Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada

by Lawrence Hill

Lawrence Hill's remarkable novel, Any Known Blood, amulti-generational story about a Canadian man of mixed race, was met withcritical acclaim and it marked the emergence of a powerful new voice in Canadianwriting. Now Hill, himself a child of a black father and white mother, brings usBLACK BERRY, SWEET JUICE: On Being Black and White in Canada, aprovocative and unprecedented look at a timely and engrossing topic.

In BLACK BERRY, SWEET JUICE, Hill movingly reveals his struggleto understand his own personal and racial identity. Raised by human rightsactivist parents in a predominantly white Ontario suburb, he is imbued withlingering memories and offers a unique perspective. In a satirical yet serioustone, Hill describes the ambiguity involved in searching for his identity - anespecially complex and difficult journey in a country that prefers to see him asneither black nor white.

Interspersed with slices of his personal experiences, fascinating familyhistory and the experiences of thirty-six other Canadians of mixed raceinterviewed for this book, BLACK BERRY, SWEET JUICE also examinescontemporary racial issues in Canadian society. Hill explores the terms used todescribe children of mixed race, the unrelenting hostility towards mix-race couples and the real meaning of the black Canadianexperience. It arrives at a critical time when, in the highly publicized andcontroversial case of Elijah Van de Perre, the son of a white mother and blackfather in British Columbia, the Supreme Court of Canada has just granted custodyto Elijah's mother, Kimberly Van de Perre.

A reflective, sensitive and often humourous book, BLACK BERRY, SWEET JUICEis a thought provoking discourse on the current status of race relations inCanada and it's a fascinating and important read for us all.

Genres: Nonfiction, Canada, Memoir, Race, History, Social Justice, Biography Memoir

224 pages, Hardcover

First published August 23, 2001

About the author

Hill is the author of ten books of fiction and non-fiction. In 2005, he won his first literary honour: a National Magazine Award for the article “Is Africa’s Pain Black America’s Burden?” published in The Walrus. His first two novels were Some Great Thing and Any Known Blood, and his first non-fiction work to attract national attention was the memoir Black Berry, Sweet Juice: On Being Black and White in Canada. But it was his third novel, The Book of Negroes (HarperCollins Canada, 2007) — published in some countries as Someone Knows My Name and in French as Aminata — that attracted widespread attention in Canada and other countries.

Lawrence Hill’s non-fiction book, Blood: The Stuff of Life was published in September 2013 by House of Anansi Press. Blood is a personal consideration of the physical, social, cultural and psychological aspects of blood, and how it defines, unites and divides us. Hill drew from the book to deliver the 2013 Massey Lectures across Canada.

In 2013, Hill published the essay Dear Sir, I Intend to Burn Your Book: An Anatomy of a Book Burning (University of Alberta Press).

His fourth novel, The Illegal, was published by HarperCollins Canada in 2015 and by WW Norton in the USA in 2016.

Hill is currently writing a new novel and a children’s book, and co-writing a television miniseries adaptation of The Illegal for Conquering Lion Pictures. Hill is a professor of creative writing at the University of Guelph, in Ontario.

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"My father's relatives sometimes said, 'The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice'. But my father bombed the pious saying to smithereens with his own sarcastic version:'The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice-but if you get too black, it ain't no use'. He turned self-affirmation on its head with this bittersweet reminder of the hopelessness of being black in a society that doesn't love-or even like-black people."

Lawrence Hill begins this book with personal stories about how his black father and white mother met and married, and what it was like for him growing up in an otherwise entirely white Toronto suburb. But Hill looks beyond the personal, sharing his coast-to-coast interviews with Canadians of black and white parentage, delving into provocative and fascinating subjects. Courageous , sensitive and often humorous, Black Berry, Sweet Juice will enrich the way Canadians discuss matters of race and racial identity.

"Through sincere feeling, a generous attitude, strong narrative and well-crafted prose-some really superb writing-Hill convinced Canadians that race is a topic we can tackle."
-THE GAZETTE (Montreal)
"Full of pointed, poignant and powerful observations." - The Globe and Mail

"This sophisticated and exquisite description of the identity struggles faced by mixed-race people from coast to coast is a must-read. Fascinating, provocative, gripping."
-CONSTANCE BACKHOUSE, author of Colour-Coded:A Legal History of Racism in Canada, 1900-1950

Reading this book was akin to having a conversation with Lawrence Hill, who was (and remains) one of my favourite Canadian authors. I highly recommend this well written book.
5 stars

[Sharanja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Race is never a really straightforward issue, especially if you've grown up in Canada. It sometimes seems like this country does everything it can to not talk about race. How many times have you heard the words "I don't see color" from the people around you? That's nice...if race doesn't matter to you. But it does matter. And it matters to a lot of people. Especially when how well we are treated in society is in direct correlation with the melanin in our skin.

But this is where it gets really complicated. How does race affect one when your parents are from different races? What if you are both black and white? How do you construct your racial identity then? Are you black? Or depending the lightness of your skin, are you white? Then again, you might be neither and just "mixed"?

These are questions that Lawrence Hill attempts to answer in his novel "Black Berry, Sweet Juice". Hill examines the issue of being mixed race person living in Canada, and what role racial issues have in constructing an individual's identity.

I liked that Hill included stories from his own family's history to illustrate the complexities of being mixed. Hill's parents were involved in an interracial relationship during a time in U.S history in which blacks and whites couldn't even eat at the same restaurant together. They fled to Canada to start a family without the racism of their home country.These stories added something personal to a topic that is already interesting enough. There is an abundance of books on racism in the United States, but not a lot in regards to its neighbor to the north.

[Yasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent book by Lawrence Hill. He has a wonderful way of being fuuny, poigant and moving. In this book raises very interesting insight into what it means to be black and biracial in Canada. Another look at the over polite (one way of looking at it) hunky dory Canada, where the ravages of slavery lingered and the Klan rode around not just in the prairies and segregation and discrimation was very much alive and real in Canada. In fact racial discrimation has not gone away with the passages of time. A must read for anyone interested in all aspects of Canadian history past, present and future.

[Mj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part memoir, part essays and loosely integrated. Hill writes chapters on various topics related to what it means to be biracial. He interviews 34 biracial people, both male and female, children of black and white parents (a mixture of black male and white female and visa versa); in addition, to nine other people (seven black and two white) whose experiences and insights Hill was interested in learning more about. Most were adults from across Canada ranging in age from eighteen to sixty-one. He also interviews a number of his own family members. All but two people agreed that their interviews could be on the record. Hill provided information from interviews but used pseudonyms to protect privacy.

The views of those interviewed are disparate. The uniqueness with how people respond is quite amazing. Some identify, as black; others as white and some seem to give no thought whatsoever to identifying as white or black. How people identify themselves and what race they see themselves as, seems to be very personal and individualistic. No specific way is the “right” way as Hill regularly points out.

I particularly enjoyed Hill’s memoir portion of the book - learning about his background, his family and his personal thoughts about growing up and being bi-racial in Canada. There was a fair amount of history about Canada, the 60’s. I learned about things that I knew nothing about - for example: that here was a large Ku Klux Klan contingent in Ontario.

In terms of the interviews and analysis, Hill was very analytical. It is clear that he has given a lot of thought to what it means to be a child of a black parent and a white parent in Canada. He did not give Canadians any kudos or passes in terms of their racism. Rather he writes that he and many others experienced racism and racist incidents in Canada and he really highlighted Canadians’ Pollyanish sense and their delusion that racism didn’t and doesn't exist in Canada. Delusion and Polyannish are my choice of words, not Hill’s; but I think they best convey Canada’s naivety and denial that racism doesn’t exist in the Canada that Hill wrote about. That Canadians seem to be in avoidance about even discussing the issue of racism in Canada is a strong point of view that Hill puts forward and supports with many specific examples.

Hill’s section on bi-racial peoples’ self-identification and white people’s constant wishing to categorize how many parts or what percentage of black that bi-racial people are is illuminating and very much on point. He uses lots of information and references to highlight his message and his use of tongue-in-cheek comments and attitude further strengthen his hypotheses that social constructs are the driving forces behind these attempts to label and categorize people.


Chapter Headings

Introduction

Part One Family Matters
You Are
I Wouldn’t Have Time to Educate Her
Don Mills, 1960’s
Allah’s Blessing
The Same Place as Him

Part Two Border Crossings
Hair Issues
What Are You Doing Here?
But for the Interference….with His Arrangement
No Negroes Here

Part Three Sticks and Stones
The Question
The N-Word
Forty-Eight Parts White
I Was Here Before the Klan!

Conclusion: Say It Ain’t So
Acknowledgements
Further Reading

Quotes and Comments of Interest

P. 190 “I can never help thinking how ironic it is that Black History Month is the shortest month of the year. Twenty eight cold days. Damn.”

P. 232 “The point is that every incident of racism diminishes us all. It diminishes the racist, the target of the attack and all of us in the human family, regardless of our race. If our neighbour has been attacked, then so have we.

My sister and I are many things. Human beings. Son and daughter. Parents. Canadians. Writers. Decent cooks, if I say so myself. We also happen to be black. Because we say we are. Because we identify with this part of our ancestry. Who’s going to say it ain’t so?
Note: Written in the present tense because Lawrence’s sister Karen was alive when this book was written.

Per Lawrence Hill on P. 200 Let me quote briefly from ‘Who is Black? One Nation’s Definition’ by F. James Davis “Genes are randomly distributed among individuals……Having one or more black ancestors does not prove that an individual has some negroid traits or can transmit genes from African forebears. The widely held belief is that an individual’s racial traits and genetic carriers are necessarily in direct proportion to the person’s fraction of African black ancestry. Some persons with three-eighths or even one-half African lineage have been known to pass as white, presumably in cases in which the number of ‘negroid genes’ was much less than the proportion of African ancestry.”

Per Lawrence Hill “Race, my friends, is a social construct. Our obsession with mulattoes, quadroons, and octoroons has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with society.

I am not sure why people have gone to all kinds of linguistic troubles over the years. Traditionally, if you were known to have any black ancestors, you were simply considered black. Just ask any person of any shade of blackness who tried to go to a white school, live in a white neighbourhood, argue with a white person, eat in a white restaurant, or excuse himself from slavery.

Hill uses the Indian Act and all its rules and regulations about who is a status Indian to illustrate that there is no scientific formulae to calculate how black or how indigenous someone is, and also that it isn’t really even important. It is just society’s or a non-black or non-Indigenous desire to label people and to differentiate them from being white.

Conclusion

As indicated earlier, this book is part memoir, part essays and loosely integrated. It is also jam-packed full of information and stories not all closely related. There’s so much information, it’s very difficult to tie it all together but I give Lawrence kudos for trying. His delineation into an introduction, conclusion and 3 parts in between organizes the material somewhat. In spite the disparity of topics and loose organization, I quite enjoyed the book and learned a lot about Lawrence Hill as a person and about being black and/or biracial in Canada.

Lawrence writes with a great deal of humour and some self-deprecation. He also expresses opinions very directly with no holds barred and shares a great deal about himself and his thoughts in this book. His willingness to be open and vulnerable endeared him to me. Similarly, his honesty and intellect make me respect him even more. There’s so much in it, I will likely reread again, not something I usually do.

I understand why Black Berry, Sweet Juice by Lawrence Hill is considered by CBC Books as 1 of the Top 100 True Stories that Make You Proud to be Canadian. Canadians could use a little more realism in evaluating racism in Canada. As Hill demonstrates in this book, racism has existed in Canada for a while and continues to exist today. Why not learn more about this topic from a Canadian writing master who shares his experience and knowledge in a non-threatening, intelligent and thoughtful way. Black Berry, Sweet Juice is a highly recommended read. 4 stars.

[Kezza Loudoun · Rating 5 out of 5]

For all those who want to understand what's it's been like for aperson like me of mixed race, READ THIS! You'll have a much better grasp of the subtle racism and bull shit biracial folks deal with on a day to day basis. And he's Canadian.

[Laurie • The Baking Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS (rounded up): Race is a complicated issue in North America and sometimes there's the feeling that 'racism isn't a thing in Canada'. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Many Canadians like to think that things are better here compared to our neighbours to the south, but discrimination (overt and covert) and the complexities of racial identity are just some issues non-white and mixed-race Canadians continue to face.

Black Berry, Sweet Juice was written nineteen years ago by one of my favourite authors, Lawrence Hill and the issues he confronts continue to be relevant. This book is a combination of personal stories from Hill and his family as well as interviews he conducted with various people across Canada who shared their experiences as mixed-race individuals. Hill shares his parents' experiences as Americans in a interracial marriage (Black father, Caucasian mother), their move to Canada and he gives insight about his struggles with his own identity as a biracial child growing up in a Toronto suburb and later as a young adult.

The individual stories from the interviews give this book a personal feel and I appreciated learning more about the issues facing so many Canadians. Black Berry, Sweet Juice is filled with many important issues that would make for a great book club pick, but I'll admit that, at times, it felt repetitive and a bit drawn out.

Sadly, Canada is reluctant to acknowledge that racism was and continues to be an issue for many Canadians. While there is no quick fix, this book is a step in the right direction and continues to be relevant as it shares important messages that give Canadians of all races - but particularly those who identify as Caucasian - much to think about.

[Jenna (Falling Letters) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally published 24 January 2017 at Falling Letters.

Mom and I had tried reading two novels about Ireland for this month’s Family Reads. Unfortunately, we found both novels to be incredibly dull. I asked Mom if there were any books by authors she liked that she hadn’t yet read. That’s how we ended up on Lawrence Hill’s page. Mom has read and enjoyed The Book of Negroes, The Illegal and Blood . I knew virtually nothing about growing up biracial in Canada. Thus, we chose Black Berry, Sweet Juice for our January Family Read.

Hill explores how one’s personal identity can differ from the external identity thrust upon them by those looking at them from the outside. Hill writes about how people are judged by their skin colour as to what their identity is. But that, of course, is a dangerous and often wrong assumption to make. A person’s internal understanding of their identity might not have anything to do with their skin colour.

Hill’s book was an eye opener for Mom and I. We are white in every direction I can see on the family tree. We’ve never had to think about the possible discord between our identities and our skin colours. We’ve never had to think, “Oh, I’m white, I need to make a concentrated effort to connect with the white community, learn about my cultural identity, etc”. We are just that way, we are just white and we don’t have to do anything in particular to confirm that. In contrast, Hill and the people he interviews have all had to give conscious consideration, in one way or another, to their racial/cultural identity.

Hill writes about a “brewing interest in my racial identity” (64). This quote stuck out to me, as I’ve never had to ‘brew an interest’ in my racial identity. Mom and I can’t fathom what it must be like to have to actively learn about racial identity, cultural history, etc. Mom pointed out that she has never considered herself ‘German-Canadian’ (her father came to Canada when he was 19 years old). She has never had to assert that aspect of her identity or consider it in the way that biracial Canadians do. She and I have never had to ‘choose’ to be white, i.e. choose to fit in with that community – that’s the white privilege we have.

Towards the end of the book, Hill presents an imaginary dialogue of the ‘race’ question, an infamously pervasive question in Canada (and similar countries, I imagine):

STRANGER: “Do you mind my asking where you are from?” [This is code for “What is your race?”]

ME: “Canada.” [This is code for “Screw off.”]

STRANGER: “Yes, but you know, where are you really from?” [This is code for “You know what I mean, so why are you trying to make me come out and say it?”]

ME: “I come from the foreign and distant metropolis of Newmarket. That’s Newmarket, Ontario. My place of birth. [Code for “I’m not letting you off the4 hook, buster.”]

STRANGER: “But your place of origin? Your parents? What are your parents?” [Code for “I want to know your race, but this is making me very uncomfortable because somehow I feel that I’m not supposed to ask that question.”]

Mom and I discussed how that question, “Where are you from?”, takes on a completely different tone depending on who it is presented to. If someone asks us (my white Mom or I) where are you from, we generally know they mean it literally. If they want to know our family background, they ask directly. It’s not a challenge; usually it’s just polite conversation. Rarely is that question asked of a person of colour for the sake of polite conversation. As Hill notes, it becomes a challenge to a person’s Canadian identity (177). Part of our white privilege is never having people challenge our Canadian identities.

Hill’s stories about growing up biracial added another dimension to his exploration of race, as we had not considered the identity struggles a biracial child may experience. Mom told me about a friend with a biracial daughter. Mom had never considered that that child may have difficult time growing up because of the different racial identities of her parents.

We appreciated that Hill includes interviews with a number of other Black-white biracial Canadians. Sharing various points of views shows that everyone’s situation can be different. There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to the question of how to manage a biracial identity. Black Berry, Sweet Juice really hits home that a single voice cannot an entire community represent. Nearly all interviewees, however, understand they will almost always struggle with being defined against whiteness. Because white people do not consider biracial people to be white, they cannot find acceptance in those communities like they may find acceptance in Black communities.

For many people with one black and one white parent, it appears to hurt more when we are rejected by the black community than when we are discriminated against in the wider community for being black (106).

“When white people look at you, they’re never going to see white. They’re always going to see black. Therefore you’re black.” (110)

Mom and I both learned a lot from this book. We highly recommend it, especially to white people who, like us, had never really considered how the experiences of biracial people may differ from those who are ‘all Black’ or ‘all white’.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though slightly dated, I felt this was an excellent look at being black and white. Part personal memoir, part interviews with others, I found myself laughing out loud during one chapter about hair and another about the ethnicity question. My dad gave me this book years ago, and while I skimmed it then, I wish I had read it fully. I truly enjoyed the author’s discussion of many topics I have thought about and experienced in my own life.

[Bree C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am attempting to do the best I can for my daughter, this book is a piece of that. It allowed me to become aware of even my own (unintentional, or well-intentioned) biases and gave me a number of other perspectives to consider.

I would highly recommend this to the parents and family members of biracial children, and even just to those who are attempting to be the best human they can be.

[Phil Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another insightful read from Lawrence Hill. Really appreciated the personal and reflective pieces of the book. “The Question” and N-word chapters were very thought provoking. The presentation of the interview responses felt a bit too academic. Two decades after it was written this book remains relevant today.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second time reading this.

Got so many different things out of it this time.

[Rainey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. Totally related to a lot of things.

[Marina Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fav Chapters:
The Question
I was Here Before the Klan!

[JennieWithTheBooks☮️(◕‿◕✿) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I truly did enjoy Hill’s thoughtful and oftentimes chuckle-some, but nevertheless sincere way of eloquently disclosing the deeply rooted inner conflict from which he suffered while trying to figure out his own personal and racial identity back in the 60’s to the early 80’s.

We as humans, have a nasty history of putting each other into categories based on race and religion and a multitude of other beliefs/grouping. We’re all one species! Yet, we’ve each been assigned our own special little bits and pieces of the recipe to bring forth to this potluck meal that OUR world is serving up.

Thanks to Hill explaining his bi-racial upbringing and the way in which he found his own ingredients to add to the mix, he allowed me to think about things that I had not considered before as a Caucasian woman. I do love to read about how folks in general work hard to survive and thrive, be they of any ethnic background.

In the end, regardless of someone’s skin colour or their religion or their political views or what have you, I have always found myself being much more personally accepting of people who behave with love and understanding, and kindness and compassion. Finding yourself in this world is already complicated enough from that reflection in the mirror that looks back at you everyday, so why should any of us purposely try to make it any more difficult on someone else trying to make their way to the meal. Let’s not be such picky eaters and at least try to enjoy what it is that we find being offered up to us.

Thanks Mr. Hill for opening up about your life. Very glad that that whole writing thing took off so well for you! ;)

[Charlene Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this at least a decade ago, but was surprised to find I didn't record it on Goodreads. I remembered it as being an insightful read full of so many avenues to immerse myself in thought and contemplation, and that it influenced my deeply ingrained views of race and self, giving me words and context for experiences and feelings I'd had my whole life, but didn't have the concrete language to express or the courage to speak.⁠

Upon reading it a second time, I could see the nuggets of that. My own views and definitions on being black and white in Canada have certainly shifted and evolved since my last reading, and it would be so interesting to see whether Hill's have as well.

It is still an engaging and important read, and has been incredibly interesting (and at times gratifying) to see my own reactions through notes in the margins to certain passages on my last read, and how I would respond today. Sometimes exactly the same, sometimes vastly different. For example, I remember reading the chapter 'The Question', and back then, relating to the fact almost every time I met a new white person, The Question would come. Now, however, I've maybe been asked twice in the last five years.

Progress, or people simply learning how to curb their curiosity, who's to say, but I'm sure thankful I don't have to field it so much anymore!

To conclude, still a great read, and I highly recommend it!

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

All white Canadians should read this book! In fact all white people should read this book.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened to read this just as the news about the outcome of the Colten Boushie case was breaking, and it feels particularly poignant right now. Boushie was a 22-year old indigenous man who was shot in the back of the head by a white farmer named Gerald Stanley. Boushie and his friends drove onto Stanley's property either to seek help for a flat tire, or to steal a truck depending on whose version of events you believe. Boushie was asleep in the back of the car when Stanley and his son hit the windshield with a baseball bat and knocked out one of the rear tail-lights. Stanley then got a handgun from inside and fired it twice, either trying to shoot the kids in the car or firing warning shots into the air, again depending on who you believe. Stanley then claims he was reaching into the car to take the keys from the ignition when the gun, which he thought was out of ammunition, went off in his hand, shooting Boushie point blank in the back of the head. Stanley and his family then went inside their house, made a pot of coffee and calmly waited for police to arrive, apparently unconcerned about the young man Gerald had just murdered (accidentally or otherwise) in their driveway.

Race was not discussed in the courtroom, although lawyers from the defense managed to remove all indigenous people from the jury. The all-white jury cleared Stanley completely, failing even to charge him with manslaughter. Many people are still commenting on news articles that they don't believe race was a factor or needs to be considered in the case.

I'm struck that this is exactly what Hill was talking about throughout much of this book: Canada's total reluctance to even acknowledge race as an issue. I found this book very enlightening and interesting. Hill questions the very concept of race as anything other than a social construct, and examines the ways in which people have chosen or been forced to adopt certain racial identities throughout North American history.

My own racial background, for what it's worth, is entirely white. I try to seek out books like this one to help me understand something about the feelings and experiences of people with different backgrounds, and I'm continually struck by how naïve I really am about those experiences. In particular I found the discussion of the feelings of the black women Hill interviewed regarding mixed-race relationships very interesting and enlightening.

Worthwhile and important reading for Canadians who don't believe racism is as much of a problem here as it is for our neighbors down South. Particularly in the current political moment, I would recommend this book to almost anyone.

[Susan Visser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book at the same time as reading the book about Métis. The books are similar in that they explore how mixed “race” people were / are treated in Canada. When you love your country and know that many things are worse south of the border, it’s hard to hear that you’re being wilfully ignorant about the truth.

Lawrence Hill is well-known for his fabulous novel “Book of Negros” but reading this book, I learned that Lawrence and his family lived in Don Mills, not far from where I live. Lawrence’s parents are from the US, mom is white, dad is black, and as a result, Lawrence and his siblings are light-skinned blacks. His cousins in the US were in segregated schools, so he can easily compare the Canadian experience against the American experience.

This book isn’t a novel, but you learn details about his novel Any Known Blood as various aspects of race are analyzed. Like, why do many black women hate seeing white women with black men?

The one thing I disagreed with is Lawrence has a whole chapter on how relentless people are about asking him about his heritage. You know how it goes: where are you from / where were you born / what are you.
Lawrence says he’s been asked these questions thousands of times, and that would be awful and I’ve seen it happen with Asian friends. The part I disagreed with is that white people never get asked these questions. I’m a person who does ask white people about their heritage. Being a first generation Canadian, I like to discuss heritage and immigration stories. Anyway, knowing now how sensitive this topic is, I’ll be extra sensitive.

[Dana Burgess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lawrence Hill never disappoints. His writing style is smooth and reading this book felt like I was sitting in his livingroom enjoying a great conversation with a friend. He explores growing up black and white, not only through his own experience, but through interviews and the eyes of his family as well. I loved getting to know more about Mr. Hill and about his fascinating family but equally as interesting were the views and experiences of those he interviewed. If you think racism doesn't happen in Canada, read this book. If you are interested in the black experience in Canada, read this book. If you want to know more about Lawrence Hill and his family, read this book. If you want to explore the phenomena of fitting in and finding place in society...... well you know the rest. Great read.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took this one slow & easy, reading it largely during the class reading time, and I loved it. Hill's prose is a joy to read - I used quite a few sentences as mentors for my students - and the combination of memoir and dialogue with others makes for a book that feels deeply thoughtful in its discussion of race and society. Hill's topics are driven by his personal interests and experience but informed by research and reality. I have bookmarked many pages & will share at least one short section with other teachers and possibly with students.

[Heather(Gibby) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lawrence Hill had something he needed to get off his chest!

This is a very poignant look at the issue of race, particularly persons of mixed race.
Lawrence Hill is a class act, and this is a particularly personal look at his own experiences and feeling about being of mixed race. He also includes interviews with other family members and people across Canada, but it is mainly a look at his own feelings.

[Pankaj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating insights into race, mixed-race and the very many permutations and combinations it takes for a person to self-identify and live life graciously and with honour.

Contrary to the widespread belief among Canadians that we are better than those south of our borders in dealing with racism, black, brown, yellow, indigenous or otherwise, we do fall short when we continue to persist with questions like, "So, where are you from? No, I mean really where are you from?"

[Malcolm MacFarlane · Rating 5 out of 5]

we’ll done!

As a mixed race person…that’s how I define myself..I found this book stated so much of what I think and feel. Having my own thoughts and feelings written in black and white ..pardon the pun… and with so much insight set something free in me.
Race is a social construct and I have always known that. To be human …A socially aware human being, of service to other humans is what this life is for.

[Mary Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with all Lawrence Hill's work, this was exceptional. Did you know there were KKK in Ontario? Did you know there were slaves held in Canada? I did not. Thinking we (in Canada) were so enlightened, I had no inkling of the struggle one modern individual had in exploring his history and identity as a black man. My take away is Hill's profound statement that racism diminishes us all, in the human family.

[Bailey Olfert · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Hill openly shared his experiences and his wrestling with racial identity; that is the strength of this book. Since he also interviewed others with similar backgrounds, we get other viewpoints as well, although they are filtered through his lens. This particular topic is seldom addressed, so I appreciated this exposure to it.

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed parts of the book (those that were memoir/family history) but felt other parts of the book, while interesting, were too repetitive and drawn out (such as the chapter on hair).

[Mary Sue Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important book for Canadians to read to understand hidden racism and situations encountered by racialized Canadians.

[Gwen Kocher · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. Read it.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read, which is interesting, educational and I’d say even more relevant than when it was first written.