A timely interrogation of individual identities paving the way for collective action.
An eclectic series of inquiries questioning what it means to belong to a diaspora.
Sethi was born in Tanzania to immigrants from the Punjab, raised in Botswana, and later emigrated to America. With her Hindu name, adopted Bahá’í faith, and Black Muslim spouse, she declares that “every human in every hue who policed my identity taught me to doubt myself.” Sections entitled “Desi-ish,” “African-ish,” and “American-ish” explore her inner tussle, discussing topics such as colonialism and far-flung desi diasporas who labored for European empires. Sethi examines apartheid and oppression alongside “caste and racial hierarchies.” The work also cements her cultural learning of “distinctly African values” such as ubuntu and umoja. Sethi’s sharp gaze pierces America’s model minority myth and white-adjacent behaviors. She sees and names the immigrant’s invisibility and othering and describes universities as places of “compliance, not liberation.” The “Solidarities” and “Revolutions” sections gather steam, moving beyond personal reflection to express kinship with others on the margins. Sethi’s fractured thoughts and half-sentences mirror her unbound identities. Despite some platitudes and generalizations that feel naïve (“in beforetimes, muslims and hindus and sikhs were bound in oneness”), the unconventional combination of free verse, journal entries, and workbook activities supports active engagement. Sethi tackles thorny issues of anti-Blackness, Islamophobia, and white allyship that are often swept under the carpet. This learning resource is best read and reflected on in small doses.
A timely interrogation of individual identities paving the way for collective action. (works cited, index, affirmations) (Nonfiction. 16-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781949528053
Page Count: 264
Publisher: First Person Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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