All the White Friends I Couldn't Keep

All the White Friends I Couldn't Keep

Adult nonfiction
"It wasn't easy for me to conclude, years later, that racism was
part of the cake of American Society as opposed to a fly nibbling on
the icing. It was like losing faith in God or having your heart so
broken that you are closed off to love. I didn't want to believe that
racism was alive and well in the country I loved--more deeply
entrenched, more pervasive than I'd ever imagined. But as they say,
the facts don't care about your feelings."
When Andre Henry, author of All the White Friends I Couldn't
Keep, was a little boy growing up in Georgia he was terrified that the
Rapture would happen in his time. (For those unfamiliar with the
concept, it's the grand finale of the end times Apocalypse, the part
where the true believers swoop up to heaven, leaving nothing more than
the clothes they'd been wearing, and everyone else is left to
basically Hell on earth.) Each night he prayed to be taken (die)
before that dire event. He didn't realize that "an apocalypse of
sorts" would happen in his lifetime.
All the White Friends I Couldn't Keep is about the much less
Biblical apocalypse he's been experiencing. It follows Henry's
transformation from little boy who believed in the America associated
with Lady Liberty and thought the only necessary revolution had been
fought in the 18th century to anti racism activist. It's also a story
of loss and grief. At each stage of his enlightenment Henry came into
conflict with white people whom he cared very deeply about who were
offended by his views and made it clear that to keep them in his life
he'd have to back down.
"...When I realized that the white people I loved would probably
never join the movement for Black Lives, I had to leave those
relationships, because movements aren't built with immovable people.
But with every friend I lost, I gained something: an apocalyptic
lesson, a piece of insight for nonviolent revolution, or a new-found
freedom to be my best Black self."
Candidly sharing his life stories, Henry explains why Blacks
need to drop the whites in their lives who engage in practices such as
gaslighting to keep intact the systems that preserve white privilege.
He shows why tired old incremental solutions such as diversity hires
won't work. Nothing short of revolution will bring into being the
necessary replacing of corrupt systems with more equitable and just
ones.
All the White Friends I couldn't Keep is definately a book for
these troubled times and a must read for anyone who is fed up with the
racial status quo and its defenders.
On a purrrsonal note, my weekend was much better than I thought it
would be. Eugene had invited me to go to camp with him. I decided to
take the risk rather than let my kidneys dictate my life. We had a
lovely time there. I only had to make one middle of the night
outhouse trip. That felt like a miracle. I didn't have to cook. We
had Subway subs for Saturday lunch and supper, McDonalds for Sunday
breakfast, and Burger King for lunch. We took circuitous routes both
ways and stopped at every yard sale and flea market we encountered.
It was a lovely, relaxing date weekend. (Jules)
I was happy when they got back safely. (Tobago).
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway


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