book review: An Inconvenient Woman - The Extraordinary Life of Lillian Smith, The Southerner Who Defied Jim Crow America by Keri Leigh Merritt

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 4/5 

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC for review consideration via NetGalley! All opinions are my own.

I had not heard of Lillian Smith before reading this book. Some of this may be because her writings and activism occurred in the 1930s and 1940s—well before the peak of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, which we more often learn about. However, reading this also laid bare that I need to make a more concerted effort to dig up a true account of the Civil War and Reconstruction. This book not only provided a full background of Smith’s life’s work, but it also introduced many other authors from this era whose firsthand accounts I now want to read.

Smith was a cultured and privileged White Southern woman who spent her life speaking up about racism, fighting for integration, and championing social equality for all. She was very frank when speaking to other White people, promoting an open dialogue. She didn’t just say things were wrong and that everyone was suffering because of it; instead, she championed real-world, non-violent solutions.

She was well ahead of her time, doing things that often resulted in her being stigmatized, ostracized, and placed in physical danger. When she took over her father’s summer camp, she ensured it expanded its offerings to drama, writing, art, and modern dance. She also provided a progressive education by discussing and answering questions about racism, hypocrisy, and White supremacy. Lillian knew these topics were never broached with children, and she believed that without open and honest dialogue, hatred would prevail unchallenged.

Throughout the years, Lillian and her partner, Paula Snelling, held bi-racial gatherings at the camp on Old Screamer Mountain. This was one of the actions that made them most vulnerable to White rage, but like everything, Smith refused to back down from her beliefs. These parties and dinners were crucial in fostering racial reconciliation. They served as a safe place to talk, share ideas about strategy, and organize, bringing together some of the most brilliant Americans of the time.

Additionally, she and Paula founded a nationally known literary magazine that featured everything from poetry and essays to short stories and interviews, tackling topics ignored by mainstream journalism. With subscriptions peaking near 10,000, the magazine reached people throughout the U.S. to spark vital discussions. It was the only White-owned Southern magazine at the time to include writing by Black authors, as well as reviews by Black critics of White writing. They were also among the few publications actively seeking out and giving a platform to women writers. To build this community, she and Paula traveled throughout the region, talking to thousands of people whose stories ultimately made it into the magazine. Smith also wrote a number of books, including Strange Fruit, Killers of the Dream, and The Journey. While they were well-received, they also created intense turmoil and bans.

It’s sad to me how little has changed. Had a reader not known when this all took place, they might be surprised to learn it happened nearly 100 years ago. Some of the quotes could be peeled directly from today’s news pages:

“Every time poor Whites made even the modest of gains elite whites used censorship, oppression, violence, and fear to harden the racist color line. Whenever elite Whites worried about remaining in complete control, they simply had to portray to Black Americans as people who took things away.” 

And:

“We shall not be believed abroad while we daily kill the dream at home.” (From Vincent Sheean's review of Killers of the Dream, which was reprinted by Eleanor Roosevelt in her newspaper column).

Yet, the book is also encouraging and inspiring. It teaches us to be uncompromising in our beliefs, to push back incessantly against foot-dragging and the excuse that societal change is slow, and to give back something equal to or better than what has been taken away when a racist identity is stripped from those who carry it. Readers can take many of Smith’s methods for making connections and enacting creative change and implement them in the current time. “We must remember that demagogues fatten on the poor man’s vote and his loneliness, that they use the psychotic to do their dirty work, but they exist because we liberals let them exist. It is our caution, our lack of energy, our moral impotence and our awful, if unconscious, snobbery that makes demagoguery unafraid of liberalism.”

An Inconvenient Woman contained a great analysis, pulled together a mass of excerpts, and gave a vivid picture of Smith’s life. The only issue I had was there was a lot of repetition. It may have been advantageous to report it in a chronological manner. Because the book jumped back and forth in time, many quotes and moments were repeated multiple times in varying degrees and ways. Other than this minor note, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to learn about an individual who was so influential in many areas of education and equality, yet has been left out of the narrative. 

book review: The Lives of Immigrants and Refugees: Tales of Migration, Hope, Grief, and Finding Home in Nebraska edited by Matthew F. Bokovoy, Lisa Guill, Michelle Carr Hassler, Joy Castro, and Emira Ibrahimpašic

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 4/5

Thank you University of Nebraska Press for providing an ARC for review consideration via NetGalley! All opinions are my own.

My eyes and heart have been opened wider after reading The Lives of Immigrants and Refugees: Tales of Migration, Hope, Grief, and Finding Home in Nebraska. 

In this moving collection, thirty-one of the immigrants and refugees residing in Lincoln, Nebraska, share their journeys through personal essays. What I loved most was the lack of a rigid format; the contributors were allowed to write about what spoke most to their individual experiences, in their own voices. The editors who compiled the pieces are deeply embedded in the community, hosting monthly storytelling and writing workshops for two years to help the authors shape their narratives. For those who felt more comfortable speaking, their spoken words were carefully transcribed and transformed into print. 

The accounts come from a remarkably diverse group of individuals spanning many different countries, ages, and eras of arrival in the US. I learned so much from the first hand experiences of people who have survived political unrest, wartime, and constrained upward mobility. Yet, whether they were actively fleeing these harsh conditions or arrived through other circumstances, threads of hope, perseverance, and tenacity were always present. 

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning more about the world through authentic, personal accounts.

book review: Opening Goliath - Danger and Discovery in Caving by Cary J. Griffith

I had to hold my breath multiple times reading the true recounts of cave explorers in this book! So many tight spaces, zero visibilty, and death-defying decisions made during both underwater diving and subterranean crawling. I quickly realized I could never be a cave explorer!

During a 2016 vacation, I visited Cumberland Caverns in McMinville, Tennessee, where I took a walking tour and attended a bluegrass concert. While it was a unique experience, it also left me conflicted. Transforming caves into tourist attractions provides an accessible way for the public to experience them. However, I took issue with the permanent bathroom and kitchen built directly inside the cavern; the high visitor traffic and waste generated also felt in stark contrast to the pristine, natural space. This conflict between public tourism, open access to cave explorers, and natural preservation is an ongoing conversation. Cumberland Caverns is a privately owned show cave that commodifies the space for any anyone with a ticket, whereas Goliath Cave is public land managed by the state, yet completely gated off so the average person cannot enter. The book details the intense controversy over the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) stepping in to assume control of the newly mapped Goliath system, capturing the multi-layered question of who really owns a cave and who should have access to it. 

Growing up in Minnesota, I had no idea the state also had caves. So when I first heard about the caves under St. Paul, I wanted to learn more about them so I picked up this book, Opening Goliath, to learn more about the caves in the state. While I initially went in looking to hear more about the St. Paul caves, I actually ended up preferring the book's deep focus on the Goliath system itself. In fact, I think the book's momentum would have benefited from sticking exclusively to the central cast of characters around Goliath. The standalone St. Paul cave chapters felt out of place since that was the only major structural diversion the book took. If the author was determined to include the tragic St. Paul carbon monoxide story, it should have been interjected later where it made narrative sense -- specifically at the terrifying moment when the Goliath explorers decide to risk using a gas-powered generator deep inside the cave.

Despite those pacing detours, I found the core book to be exceptionally well-researched and engaging. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn more about regional caving, or anyone simply interested in tense, eerie real-life stories!