Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America

Listen to the audio because MED delivers it himself. I've been struggling with where to start in recommending books to people who hold different views than I do, but this, finally, is it. This book is the perfect mix of rational but personalized argument, pop culture, history, and research references (w/o actually being research dense). His preacher roots and professional acumen combined for the perfext delivery. If folk (or as he calls his audience, “Beloved”) aren't listening to this, sit them down and listen with them. This is a required catalyst to view-changing.

I decided to buy this book on Audible when it was offered during a sale (I think 2 for 1 or something similar). I had heard good things about it and was expecting to be blown away by insightful thoughts about our culture. However, I felt slightly disappointed because many of the things Dyson describes are things I am very aware of since I'm active on Twitter and Tumblr. On those sites, I have a constant feed of political and social issues, and people's perspectives on them. The people I follow are almost all (very) socially liberal. So nothing in this book shook me or moved me. I feel like I've seen it all before. However, I'm giving it four stars because the thoughts are written clearly, thoroughly, and topically. I want to shove this book into the hands of so many white people I know. This is an important read for people who do not keep up with what is happening, and what has been happening, in America. And even though the book is centered on the race problem in America, we all know there is a race problem in most countries. I feel anybody from anywhere could read this and learn something about themselves. While I didn't really learn anything new, Dyson calls out the white people reading the book - addressing them directly throughout the entire thing - by saying they need to step up and educate themselves. I believe in that, but when I heard him saying those words (as the author narrates the audiobook), I realized that I really don't do enough to learn about the things he suggests - black culture, for example. Music, art, etc. I love books, but I'm not going out of my way to learn about anything else. I need to. Everyone needs to. I'll also just quickly add that I thought the part about police close to the end was my favorite part. I thought that was particularly powerful.

These are just my quick thoughts after just completing the book. A more comprehensive review will be coming on my YouTube channel (youtube.com/allisontheresa) and on my blog (allisontheresa7.wordpress.com).