Book Review: Wandering in Strange Lands

Editor's Note: The following review was originally published in Portland Book Review

Morgan Jerkins

As more Americans develop a heightened interest in genealogy and ancestry, Morgan Jerkins’ latest release may inspire others to go beyond the cursory DNA service. The complexity of Black identity takes center stage in Wandering in Strange Lands: A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots. This book may serve as a guide for urbanized Black Americans seeking to align their Northern family backgrounds with their long-abandoned Southern roots. It’s a heartening read for anyone who is on the path to uncovering buried stories of the past.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Jerkins travels to her family’s ancestral homes in Georgia, South Carolina, and Louisiana, talking to residents and gathering oral history, as she embarks on a very personal journey toward a more complete understanding of her people’s history. Jerkins invites us to witness deep introspection in interrogating the meaning of Blackness, how identity is both systemic and personal. At times, the book reads like an instructional volume dedicated to culturally competent anthropological fieldwork.

Jerkins describes her efforts to ensure that she’s entering and engaging communities with respect and reverence. She demystifies spiritual beliefs in magic, “roots,” and age-old sources of certain superstitions. There were constant reminders of how Black people nurtured collective resistance by building community and cultivating joy despite oppression, disenfranchisement, and prejudice. Most of the time, the book evokes the weight of intergenerational trauma, as Jerkins wrestles with uncomfortable truths about racial stratification in an America mired in the legacy of White supremacy.

Medicine Wheel for the Planet

Jennifer Grenz, PhD Working toward ecological healing requires awareness of how Indigenous ancestral knowledge and living ways can complement Western scientific approaches to environmental restoration and protection practices. Dr. Jennifer Grenz (Nlaxa’pamux mixed ancestry) worked for more than two decades as a field researcher and practitioner for environmental nonprofit organizations, where she worked with different levels of government, including First Nations in Canada. "Medicine Wheel for the Planet" compiles Grenz’s most potent realizations about the lack of forward movement in addressing an impending ecological catastrophe. A warming climate impacts not only human lives but also the natural balance that relies on reciprocal relationships rooted in deep connections to the land. She uses the metaphor of the four directions of the Indigenous “medicine wheel” to invite openness to Indigenous teachings, letting go of colonial narratives, merging lessons f...

Memento - Embracing the Darkness

Dennis "Dizzy" Doan Stories about overcoming and persevering through family dysfunction, poverty, and mental health challenges offer hope and the promise of better days. Dennis “Dizzy” Doan’s memoir Memento: Embracing the Darkness is one such story, with the added complexity of being raised in an immigrant Vietnamese family. Doan’s parents dealt with the mental and emotional aftermath of war, which forcibly uprooted them from their homeland. In the United States, they struggled to create a safe and stable life for their two sons. Doan shares his journey of finding himself, his craft, and eventually a successful tattoo business in Southern California despite personal strife and run-ins with the law. Doan is best known for developing the aesthetic language to combat anti-Asian hate that erupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. His art series titled “Model Minority” went viral, sparking conversation about Asian American identities and harmful stereotypes. In Memento, Doan showcase...

Enlighten Me

Editor's Note: This review was originally published in Los Angeles Book Review . Author Minh Lê Standing up for oneself seems like doing the right thing. Binh did just that in the face of a racist school bully who was poking fun at his Asian heritage. But physically assaulting another student goes against school policy, and it was Binh who got in trouble. Binh shares a silent retreat with his family and younger siblings. Along with other children, he learns about stories from the previous lives of the Buddha. The stories are interesting, but for Binh, it is difficult to sit still and clear his mind when he misses his Gameboy. While he struggles with silence, he learns important lessons about friendship, community, and being present. In the graphic novel "Enlighten Me," award-winning author Minh Lê and bestselling illustrator Chan Chau tell the story of a boy who gains a better understanding of himself as he works on quieting the mind and reflecting on dharma. Lê and Ch...

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