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“What Looks Like Black” is
a compelling and thought-provoking novel that delves into
the arcane and painful reality of intra-racial relations
among African Americans.
Ann Girard is a black woman, born to black parents. But she
has blue eyes, straight hair and fair skin. Because of
her own questionable features, she has experienced a problematic
existence. Her life has now become even more complicated
with the news of her unexpected pregnancy.
Ann wants to be elated about her impending arrival, but
is plagued with the overwhelming concern about a future filled
with cruelties afflicted upon her firstborn child because
of his or her features. Her unfeigned worry is rooted in
her own awkward experiences based on “blackness.” As
she prepares for motherhood, Ann chronicles her first memories
as a child through her passage into adulthood, and describes
how she was forced to adjust while being catapulted back
and forth between black neighborhoods and predominately white
environments, constantly antagonized and questioned about
her true “blackness.”
As Ann records her daunting experiences of trying to belong,
she undergoes a re-birth, thus redefining her philosophies
of everything she ever knew.
Readers are immediately pulled into this poignant tale based
upon the complexities of intra-racial relations, as K. Broussard
overlaps a heartfelt third person voice that details the
experiences of an expectant mother, with an intimate forthright
first person voice of Ann “speaking” to her unborn
child about her own painful journey and discovery of what
looks like black.
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