pleasant and his writing style is engaging.

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An important voice

This is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read. Thomas writes and speaks directly from his heart.

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1 person found this helpful