Colors of Influence Reviews

The Rev. Dr. Sequola Dawson delivers a bold and necessary intervention in her critique of Black Church funeral practices. Identifying as an “earth theologian” and “bereavement minister,” Dawson advocates for environmentally conscious “green funerals” that honor both God’s covenant with the faithful and our collective responsibility to steward the land. Her arguments are firmly anchored in ecclesial training, environmental research, intimate knowledge of the Black community, and practical experience with parishioners. (Pictured above is the author) I am a non-Black person of color interested in nature-based burial practices. I approach The Green Funeral: Honoring the Environment While Beautifying Funeral Practices  with awareness of my social location and the limitations of my perspective on Black traditions and experiences. What makes it particularly compelling is Dawson’s unvarnished perspective on the Black Church. She doesn’t shy away from challenging long-held beliefs and a...

Gabrielle Felder’s The Five Blessings of Ifa is a profound exploration of Ifa, a 10,000-year-old spiritual tradition practiced in modern-day Nigeria and Benin. Felder chronicles her lifelong exploration of various spiritual traditions, including her departure from her family’s traditional Christian heritage. Leveraging her natural science background, Felder embarks on a deeply personal quest into spirituality as an apprentice to an Ifa elder. She offers her evolving understanding of the complex divination system and wisdom tradition. Approaching the book as a non-Black reader, I was drawn to its exploration of nature-centric spiritual paths. As a Filipino American on a decolonial journey, I’ve been particularly curious about how other people of color from different diasporic generations engage with their lineages, especially when living away from their ancestral lands. I am grateful for Felder’s earnest sharing of her journey through various African traditional and diasporic religi...

Martheaus Perkins’ The Grace of Black Mothers is a powerful collection of verse that illuminates the resilience, sacrifice, and fierce love of Black mothers, aunties, and grandmothers. Through intimate portraits rendered in poetry, Perkins captures the weight of systemic racism, misogyny, and poverty. However, he also reveals the transformative strength of maternal devotion that sustains families and communities across generations. Perkins demonstrates a remarkable range through an inventive voice, style, and form that weaves together multiple cultural layers—locality, generation, and gender. From Houston to Center, the poet depicts the labor of Black motherhood in a Southern state. Perkins traverses devastating terrain, from lamentations for grieving children lost to racist violence, to celebrations of everyday generosity and selflessness. These poems capture both unimaginable sorrow and unbending grace, evoking a strong sense of respect and reverence for Black women. Perkins dem...

Eddie had never been away from his mom and dad, so he was understandably anxious about spending several weeks living with his grandparents at the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota during the summer. Away from the comforts of the city, Eddie began to learn how his grandparents managed the farm and the surrounding land. After his grandpa gifted him a set of “bone horses,” he started to appreciate the rhythm of rural life with his Indigenous elders. He began to understand the stories his grandparents shared. Although they primarily spoke English, they also knew the Dakota language. Each task on the farm felt like a ceremony: from caring for Grandpa’s beloved horse, Buck, to gathering worms for fishing bait. In the chapter book The Summer of the Bone Horses , Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve tells the story of her brother’s summer away from home in 1944, when he lived with their maternal grandparents on a reservation. Through a collaboration with Indigenous artist Steph Littlebird, the bo...

Anjali Rao’s Yoga as Embodied Resistance  is an invitation to pause and look beneath the surface of a practice that, for many, has become synonymous with physical postures and wellness culture. She reminds us that yoga carries with it centuries of history, shaped by social, political, and spiritual forces that are often invisible to modern practitioners. Drawing on Vedic texts and Brahmanic traditions, Rao traces how hierarchies of class and gender were woven into yoga’s foundations. For instance, the practice was initially reserved for the male Brahmin class, and women and lower castes were excluded. These problematic aspects manifest in modern yoga, with its entanglements with capitalism, commodification, cultural appropriation, and Hindu ethnonationalism. For those seeking a practice intentionally grounded in justice, spirituality, and authenticity, this book is a must-read. Rao carefully reminds us that asana yoga is just one facet of a much richer, more complex tradition, a...

Ruby Bridges, who made history at age six as the first Black child to attend an all-white school in the segregated South, stands as an enduring American heroine. The civil rights icon shares a heartfelt story of reconnecting with her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Barbara Henry, who courageously taught Ruby at William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana. The narrative moves from Bridges’ childhood memory of missing Mrs. Henry in her second-grade class to their poignant reunion 35 years later. The fight for civil rights in the United States has been defined by alienation, violence, and immense sacrifice before progressing toward justice. Black families and children bore great hardships to pave the way for the integration of public schools. Ruby Bridges: A Talk with My Teacher serves as a powerful reminder to both children and adults about the transformative power of connection, empathy, and understanding. Written by Bridges herself, the book offers a unique perspective on racial anim...

The assault on the civil rights, humanity, and dignity of migrants – particularly those who are low-income people of color – is at a fever pitch. High-profile cases bring to light the egregious overreach of immigration enforcement in undermining the rule of law. As we witness the unfolding terror, it becomes increasingly urgent to understand the roots of the racist criminal justice system. Historian César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández writes a retrospective of how the law was weaponized against immigrants during the first Trump administration, citing criminality and lawlessness as the basis for violating the civil rights of people in the United States. Through the stories of newcomers like José Inéz García Zárate, 21 Savage, Sandra Castañeda, and others, García Hernández displays the flaws, inconsistencies, outright cruelty, and vindictiveness in the exploitation of policies and enforcement actions. The book offers a powerful critique of the prejudices embedded in defining crimina...