In 'Negroland', Margo Jefferson offers a poignant memoir that explores her life as an African American woman in a predominantly white society. She navigates the complexities of race, class, and identity, weaving together her personal experiences with broader cultural insights. Jefferson reflects on her upbringing in a relatively privileged community, challenging the notion of a monolithic black experience. With sharp wit and profound honesty, she examines the tensions between her heritage and the expectations of her environment. This compelling narrative invites readers to reconsider the intersections of race and privilege in contemporary America.
By Margo Jefferson
Published: 2016
""In this world of light and shadow, we navigate the complexities of identity, privilege, and belonging, constantly redefining ourselves against the backdrop of a society that seeks to categorize us.""
NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An extraordinary look at privilege, discrimination, and the fallacy of post-racial America by the renowned Pulitzer Prize–winning cultural critic Jefferson takes us into an insular and discerning society: “I call it Negroland,” she writes, “because I still find ‘Negro’ a word of wonders, glorious and terrible.” Margo Jefferson was born in 1947 into upper-crust black Chicago. Her father was head of pediatrics at Provident Hospital, while her mother was a socialite. Negroland’s pedigree dates back generations, having originated with antebellum free blacks who made their fortunes among the plantations of the South. It evolved into a world of exclusive sororities, fraternities, networks, and clubs—a world in which skin color and hair texture were relentlessly evaluated alongside scholarly and professional achievements, where the Talented Tenth positioned themselves as a third race between whites and “the masses of Negros,” and where the motto was “Achievement. Invulnerability. Comportment.” Jefferson brilliantly charts the twists and turns of a life informed by psychological and moral contradictions, while reckoning with the strictures and demands of Negroland at crucial historical moments—the civil rights movement, the dawn of feminism, the falsehood of post-racial America.
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“"In this world of light and shadow, we navigate the complexities of identity, privilege, and belonging, constantly redefining ourselves against the backdrop of a society that seeks to categorize us."”
Negroland
By Margo Jefferson
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Margo Jefferson is an acclaimed American author and cultural critic known for her profound explorations of race, gender, and identity in contemporary society. She is the author of several notable works, including the memoir 'Negroland', which won the Kirkus Prize for Non-Fiction, and 'The Grace of Silence'. Jefferson's writing style blends lyrical prose with incisive social critique, drawing on her experiences as a Black woman in America. Her work has appeared in prestigious publications like The New York Times, where she covers topics ranging from literature to pop culture. A recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, Jefferson continues to inspire readers and writers with her thought-provoking insights and distinctive voice.
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