“Take My Hand” takes us on the conscious journey of Civil Townsend’s unforgettable story of two girls in the country‘s fight of reproductive injustices. She tells a story that explains racism, heartbreak, heart wrenching conversations, hope, unspoken truth, black family dynamics, the poverty line and faith. From Montgomery to Memphis, Civil Townsend lives with the actions she made in the 1970s until she can find forgiveness for herself, even though everyone else had already extended her mercy.
What exactly is lost time? Through history from generation to generation, we as a people; Black people, have experienced “America’s time”. Each time represented a point of turmoil, tragedy, injustice, victories, hope, faith, change and right back to trauma. For “us” time is not loss, it just keeps passing. History repeats itself because words, policies and people has not changed. A re-education is definitely necessary!
Dolen Perkins-Valdez is very much a timely and brilliant writer. To think that the world affairs would not bring back into question the rights of the woman’s body and what she chooses to do with it or not, but here we are in 2022 examining Roe v Wade again. Reproductive injustices still “remains elusive for African-American women who struggle to access affordable health care due to social and economic inequalities.”
This novel triggered a emotional impact of a historic moment of women tubes being tied and their reproductive abilities being controlled by the system in a way that explores like moments in history where we were just “bodies” and our “bodies” did not belong to us. On this emotional roller coaster of a read I felt pain, sorrow, anger, confusion, sympathy, heart ache and excitement. "Take My Hand” is important because it holds power to spark the alarm, influence hearts and impact lives indeed. I will always recommend this 5 star read.
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