Girlz 'n the Hood
A Memoir of Mama in South Central Los Angeles
A Memoir of Mama in South Central Los Angeles
Girlz in the Hood is the unsentimental, moving, and surprisingly humorous account of a girl and her ten siblings who grew up in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Mary's mother was a fierce matriarch, a single mom who raised eleven children with the help of welfare checks and a fire arm hidden in her bra. Drugs, guns, and pregnancies were everyday occurrences, but Mary and her siblings took it all in stride, spying on the grown-ups, playing in the streets, and helping to take care of the new babies when they were born. The dubious yet colorful cast of characters that came into their lives (the Jehovah Witnesses, the whores, the addicts, the "fathers"), and the never-ending series of hardships (the jail terms, the knife fights, the mental illness, and homicides), couldn't shake the core of the family. This is the story of Mary, but, even more so, it's the story of her mother, a uniquely strong and extraordinary woman who was able to survive moments of pain and disappointment by laughing at the comedy of human missteps, miscalculations, and downright stupidity. This is also a story about race and of poverty and how, over time, it can wear you down and destroy you, because, although Mary got out okay, her sisters and brothers were not so lucky.
Reviews with the most likes.
One-time, my folks took the family in our travel trailer to Portland, OR from California. When we reached out destination, my parents gathered us four kids around and asked us to put any money we had on the table. We needed gas money to get home. My sister and I had a couple of bucks, my brothers were too little to have any money.
This was my one and only brush with poverty. In essence, I was clueless. I grew up with two parents, my own bed at night, and a meal on the table.
This book opened my eye. WIDE. I can't imagine surviving a childhood like the one described in GIRLZ ‘N THE HOOD. A single mom, a house burned down, riding the bus all night with multiple siblings. My white, privileged self read this book with my jaw dropped.
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Get woke! Read this book. It will haunt you for days and make you count your blessings. Yet, with a punchy, detailed style, the author makes you smile as well as cry. You'll be glad she got “all up in grown folks' business” and remembered it well enough to write this book.
