Tamara Lucas Copeland

This is an excellent memoir of 8 upper middle class black girls/women who grew up in Richmond, VA, the former capital of the Confederate States of America. It tells their stories in three sections: their school years when they were very close (1956-1968); their college and years establishing their careers and families when they had other close friends (1969-1994), and the years they got back together and renewed their friendships and closeness (1994-2018, the year the book was published). These girls grew up in very supportive, 2-parent families who valued education and tried to protect their daughters from the racial situation. The eight women were not as protective of their children, feeling they had been too protected growing up. They became "eight successful African American women. Seventy-five percent have a graduate degree ... Most of us ended up in a helping profession. ... We have a higher rate of divorce than the national average (62% vs. 50%). ... All except one of us still live within about 100 miles of Richmond, our home" (p. 219 for all quotes). Interwoven within the whole story is what was happening racially in the United States at the time described and their feeling or their parents feeling about the events.

Highly recommended… (altro)