Title: Light-Skinned Girls and Kelly Rowlands
Author: Alexia Arthurs
In: How to Love a Jamaican (Alexia Arthurs)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Contemporary, Race
Dates read: 31st October 2021
Pace: Medium
Format: Short story
Publisher: Picador
Year: 2018
5th sentence, 74th page: I observed that every man she pointed to in school or around the city, men she joked about rebounding with, were all white.

Friendships are difficult. But they’re even more difficult when you come from different worlds and see everything through a different lens.

I found this story a little intense. In the best of ways. I’m white, so although I’m peripherally aware of my privilege, I’m not consistently aware of it. And I hadn’t even thought of privilege in terms of friendships. How simple it is for me to walk into a room and find a friend, because most people look like me.

I really loved the slightly jumpy nature of this tale. For me, it highlighted that friendships aren’t exactly a simple and linear thing. Rather, they do literally jump all over the place. Maybe not in time, but when you reflect, which is the tone of this piece, you think of different moments in a totally non linear order.

Having never thought about the impact of racism and racial identity on forming something as simple (or not so aimple) as friendships, I found this intense. And thought provoking. And yes, I will be reading this again.

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Image source: Goodreads