Autobiography. Trevor Noah offers a unique perspective of growing up colored (half black, half white) in South Africa during the end of apartheid. His birth itself was against the law which meant that much of his young like before the end of apartheid was spent being hidden. Out in public, neither parent could actually afford to acknowledge kinship with him without risking potential jail time and the government taking him away. This meant a life of being inside almost continually where, apparently, he was very adept at getting into trouble but because he was half-white, most of his family let him get away with whatever horrid thing he had done. But not his mom. Throughout the entire book you can feel the love and admiration Trevor has for his mom. The risks she took having him, keeping him safe, and trying to make sure he grew up to have a good life were a testament to her love and strength of will.
From a historical point of view, it was also an interesting read because I remember apartheid in South Africa being talked about a bit when I was in elementary school and being happy when it ended but as I've started to become more aware of how we treat non-whites here in our country, reading this has opened my eyes more to our own oppression of people of color, especially African Americans, and how closely it manages to mirror in many ways those of that apartheid in South Africa. It's not written into law, as such, but when you start researching redlining, looking at how media and news portrays those of color in their word choices, lack of representation in so many areas, arrest and jail statistics, the parallels are pretty easy to draw. I only hope that we can wake up and listen to the voices soon and start truly making this country a land of equality for all.
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