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.

Enlighten Me

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Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto

In "Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto," renowned Marxian scholar and philosopher Kohei Saito offers a compelling argument against the relentless pursuit of economic growth that permeates contemporary capitalism. Saito’s thesis focuses on the concept of degrowth—a radical reduction in production and consumption that aligns with sustainable ecological limits rather than constant expansion. Pictured above is Kohei Saito Saito makes a significant and timely contribution to the ongoing conversation about sustainable living. Slow Down adopts an interdisciplinary approach, drawing insights from environmental science, economics, and social theory to present a clear and urgent depiction of the current ecological crisis. Saito critiques the widely accepted belief that economic growth equates to progress and questions the sustainability of existing global consumption patterns. He advocates for a fundamental reshaping of our economic systems to prioritize human well-being and ecologica...

Minding the Wealth Gap

As a Black investor and startup founder, Cliff Goins IV brings firsthand experience and sharp insight to one of America’s most urgent issues: the racial wealth gap. Having navigated the worlds of finance and entrepreneurship, Goins has seen up close the systemic disparities in wealth creation, access to capital, and asset management. From unequal opportunities in homeownership and education to persistent challenges in business funding and employment, the historical gaps are perpetuated in present-day practices. In "Minding the Wealth Gap," Goins skillfully blends data, lived experience, and the insights of experts to illuminate the deep-rooted economic disparities facing Black Americans. More importantly, he highlights the power of collective uplift. Through the voices of nine dynamic “gap closers,” Goins shows how real change happens when Black investors and leaders open doors for others. Each success “play” or strategy underscores the ripple effect of support. Selena Cu...

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