This memoir by Toronto-based author Eternity Martis has been on my TBR list all year! I even included it on my Summer TBR. When a copy became available even before summer officially started I jumped at a chance to listen to the book.
Writing about her time as an undergraduate student at Western University in London, Ontario, Martis shares her experiences of growing up while away from home for school and the many, many incidents of anti-Black racism she faced.
I appreciated the re-telling of the fun she had being out and about as an undergrad in a new city, the vulnerability of the stories, and mostly I enjoyed her writing style – personal and informative. As she writes early in the book, “I’ve used my own experiences, as well as examples from across Canadian universities, to illustrate that this is a nationwide issue that demands attention”.
Her experiences as a young Black woman in a mostly white community – both on and off campus – were revelatory to me (and I think will be to students too) in the subtle and overt examples of anti-Black racism. The final chapter where Martis shares her experience of staging a production of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange makes for a great conclusion to the book.
Overall, this book is emotional and poignant. I would recommend it for senior students.
How I will use this text in the classroom
In grade 12 the year begins with a unit focused on personal essays – students reading them and students writing their own. Two chapters that may work well within these unit plans are “token” and “Party Gastritis” but please note there are references to alcohol, drugs, and sex in this second chapter. (You know your students best so make sure to preview the material to make a more informed decision.) The inclusion of these topics in a realistic way will be important parts of our classroom discussion around this particular chapter.
Read more about this book on the author’s webpage.
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