Arts and Culture

Book Review: “Black is the Body: Stories From My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine”

Published

7 years ago

April 1, 2019

Your mother dealt with things you can’t imagine.

It was a different time when she was your age, with societal issues you’d never tolerate and rules you wouldn’t abide. Same with your grandma: scrapbooks, history books and museums are the only places you’ll see what she lived. So what will your children know? As in “Black is the Body” by Emily Bernard, what’s your story?

In 1994, while sitting in a quiet coffee shop and wresting with a college paper she was writing, Emily Bernard was stabbed “in the gut” by a white man with a hunting knife. That’s her story to tell and she’s recited it often in the last two-decades-plus, though it’s told differently by others who were there. It’s a story that kicks off her book, but she insists that it does not define her.

Nor does racism. Bernard is proud of her Black body.

She’s also proud of her experiences, the successes she’s had, the people she’s known, and the stories she carries inside her. These become tales that recall her mother’s unhappiness before she died, that lent Bernard’s grandmother the strength to stand up to misogynistic rules, and that shape Bernard’s stories to come.

Like any good story, though, there are catches to the telling.

Take, for instance, the way we deal with “the n-word.” And how Black women can sometimes hate their hair. And how we let “the absurd and illogical nature of American racial identity” tell us who we are or should be.

No, Bernard lets family do that.

Her husband is white, a fact that some in her mother’s family hated – although they ultimately bonded with him through food, as though it were a new language. Her grandmother disliked the Civil Rights Movement. Her mother died too young. Bernard’s adopted twin daughters were born in Ethiopia and she calls them brown girls who are “’growing up in a house with a white person who loves them.”’ They, too, will have experiences their mother won’t have, and stories to tell.

“Black is the Body” is one of those books that’ll make you wish you had a Time Travel machine. Devour this book, set the machine for 20 years into the future, and see what author Emily Bernard’s daughters would write in a sequel…

This memoir has a lot of launching points for that, in tales that quietly demand that you pay attention and in anecdotes that highlight racial issues while also minimizing them. Readers are likewise invited to examine a variety of ideas with a certain amount of wonder and curiosity, and to follow Bernard to see both sides. That open, often-placid viewpoint provides a gentle way of leading readers to think about human differences and similarities, which resonates throughout and makes this memoir one to keep on your shelf.

Indeed, “Black is the Body” is a book you’ll want to read again because it’s engaging and just plain enjoyable. It offers thoughts you’ll want to turn over in your own head.

This is a book to tell about.

“Black is the Body: Stories From My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine” by Emily Bernard, c.2019, Knopf, $25.95 / $34.95 Canada, 223 pages

Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Bookworm Sez

Posts by Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Bookworm Sez

Activism

Essay: Intentional Self Care and Community Connections Can Improve Our Wellbeing

At the deepest and also most expansive level of reality, we are all part of the same being, our bodies made from the minerals of the earth, our spirits infused by the spiritual breath that animates the universe. Willingness to move more deeply into fear and pain is the first step toward moving into a larger consciousness. Willingness to move beyond the delusion of our separateness can show us new ways of working and living together.

Published

2 months ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Lorraine Bonner is a retired physician. She is also a sculptor who works in clay, exploring issues of trust, trustworthiness and exploitation, as well as visions of a better world.

By Dr. Lorraine Bonner, Special to California Black Media Partners

I went to a medical school that was steeped in the principles of classical Western medicine. However, I also learned mindfulness meditation during that time, which opened me to the multifaceted relationship between illnesses and the interconnecting environmental, mental and emotional realities that can impact an individual’s health.

Therefore, when I began to practice medicine, I also pursued training in hypnosis, relaxation techniques, meditation, and guided imagery, to bring a mind-body focus to my work in medical care and prevention.

The people I saw in my practice had a mix of problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and a variety of pain issues. I taught almost everyone relaxation breathing and made some general relaxation tapes. To anyone willing, I offered guided imagery.

“My work embraced an approach to wellness I call “Liberatory Health” — one that not only addresses the treatment and management of disease symptoms but also seeks to dismantle the conditions that make people sick in the first place.”

From my perspective, illness is only the outermost manifestation of our efforts to cope, often fueled by addictions such as sugar, tobacco, or alcohol, shackled by an individualistic cult belief that we have only ourselves to blame for our suffering.

To put these ideas into practical form, I would quote the immortal Mr. Rogers: “Find the helpers.” There are already people in every community working for liberation. Some of them are running for office, others are giving food to those who need it. Some are volunteering in schools, libraries or hospitals. Some are studying liberation movements, or are working in urban or community gardens, or learning to practice restorative and transformative justice, or creating liberation art, music, dance, theater or writing. Some are mentoring high schoolers or apprenticing young people in a trade. There are many places where compassionate humans are finding other humans and working together for a better world.

A more compassionate world is possible, one in which we will all enjoy better health. Creating it will make us healthier, too.

In community, we are strong. Recognizing denial and overcoming the fragmenting effects of spiritual disorder offer us a path to liberation and true health.

Good health and well-being are the collective rights of all people!

About the Author

Dr. Lorraine Bonner is a retired physician. She is also a sculptor who works in clay, exploring issues of trust, trustworthiness and exploitation, as well as visions of a better world.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

A Call to Save Liberty Hall: Oakland’s Beacon of Black Heritage Faces an Uncertain Future

For generations, Liberty Hall has been more than bricks and wood — it has been a spiritual and cultural sanctuary for Black Oakland. The building once served as a hub for Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), where Garvey’s call for economic independence and Pan-African unity resonated through the hearts of a people newly migrating to the West in search of freedom and dignity.

Published

2 months ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Liberty Hall at 1483-1485 8th St., in Oakland was built in 1877 as a store and residence. Wikimedia photo.

Special to The Post

On a quiet corner near the West Oakland BART Station stands a weathered but proud monument to African American history — the Universal Negro Improvement Association’s Liberty Hall, also known as the Marcus Garvey Building. Built in 1877, this two-story Italianate landmark has witnessed more than a century of struggle, self-determination, and community empowerment. Now, its survival hangs in the balance.

Local 188 of UNIA was the largest chapter in Northern California when the organization bought the building in 1925, but a fire burned the roof in 1931, and the chapter sold the building in 1933. The International Peace Movement, founded by Father Divine, used the building through the 1950s.

Since then, the building has been a meeting ground for civil rights organizers, artists, and educators like Overcomers With Hope who have carried that same flame of liberation through Oakland’s turbulent decades.

Today, local cultural organizer and artist Douglas “Pharoah” Stewart has stepped forward to lead the charge to save Liberty Hall. Stewart is already facing “Cultural Eviction” at the Oakland Cannery, and through his organization, Indigenous House, Stewart has rallied a coalition of artists, educators, historians, and community leaders to preserve and restore the site as a community-owned cooperative center — a place where arts, wellness, and economic empowerment can thrive for future generations.

“Liberty Hall is not just a building — it’s a living ancestor,” Stewart says. “This space gave birth to movements that shaped who we are as a people. If we lose this, we lose a piece of our soul.”

Stewart envisions transforming the historic landmark into a multi-purpose cooperative hub — complete with a cultural museum, community performance space, youth tech labs, and creative studios for local entrepreneurs. His vision echoes Garvey’s own: “A place where we can rise together, economically, spiritually, and culturally.”

But the fight is urgent. The aging building faces structural challenges, and time is running short to secure preservation funding. Stewart and his team are now calling on city officials, foundations, athletes, and celebrities to join forces with the community to raise the necessary capital for acquisition and restoration.

“We’re inviting everyone — from the Oakland A’s to local artists, from Golden State Warriors players to Black-owned businesses — to stand with us,” Stewart urges. “Let’s make Liberty Hall a model for what preservation can look like when the people lead.”

The Liberty Hall Project aligns with Oakland’s growing movement to protect historic Black cultural sites — places like Esther’s Orbit Room, Marcus Bookstore, and the California Hotel. For Stewart, Liberty Hall represents a chance to bridge the city’s past with its future, transforming preservation into a living, breathing act of justice.

“This is not nostalgia,” Stewart says. “This is nation-building. It’s about creating sustainable, community-owned spaces that honor our ancestors and empower our youth.”

As development pressures mount across West Oakland, Liberty Hall stands as a powerful reminder of resilience, resistance, and rebirth. The question now is whether the community — and those with the power to help — will answer the call.

For donations, partnerships, or information about the Liberty Hall Cooperative Development Project, contact Indigenous House at www.indigenoushouse.org Douglas Stewart dstewart.wealth@gmail.com

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

MLK Way at 57th Street in Oakland Renamed Bobby Seale Way for Black Panther Co-Founder

In 1962, Bobby Seale and Virtual Murrell cofounded the first known Black student organization called the Soul Students Advisory Council at Oakland City College located at 57th and Grove streets, now MLK. Jr. Way.

Published

2 months ago

October 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Promotional flyer for the renaming event. Courtesy photo.

By Zac Unger

We are so proud to honor the legacy of the great Bobby Seale by commemoratively renaming 57^th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way to Bobby Seale Way in North Oakland. Seale, 88, has dedicated his life to advancing social justice, racial equality, and community self-determination. He played an essential part in the history of our country by co-founding the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in Oakland in 1966 with the late Huey Newton.

Our City has a tremendous history of activism, and it is a legacy we are proud of and strive to continue as our community and country face so many incredible challenges right now.

In 1962, Bobby Seale and Virtual Murrell cofounded the first known Black student organization called the Soul Students Advisory Council at Oakland City College, located at 57th and Grove streets, now MLK. Jr. Way.

Later, they cofounded the first Negro history class, which led to the establishment of the first Black Studies program in college curricula in the country. Murrell is scheduled to introduce Seale at the street dedication.

The author of “Seize the Time,” Seale ran for mayor of Oakland in 1973, coming in second in a field of nine. We are proud to memorialize his legacy by renaming this street so that we do not forget the legacy and change he has made.

Zac Unger is Oakland’s District 1 Councilmember