Título: One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race
Autor: Yaba Blay
Sinopse: Challenges narrow perceptions of Blackness as both an identity and lived reality to understand the diversity of what it means to be Black in the US and around the world
What exactly is Blackness and what does it mean to be Black?
Is Blackness a matter of biology or consciousness?
Who determines who is Black and who is not?
Who’s Black, who’s not, and who cares?
In the United States, a Black person has come to be defined as any person with any known Black ancestry. Statutorily referred to as “the rule of hypodescent,” this definition of Blackness is more popularly known as the “one-drop rule,” meaning that a person with any trace of Black ancestry, however small or (in)visible, cannot be considered White. A method of social order that began almost immediately after the arrival of enslaved Africans in America, by 1910 it was the law in almost all southern states. At a time when the one-drop rule functioned to protect and preserve White racial purity, Blackness was both a matter of biology and the law. One was either Black or White. Period. Has the social and political landscape changed one hundred years later?
One Drop explores the extent to which historical definitions of race continue to shape contemporary racial identities and lived experiences of racial difference. Featuring the perspectives of 60 contributors representing 25 countries and combining candid narratives with striking portraiture, this book provides living testimony to the diversity of Blackness. Although contributors use varying terms to self-identify, they all see themselves as part of the larger racial, cultural, and social group generally referred to as Black. They have all had their identity called into question simply because they do not fit neatly into the stereotypical “Black box”—dark skin, “kinky” hair, broad nose, full lips, etc. Most have been asked “What are you?” or the more politically correct “Where are you from?” throughout their lives. It is through contributors’ lived experiences with and lived imaginings of Black identity that we can visualize multiple possibilities for Blackness.
Contexto da obra
Como livro em inglês, esta obra costuma ganhar também uma camada própria de interesse editorial e linguístico. “One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race”, de Yaba Blay, publicado pela editora Beacon Press, em 2023 e com 288 páginas, integra a categoria Livros em Inglês. Por isso, o interesse da obra tende a se ampliar quando o leitor considera também a relação com a língua em que ela circula.
Editora: Beacon Press
Páginas: 288
Ano: 2023
Edição:
Linguagem: en
ISBN: 0807013218
ISBN13: 9780807013212
Sobre a editora
Os livros da editora Beacon Press costumam oferecer uma leitura que combina rigor intelectual com uma abordagem profundamente humana, focando em temas urgentes como justiça social, racismo, identidade e história sob perspectivas frequentemente marginalizadas. A experiência de leitura é marcada por narrativas que desafiam o leitor a repensar conceitos estabelecidos, como nas análises sobre fragilidade racial, ativismo social e histórias indígenas, sempre com um tom que equilibra crítica e empatia. O catálogo apresenta obras que transitam entre o ensaístico e o poético, com textos que vão do relato histórico à reflexão filosófica, mantendo um ritmo que pode ser denso, porém acessível. Há uma diversidade temática que inclui desde investigações sobre estruturas sociais e políticas até poemas que exploram a espiritualidade e a natureza, revelando um compromisso com vozes que questionam e expandem o conhecimento.
