But have you written a book for your mama? [Book Review]

It’s almost Mother’s Day in America.
For those of you…okay for those of us, who may have neglected the most important day
on the corporate calendar of holidays, I have the perfect gift for the mother figures in
your life.
Okay, I have the next best thing.
Born A Crime is a collection of essays from comedian Trevor Noah who reflects on his childhood
in South Africa.
It’s equal parts political commentary and coming-of-age and the sum of all these stories
is the celebration of a mother who will make you want to be a better human being.
Noah takes readers on a journey through the absurdity of apartheid, the segregation policy
of South Africa in which people were separated by the the distinctions of blacks, coloreds,
Indians, and whites.
I mean, in America we know racism, but imagine being at home with your family all your life
and then a stranger comes in and is like, “you know what, I want this house, you can
go live in the basement.”
And not only do you go live in the basement, you’re led to believe that your family is
the reason you’re down there and so instead of getting out of the basement and taking
your house back, you’re down their arguing about who deserves to go back upstairs in
the first place.
Like in other places colonized by Europeans, the intention was of course to divide and
control, but what really amplified the injustice of racial segregation was the fact that Black
South Africans outnumbered the colonizers 5 to 1 and were relegated to living in townships
and having little to no rights.
But finally in 1991, through the efforts of many who knew better and had the courage of
their convictions, activists like Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela and artists like Hugh Masekela
and Miriam Makeba, the institution was abolished.
And in 1994 Madiba, the Father of the Nation was elected President.
But back to Born A Crime, through these stories, we get to understand how Noah, born to a Xhosa
mother and a Swiss father would ultimately form his own astute opinions about how the
world works when policies are put in place to separate human beings from human beings.
The essays range from his hilarious Tom & Jerry-esque
relationship with his mother, to his adventures in finding friends on the segregated school
grounds, to a wonderfully moving piece about developing a relationship with his very secretive
father.
My favorite essay is definitely the final essay in which the power of his mother’s
faith had me sobbing onto the pages.
His mother might possibly be my favorite person for as Noah puts it, she doesn’t fight the
system, she mocks the system.
At first, I found myself reading the beginning essays unimpressed like, “Beloved, my mama
is a badass too.”
But then when you get to the parts where his mother is rolling out of a moving vehicle
with her sons in tow you’re like, “Well I’ll be damned.”
My favorite part about these essays is that in a time when history seems to be repeating
itself or to have never left, Noah’s book reminded me that though the government may
have their own paperwork on who you are, when you were born and to whom, it’s ultimately
left with you to fill in the details of your life.
It’s up to you to tell your own story.
If you’re in need of a breath of fresh air in social commentary, Trevor Noah is your
guy.
He’s like the silence in the echo chamber that we didn’t know we needed.
He has a unique sense of clarity in how he describes what still ails society.
And his observations really get down to the simple fact of the matter, that humans are
going to human.
But of course he says it more eloquently than that.
His mother’s grit will shake you to your core and Noah’s brilliance just jumps off
the page.
So whether you’re born a crime, or a pre-existing condition, this memoir is an adventure and
you should definitely pick it up.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the maternal figures in our lives who teach us a little something
about unconditional love everyday.
And don’t forget to read or be read.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll talk to you later.
Bye.
How the heck are these kindergarteners getting this macaroni on these strings.

But have you written a book for your mama? [Book Review]

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