"It's The Little Things"

I recently finished this Lena Williams book.
Like the cover states, it is "candid and enlightening--what blacks and whites say about each other".

I actually won the book in a drawing at a Future Teacher's of American Convention in Dallas, Texas last February. I've been waiting to have the free time to read it, and now I do.

It was an interesting read; a quick one as well, which is rare for me. Williams quickly points out that readers may not agree with everything she says, which, frankly peaked my curiosity. I wanted to disagree with her about something at reading that. However, there wasn't much too disagree with and that is probabaly because she uses, primarily, people's stories, their perceptions. This struck me as significant. Race, gender, class, religion and how people view other people, oops, can't forget sexual orientation!-- is mostly about people's perceptions and subsequent assumptions. Noticing all that "all" the black kids sit together at lunch (just as all the Asian, Latino or white for that matter) and assuming they are being exclusive is a good example, and its one Williams references in her book. Making the assumption that someone who goes to church every Sunday, or a temple, or synagogue, is a religious zealot who can see no good in people that are different than they or who share different values is wrong. I learned more about me than I had expected when I read the book. I assume so often that I am going to be enlightened by someone's views on a subject and than be a smarter person afterwords, when, having to process the book and its conclusions and implications I needed to incorporate other non-race characteristics, learned how intolerant I can be.