#knowmyname

[todd--chavez]

Just finished this book. Very good important read. As someone from the bay area, I was very familiar with the setting and even remember voting to recall Judge Persky.

Strongly recommend! Have your sons and daughters read this too!

[weare-toobusydancing]

(Swipe para la versión en español) La semana pasada terminé de leer #KnowMyName de @chanel_miller y tuvo muchísimas frases que me gustaron, y quise dibujar esta. Creer que van a venir cosas buenas después de un trauma o una serie de malos sucesos es difícil, pero tenemos que creer en que va a pasar. Decía su madre: “cosas buenas y malas vienen del universo tomándose la mano. Tienes que esperar que las cosas buenas lleguen”. ✨ Libro recomendadísimo por el Club de Lectura Ilustrado por M. 🤓 #bookstagram #libros #chanelmiller #feminism #feminismo #metoo #yotambien #citas https://www.instagram.com/p/CXtbv3vr88F/?utm_medium=tumblr

[litsavantbookclub]

Know my name Book Review

Hello fellow readers!

Just this past weekend I finished Chanel Miller’s Know my Name, a memoir from the perspective of Emily Doe and her experience of the highly publicized 2015 assault that occurred to her on California’s Stanford University Campus. 

I personally remember reading about the case when at work at a CUNY campus and feeling horrified by the details and lack thereof. I remember the lack of identity and empathy that Emily Doe received from a select audience and the strange headlines regarding the defendant. But I digress.

This book was another perspective that adds to the me too conversation. It was refreshing, beautifully eloquent, and many things left myself tearing up in public on my commute. It is a visceral experience that is best digested. I personally savored it in chunks because it was intense and a lot to process. 

One of the most endearing and relatable things about the book is Miller wanting to protect those closest to her from the fallout. She states that she “...wanted to preserve their peace” (45). She mentions the story of her parents doing their best to not ruin Christmas for her and her sister. Even though they knew what really happened to the cat. And just like her parents, she compartmentalized moments and breakdowns. She would: “do what I had always done: detach, keep going” (44). But much like those jars that she would hide away in her metaphorical basement, they would come back. They would materialize out of thin air and to her dismay she would start the journey again, deep down. 

Miller alludes to her being like one of those departed students from the tracks. She writes: “so on that January morning in 2015...was like being read a letter...it was not about a death on the tracks ...this time, it was my name” (44). I personally remember being that far away from myself. I felt both everything and nothing. And that trauma is hard to describe to others. Miller did so tremendously. It is poignant. And that keenness is sharp and quick to the cut. Miller’s words are as powerful as any weapon but delivered with the soft vulnerability.

Rape, trauma, and the experience of being a victim are just a shortlist of the things that Miller touches on. Moreover, she also highlights the way society and education connect to mental illness. The complex way that things get put on hold and how we as human beings are not supposed to drop the ball even when we’re suffering. This is mentioned as one of the ways that Miller developed her coping mechanism of dissociating from the painful realities of the world: “...we settled for perpetual numbness.” (43). The content states the way Miller and her classmates were urged and encouraged to move on with their lives regardless of the fact that many of their acquaintances and friends were killing themselves. One day they were there, the next gone. No explanation or further harping of the “ugly truth.” 

This “perpetual numbness” echoed the idea that even though lives were being lost and morale was low students shouldn’t and eventually couldn’t run the risk of pausing. To be pause meant to stop, to stop meant, to lose momentum. This loss of momentum was precious and because you were going against the grain of what was expected of you. It meant there must be something wrong with you. Miller continues: “to be unstable meant to fall behind” (42). This is something that happens to many people but sometimes these moments can wreak havoc on our lives. But we are humans and we are not perfect. Yet it is expected frequently. And the shame that accompanies our failure to meet such expectations are searing. 

Before I get even more ahead of myself, the book was overall, a passionate and poignant account of a woman who lost her voice and identity but found that she always had it. Regardless, of all the smoke and mirrors those determined to tear her down had set up. Approaching the end of her book I’m struck by the following words: “hold up your head when the tears come, when you are mocked, insulted, questioned, threatened, when they tell you you are nothing...” (328). These words will comfort those that have ever been dismissed or sneered at. This empathy can provide guidance and kindness to those who need it.

Rating: 4.25

Keywords: Passionate, poignant, and emotionally wrenching.

[adayinbookland]

Dec 2nd, 2019 || and here comes the last month of the year before we turn into a new decade. i’ve said before i’m planning on going on a book buying ban in 2020 and will only get those books which are part of any series i have already started. i know i’ll get some books for Christmas for sure but i’m not counting those. . anyways, here is the last book haul of the year... everything that made its way into my shelves since late september. . do you have any plans for 2020 in terms of reading or buying books? which was your latest purchase? 🍁 • • • #knowmyname #novisiblebruises #steelcrowsaga #thesecretcommonwealth #thestarlesssea #fireborne #deeplight #theycamebeforecolumbus #ourwomenontheground #nonfiction #newbooks #bookhaul #booksbooksandmorebooks #allthebooks https://www.instagram.com/p/B5kTJNUoRFH/?igshid=1n4zlpdb19cv6

[adayinbookland]

Mar 17th, 2020 || @carlaslittlelibrary tagged me to do the #tenonmytbr last week and i wanted to do it sooner but we lost all natural light where i live because clouds decided to hide the sun permanently 🙄🙄 here is my stack. better late than never: . 🌿if we were villains by M. L. Rio 🌿cantoras by Carolina de Robertis 🌿maus by Art Spiegelman 🌿she should be king by Wayetu Moore 🌿before the devil breaks you by Libba Bray 🌿know my name by Chanel Miller 🌿my dark vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell 🌿always another country by Sisonke Msimang 🌿the lies of locke lamora by Scott Lynch 🌿a fine balance by Rohinton Mistry . two of these i wil be reading very soon: before the devil breaks you - continuing with the series asap - and the lies of locke lamora -because i promised () i’ll get to it in april. the other 8 i wish to read before we get halfway through 2020 but who knows… i never stick to my tbr . i have tagged a few of you but no pressure to do it. • • • #afinebalance #theliesoflockelamora #alwaysanothercountry #mydarkvanessa #knowmyname #beforethedevilbreaksyou #shewouldbeking #maus #cantoras #ifwewerevillains #nonfiction #literaryfiction #yafiction #yaliterature #unitedbookstagram #bookaesthetics #bookstagram #pileofbooks #stackofbooks #booksoutofdoors #fortheloveofreading #ilovereadingbooks #tbrpile https://www.instagram.com/p/B916WMPo_fY/?igshid=1t9fns7btdi96

[gwynethgracelee]

Week Two - Constellation

In this class, we visited the Women’s Art Register located in the Richmond Library. We were tasked to pick an object of cultural significance and do a constellation of research around it. This gif shows 10 stars white stars on a navy background representing a nighty sky. When the constellation is mapped out using a dashed line, the stars form shape of an open book. This book represents the object I did research around, which was “Know My Name”, published by the National Gallery of Victoria.

This method of research was super helpful as it prompted me to dive deeper into the reasons behind why the book was made, and create connections between information that I found in archive as well as information found online.