I’ve just completed a book that I want to say changed my life. As I hope every book I ever read changes my life, hopefully for the better. I constantly want to learn and absorb that which surrounds me. I like obscure art, jazz music, and books on civil rights. It only makes sense that this book has impacted me as it meets all three of these criteria. I don’t want to give much away but, the story focuses on James McBride, born of a Jewish mother and a Black father, and his navigation through life as a mixed man, and also the life of his mother, Ruth. It’s a book about love and understanding culture, color, and why people are the way they are. The way the two authors, James and his mother, tell about their lives is chronologically jumbled throughout the book only to mirror the way our thoughts work when bringing back memories. The book is raw, real and relatable as it details the truth of a man who pushed away his white mother in thinking he had nothing in common with her, only to learn they have very similar stories of grief, pain, and adversity. They both learn that God is the way to love and understanding. I hope that in reading it I’ve learned the same.
God is neither black nor white
God is the Color of Water