Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Full disclosure: I’m African American, mid 60s, raised in Chicago on the south side until 1970, lived for a while in the South during the 70s (Virginia, Georgia), lived and worked in Harlem during the 80s; parents were originally from the Midwest, but my family on both sides has southern roots; we were a middle-class family. My review is my reaction based on my background and experiences during these times. Regarding the book, I loved it. It was a bit hard to read at first because of the racial hatred, crimes, and injustices described. Nonetheless, generally I could relate to the stories of the main characters; I know about such stories from my own family and others. However, the picture painted of Blacks in Chicago in the 60s and of African Americans in Harlem in the 80s through the stories of the main characters was not my experience, and I felt it was very one-sided, leaving out a lot and highlighting only what would contribute to the author’s point she wanted to make. In brief, Chicago’s south side in the 60s was more diverse than was represented in the book—in terms of the socioeconomic status of Blacks and the various characteristics of neighborhoods. I grew up in a neighborhood of very nice houses/homes: fathers worked, mothers raised the children, 3-4 children was the average. The elementary schools were exceptionally good, but not the high schools. Harlem in the 80s was tremendously affected by the crack epidemic, but cocaine was a drug problem in the 80s everywhere in New York; it just manifested itself differently in Harlem. I worked (in the mental health field) 4 blocks away from the character George and lived 10 blocks away (though not in the same neighborhood), so I was much aware of the issues of the day in Harlem, but also in New York in general. The drug problem in Harlem was the drug problem throughout America at the time, and in every major city regardless of race or migration, non-migration. Additionally, in the 80s, Harlem was very diverse socioeconomically, so I felt that what is portrayed through the main character’s experience during that period is limited in its representativeness of African Americans at the time or its application or connection to migration.