Citizen: An American Lyric

By Claudia Rankine.

First off. This isn't exactly a book review. Because I can only give you bits and pieces of information and none of that would even begin to do justice to this book. But. I want to share this book. It is short and has large spaces on the page and pictures of artwork.

But it is intense, and every word on the page reads like spoken word. The words are thick and powerful. And sometimes you can miss the meaning. (Or maybe "missing" the meaning is because I live in the world as a white person?) I need to re-read this book a few times & stare at the art longer, pay more attention. Pay far more attention.

And my white/your white "struggles" with my own/your own white privilege/racism become irrelevant as you read. 

And Ms. Rankine uses "you" over and over. It is not "comfortable" nor should it be. The reader reads from her perspective (as a Black woman).

A real estate woman, who didn't fathom she could have made an appointment to show her house to you, spends much of the walk-through telling your friend, repeatedly, how comfortable she feels around her. Neither you nor your friend bothers to ask who is making her feel uncomfortable.

And if you would like an actual book review, since I really could not provide one (but really want to share this book either way), here you go. Maybe that's a cop-out, but if you read the book you might see what I mean.

Seriously. Read this book.

Yes, and this is how you are a citizen: Come on. Let it go. Move on.