ERIC HUANG'S PAGE: PRESIDENTS; TRAILBLAZERS; SCIENCE, all art by Sam Caldwell

SCIENCE: Fascinating Facts You Never Knew About All Things Science!
ERIC HUANG (illus. Sam Caldwell)
words & pictures (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$12.99 paperback, available now

Rating: 5* of five

The Publisher Says: Everything you think you know will be proven wrong in this myth-busting guide to science, from chemistry to geology, engineering, astronomy and even technology.

Science is all about figuring out how things work. It means asking questions and conducting experiments to discover and test possible answers. Science affects every aspect of life, from what you’re wearing and what you had for breakfast, to the weather outside.

Through science, you can examine the smallest atoms to the largest galaxies – and get to know the universe just a little bit better. But how much do you really know about science?

For example, we all know that . . .

Moons are smaller than their planet

Summer is caused by Earth being closer to the Sun

Water is an element

Tectonic plates don't move that much anymore

AND that engineers are people who fix things

Do we . . . ? Because . . . OH NO THEY AREN'T!

Misconceptions about our world are everywhere, but none of them are true! In Oh No They Aren't: Science myths are busted about science from chemistry to geology, engineering, astronomy and even technology.
In this fresh and funny guide learn about how our world works from atoms and molecules to volcanoes and solar systems, or even artificially intelligent robots. Stylishly designed and humorously illustrated by Sam Caldwell, Oh No They Aren't: Science brings important STEM topics to life for kids, uncovering how our world works and making science FUN accessible for everyone.

In the Oh No They Aren't . . . series popular misconceptions in science and nature are dispelled. Check out the Oh No They Didn't . . . companion series for hilarious history and popular culture myth-busting.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: Busting myths is an eternal pleasure to kids. They like knowing stuff you don't, or you pretend you don't if you're smart, and here's a kid's motherload of trivia to ask you "did you know...?" about.

experimental conditions

methodology explained

As expected in this series, Author Huang and Artist Caldwell explain in fun, easy-to-digest pieces, the whys, whos, and hows of science as a method of understanding the world.

who thinks about rocks?

What makes these books so valuable to parents and other invested adults is the easy in of humor and vibrant art melding with kid-friendly questions-answered formatting. I've never known a kid who was not popping with questions about everything. No one can hope to keep up with the little natural-born scientists, wanting to know why and how and when about stuff we've forgotten decades before they were born.

Except, of course, dinosaurs:

cool!

Beats there a heart so dead to wonder as to be indifferent to these long-dead monsters of the Earth? (I already know the answer is "no" so no need to try to tell me otherwise.)

A wonderful way for you to see if your kid-giftee is interested enough in science to pursue it through schooling years.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

TRAILBLAZERS: Fascinating Facts You Never Knew About Amazing Trailblazers!
ERIC HUANG (illus. Sam Caldwell)
words & pictures (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$12.99 paperback, available now

Rating: 5* of five

The Publisher Says: Learn about innovative figures past and present in this myth-busting guide to trailblazers—everything you think you know will be proven wrong!

Trailblazers have made extraordinary contributions throughout history.From inventing everyday household items we take for granted to breaking barriers in sports and medicine, their impact on the world is undeniable. But how much do you really know about the innovators who’ve shaped our world?

Everyone knows that…

Martin Luther King Jr. used every method possible to fight for civil rights

Ruth Handler founded Mattel and created Barbie dolls

William Shakespeare came up with the story of Romeo and Juliet

AND Florence Nightingale’s family supported her dream of becoming a nurse

Or did they…? Because… OH NO THEY DIDN’T! Misconceptions about famous figures from the past and present are everywhere, but they’re not always true! In Oh No They Didn’t: Trailblazers, myths are busted about over 50 trailblazers—politicians, legends, athletes, activists, scientists, entrepreneurs, creatives, and more.

In this fresh and funny guide written by Eric Huang, learn about inspiring innovators from all over the world and their influence on history and pop culture. Stylishly designed and humorously illustrated by Sam Caldwell, Oh No They Didn’t: Trailblazers makes learning fun with surprising facts and a playful, upbeat approach to nonfiction.

Oh No They Didn’t: Trailblazers is the perfect, inspiring guide for ALL young readers to learn about influential innovators, including parts of their stories that may have been left out of traditional history books or media. In this easy-to-read book, you’re sure to discover lesser-known pioneers who deserve to be celebrated, too!

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: A lot of adulthood is about unlearning what "everybody knows" about stuff. Almost always the myths about leaders are not true, or are skewed, to present them in one kind of light. It can be pernicious; more often than not it's just inaccurate, sloppy, careless uninterest in pursuing facts.

who we're talking about

Kids casting around for models of action, for examples of change-makers, often run into misinformation because The Culture℠ is hell-bent on perpetuating one narrative that might or might not include the truth about someone they do, or could, admire and emulate.

what we're saying

By choosing leaders and forerunners in different social movements, Author Huang offers the kid-reader a chance to see what areas of effort they might be interested in exploring more, and if nothing appeals, still demonstrating that there are always people who take up the torch to light the way for others to follow.

It's a life-changing message to receive. There's a wildly plastic moment in a kid's life where you can form life-changing and course-setting fascinations and commitments, and this book is aimed at that moment.

ecology

civil rights

But equally valuably, showing a kid that the world can be changed by example is, in and of itself, a wonderful investment in their, thus in our, future.

We need more leaders in fields we've never even heard of; we need kids to grow up thinking for the whole world, and all in and on it. A book like this can help them get in tune with that huge idea.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

PRESIDENTS: Fascinating Facts You Never Knew About U.S. Presidents!
ERIC HUANG (illus. Sam Caldwell)
words & pictures (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$12.99 paperback, available now

Rating: 5* of five

The Publisher Says: Do you know the Presidents of the United States? Well, OH NO YOU DON'T!

In this myth-busting guide to the Presidents of the United States, their Vice-Presidents, First Ladies, and presidential pets, everything you think you know will be proven wrong!

Do you know everything there is to know about the Presidents of the United States? OH NO YOU DON'T!

The people who have served as President of the United States of America are some of the most famous people on the planet. But how much do we really know about the presidents? We all know that...

President Abraham Lincoln freed enslaved people by signing the Emancipation Proclamation,

Thomas Jefferson introduced ice cream to the US,

Andrew Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives and kicked out of office,

AND that Theodore Roosevelt had teddy bears named after him because he once refused to shoot an injured bear...

Do we...? Because... OH NO THEY DIDN'T!

These commonly held misconceptions about our Presidents are everywhere, but none of them are true! In Oh No They Didn't: Presidents, commonly held misconceptions about the Presidents, Vice-Presidents, First Ladies, and presidential pets are all dispelled. This myth-busting guide to the White House and everyone in it is an irreverent, fun, and enriching way to learn about US political figures and history.

Stylishly designed and humorously illustrated by Sam Caldwell, Oh No They Didn't: Presidents is a hugely entertaining and trendy take on US history for young readers. This myth-busting series makes history accessible to everyone, taking an alternative and gripping approach to teaching the true facts about the past. Dive in to learn what else you were taught in school that is completely WRONG!

In the Oh No They Didn't... series, popular misconceptions in history and culture are dispelled, busting myths about famous people and events of the past!

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: The very existence of an office as powerful as the US presidency guarantees its occupants serious global fame while in office. Along with that comes the misinformation, mistakes, major misunderstandings, that come with fame.

The presidents...and first ladies...of the US over the past two hundred fifty years are not all included. The choices Author Huang and Artist Caldwell have made bust the most deep-rooted or best-known misinformed facts about these famous people.

sample spreads

It's an enjoyable way to learn about the honorable past of the US presidency.

SEDITION: How America's Constitutional Order Emerged from Violent Crisis, one of the most urgent reads of 2025

SEDITION: How America's Constitutional Order Emerged from Violent Crisis
MARCUS ALEXANDER GADSON
NYU Press (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$32.00 ebook, available now

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: How Americans have weathered constitutional crises throughout our history

Since protestors ripped through the Capitol Building in 2021, the threat of constitutional crisis has loomed over our nation. The foundational tenets of American democracy seem to be endangered, and many citizens believe this danger is unprecedented in our history. But Americans have weathered many constitutional crises, often accompanied by the same violence and chaos experienced on January 6. However, these crises occurred on the state level. In Sedition, Marcus Alexander Gadson uncovers these episodes of civil unrest and examines how state governments handled them.

Sedition takes readers through six instances of constitutional The Buckshot War, Dorr’s Rebellion, Bleeding Kansas, the Brooks-Baxter War, a successful terrorist campaign to overthrow South Carolina’s government during Reconstruction, and the Wilmington Insurrection of 1898. He chronicles these turbulent periods of violent anti-government conflict on the state level, explaining what it was like to experience coup d’états, rival governments fighting in the streets, and disputed elections that gave way to violence. As he addresses constitutional breakdown, Gadson urges Americans to pay increased attention to the risk of constitutional instability in their home states. His sweeping historical analysis provides new insights on the fight to protect democracy today.

As Americans mobilize to prevent future crises, Sedition reminds us that our constitutional order can fail, that democratic collapse is possible, and offers us advice on how to save our constitutional system.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: I've turned the references in the publisher's synopsis into links. I did this so you can look into the high points of the events the author has chosen to highlight in search of a context for the public, academic, and media responses to the unfolding crisis in the US Federal government. Tellingly, each of these cases examined involved a bloody uprising by some (definitionally reactionary, as they chose armed rebellion as a response to change) element of the affected population.

I'm not going to go into the events, that's why I've given you the links, but I do want to highlight a vitally important takeaway from the book. Our system only works when we all play by the rules. When any group decides the rules set out in a constitution just will not do, and determine the effort to change that constitution is better expended in imposing new rules by force, bloodshed must follow. Otherwise the path to anarchy is paved.

This is not theoretical. These are not hypothetical case studies. This is US history, researched by a professor of Law at an accredited (christian) university. His entire text, including an excellent endnotes section, is under three hundred pages. Wear your biblio-track shoes. Have coffee before reading, I had a half-star off for my inability to read and absorb it without taking copious notes. But listen, please to a voice that should be coming from inside the coup-executers' house. He brings facts to the table that demonstrate the danger, and the impracticality, of the current crisis actors' intended result.

It is too important and too imminent a threat not to learn how it has been attempted...and thwarted, however kludged together and flawed the response was...before. And at what cost.

RED SKY MORNING: The Epic True Story of Texas Ranger Company F, the kind of focused-on-a-story history that fascinates my Texas-rooted self

RED SKY MORNING: The Epic True Story of Texas Ranger Company F
JOE PAPPALARDO
St. Martin's Press
$29.99 hardcover, available now

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: The explosive and bloody true history of Texas Rangers Company F, made up of hard men who risked their lives to bring justice to a lawless frontier.

Between 1886 and 1888, Sergeant James Brooks, of Texas Ranger Company F, was engaged in three fatal gunfights, endured disfiguring bullet wounds, engaged in countless manhunts, was convicted of second-degree murder, and rattled Washington, D.C. with a request for a pardon from the US president. His story anchors the tale of Joe Pappalardo's Red Sky Morning, an epic saga of lawmen and criminals set in Texas during the waning years of the “Old West.”

Alongside Brooks are the Rangers of Company F, who range from a pious teetotaler to a cowboy fleeing retribution for killing a man. They are all led by Captain William Scott, who cut his teeth as a freelance undercover informant but was facing the end of his Ranger career. Company F hunted criminals across Texas and beyond, killing them as needed, and were confident they could bring anyone to “Ranger justice.” But Brooks’ men met their match in the Conner family, East Texas master hunters and jailbreakers who were wanted for their part in a bloody family feud.

The full story of Company F’s showdown with the Conner family is finally being told, with long dead voices being heard for the first time. This truly hidden history paints the grim picture of neighbors and relatives becoming snitches and bounty hunters, and a company of Texas Rangers who waded into the conflict only to find themselves over their heads—and in the fight of their lives.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: I'll start by lauding what other readers have liked least about this book: It is a mosaic of multiple stories, and intentionally so. The design of a history that's focused on a story, not a biography, is to collate the fascinating pieces and ugly, disfiguring truths that make up the whole picture of the moment in question...it's meant to be taken in piece by piece, and assembled in one's mental theater as a whole image of The Defining Conflict.

To that end, we meet the main main, James Brooks, as he surveys Cotulla, Texas, on the day he joins the Texas Rangers in 1883. Author Pappalardo begins, then, at a beginning...but we're going to see other beginnings as we go along. We'll see the last of active Rangers Captain Brooks in Cotulla, too...and that's the kind of symmetry I appreciate in a story.

What happens between those two events, not hugely distant in time, is...a lot. A great deal more than one person's life generally holds, and a great deal less as well. Brooks, in his entire life of genuine service to the people of Texas, never shook a debilitating addiction to alcohol and an equally debilitating inability to form sustaining, intimate friendships with anyone. This included, as it is so sad to say, his own family. He was married to one woman his entire adult life. There is no record or indication in any recorded memory that he found any sense of companionship or happiness in their union, nor did she express any enduring or undying affection for her husband. His children were dutiful, and always played their role of help and sustenance for him, but again there is not any record of them feeling hero-worship for their truly outsized and outstanding father.

Brooks County, named for the Captain (as he always preferred to be referred to and addressed despite having the options of Representative or Judge), was a creation of the remarkable man's efforts to drag a thousand square miles of mesquite scrub and caliche and its few thousand residents out of the hands of a corrupt Democratic party machine in the early twentieth century. He was, at the time, a State Representative, and his life-long campaign of fair treatment for Spanish-speaking people and law-abiding souls of all skin colors and ethnicities made Brooks County and Falfurrias havens of good, equitable Democratic-party led government.

In the chapter dedicated to this end-of-life résumé of Brooks, there are résumés of his cohorts in Company F, all of whom were with the Captain during the main action of the book...the take-down of the Sabine County-based Conner crime family in the weird swampy Louisiana-like East Texas world. It was a long, tense fight on the logistical and legal levels, and Author Pappalardo doesn't stint on the practical details. There are a LOT of people in this story. There are a LOT of names that appear, then aren't mentioned for a while, then reappear with minimal fanfare. There is a Dramatis Personae that can be bookmarked or hyperlinked in your ereader, and I strongly suggest that any readers do that very thing. I found it hugely helpful and on occasion, to my utter lack of surprise, its completeness and thoroughgoing explanatory notes were interesting enough to make me want more books about this century-old vanished culture.

What I want from histories is a sense of the why of things. The what is great as a launchpad but I really treasure whys. In that arena, Author Pappalardo is a strong deliverer. I was never at a loss for reasons to pick up the book. I took it at a measured pace, a chapter a week and a section or two a day. I think this is the most likely technique to give the story its full room to expand and its details to slot into each others' proper settings. Since I am from Texas, I was prepared with some ideas of the roles of lawmen, and specifically the Texas Rangers, in the state's history. Since I am from that part of Texas, it was even more of a sense of homecoming, of learning my own family's cultural past. That added soupçon of personal connection is likely the source of the extra half-star I hung on the book.

It really is extra, as I can understand from others' responses to the read. Quite a few readers were unable to see the nature of the story being told and that is squarely on the author's shoulders. His stated aim is to answer this quote from one N.A. Jennings, a former Texas Ranger of that time and later an author in his own right:

"Near everyone has heard of the Texas Rangers, but how many know what the Rangers really are, or what are their duties? In a general way, everyone knows they are men who ride around on the Texas border, do a good deal of shooting, and now and then get killed or kill someone. But why they ride around, or why they do the shooting, is a question which might go begging for an answer for a long time without getting a correct one."

This expectation being set in the Introduction, I can see a history buff feeling let down. This isn't the book that answers that question. It doesn't seem to me to be particularly likely to, set up as it is to tell the story of a group of Rangers involved in one of the organization's formative operations. The personal focus falls most heavily, and in my opinion correctly so, on the Captain, James A. Brooks, and the people he led come in for bits and snatches of attention. But the light that shed on the Texas Rangers as a whole, while bright and revealing, does not get even partway to explaining the entire late-1800s period of the organization's existence that Author Pappalardo indicated it will.

But what the book actually does is, to my way of thinking at least, as valuable or even more so. It traces the roots and the branches of a conflict between the law-and-order forces of state power and the flouters of same whose actions and influence were seriously detrimental to the community as a whole's ability to live their lives free from fear and danger. There are people worse than police today, there were in the 1880s, and the worst is when those terrible actors turn the police into their henchmen. Along come the Texas Rangers of Company F to reset the expectations of the community for law enforcement...and they do.

For the better.

It might not be what we think of in terms of law enforcement's role today, after Rodney King's beating and George Floyd's and Ahmaud Arbery's murders at their hands; but it is true, it happened, and it's worth considering that if it seemed impossible to the people of Sabine County in 1885, and it wasn't, that it isn't impossible today either.

That deserves my attention, and my praise.

CAROLINA BUILT, fictionalized story of a superbly determined woman's battles

CAROLINA BUILT
KIANNA ALEXANDER
Gallery Books (non-affiliate Amazon link)
$13.99 ebook edition, available now


Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: This “exuberant celebration of Black women’s joy as well as their achievements” (Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author) novelizes the life of real estate magnate Josephine N. Leary in a previously untold story of passion, perseverance, and building a legacy after emancipation in North Carolina.

Josephine N. Leary is determined to build a life of her own and a future for her family. When she moves to Edenton, North Carolina from the plantation where she was born, she is free, newly married, and ready to follow her dreams.

As the demands of life pull Josephine’s attention away, it becomes increasingly difficult for her to pursue her real estate aspirations. She finds herself immersed in deepening her marriage, mothering her daughters, and being a dutiful daughter and granddaughter. Still, she manages to teach herself to be a businesswoman, to manage her finances, and to make smart investments in the local real estate market. But with each passing year, it grows more and more difficult to focus on building her legacy from the ground up.

“Filled with passion and perseverance, Josephine Leary is frankly a woman that everyone should know” (Sadeqa Johnson, author of Yellow Wife) and her story speaks to the part of us that dares to dream bigger, tear down whatever stands in our way, and build something better for the loved ones we leave behind.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: It's always been hard to be a woman. In the US, it's always been hard to be Black. Now put the two disadvantages together...that's what Josephine Leary is up against. She's equal to any task, though; the novel begins in 1870, during the last days of Reconstruction. Having lived her childhood as a slave, Josephine knows that every single act she takes in this life has to have as its aim the increase of freedom and the assurance of security for herself, her husband, and their two daughters, as each addition to her life is made.

Her slaveowner was also her father, and that piece of "good luck" played out in her favor. She was able to buy the barbershop she and her husband ran together from him. And from there forward, it was all Mrs. Leary and all the way up Sweety, her husband, backed her.

Until her success threatened his Manhood.

It's a testament to the author's ability to pace a story that I didn't just quietly close the book and ignore it at that point. I know it happened; I am told it still happens. But it makes for dull reading, the expected flaw in the expected place. But to her credit, Author Alexander dwells on it not...it's not like it's played down but it's not protracted either.

What made me so dad-blamed mad that I screamed at my Kindle (for which I apologize to my roommate, he was sleeping and was utterly terrified as I shouted "NO SHE DID NOT!!" into the dark) came close to the end of the book when there's a fire that deprives Mrs. Leary of her (uninsured, of course, she was a Black woman, who'd write that policy in the 1890s?!) hard-earned gains! But...and this is where I almost cheered but was too shy to wake the grouch up again...she still owned the land. And she chose to rebuild, to build back better.

Unlike certain scumbag politicians with "R"s after their names.

Well, that all sounds very five-starry, doesn't it? But there's a four up there...and I feel generous giving it. The fact is that this is a very dialogue-heavy novel and there's not much vigor in the dialogue. It's not awful but it doesn't lend itself to quoting the quotable quotes. There's not any.

"The only thing that truly frightens me is the idea that I might not take full advantage of the gift of freedom. I refuse to let that happen."

And that is as snappy as it gets. I'm in total agreement with the sentiment. I just wish it had more oomph behind it.

But in the end, this is an historical novel and it's a lot better served by thinking of it as a novelized biography. Josephine Leary very much deserves to be remembered for her indomitable will, her savvy, and her sheer cussèd determination to overcome every obstacle the world shoves in front of her. Reading the story is a good, and a worthy, way to honor the memory of such a remarkable person.

AN AFRO-INDIGENOUS HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, colloquial, conversational, controversial

AN AFRO-INDIGENOUS HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
KYLE T. MAYS
Beacon Press
$27.95 hardcover, available now

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: The first intersectional history of the Black and Native American struggle for freedom in our country that also reframes our understanding of who was Indigenous in early America

Beginning with pre-Revolutionary America and moving into the movement for Black lives and contemporary Indigenous activism, Afro-Indigenous historian Kyle T. Mays argues that the foundations of the US are rooted in antiblackness and settler colonialism, and that these parallel oppressions continue into the present. He explores how Black and Indigenous peoples have always resisted and struggled for freedom, sometimes together, and sometimes apart. Whether to end African enslavement and Indigenous removal or eradicate capitalism and colonialism, Mays show how the fervor of Black and Indigenous peoples calls for justice have consistently sought to uproot white supremacy.

Mays uses a wide-array of historical activists and pop culture icons, “sacred” texts, and foundational texts like the Declaration of Independence and Democracy in America. He covers the civil rights movement and freedom struggles of the 1960s and 1970s, and explores current debates around the use of Native American imagery and the cultural appropriation of Black culture. Mays compels us to rethink both our history as well as contemporary debates and to imagine the powerful possibilities of Afro-Indigenous solidarity.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: What a great idea for Beacon Press to do this series, ReVisioning History. Selecting creators for the almost infinite numbers of topics available to expand our existing explanations of US History must be a nightmare. Author Mays is a scholar of Popular Culture (Hip Hop Beats, Indigenous Rhymes: Modernity and Hip Hop in Indigenous North America, SUNY Press 2018), African American culture, Indigenous culture...among other things...working out of UCLA. In this book, he makes very plain the roots of racism in capitalist profit-seeking, and highlights the Indigenous dispossessions as another facet of capitalist settler colonialism's project to entrench white supremacy.

So is this something to give your sugar dumplin' for a romantic read-along? Probably not. Is it something to give your sugar dumplin'? Yes. We're well past the stage of needing any help "feeling comfortable" my fellow white folk. The need now is for us to get with the program of what needs to come next. The subject this book has in its sights is how we got where we are, what where we are means, and how to move forward in a positive and inclusive direction.

In the time of #BlackLivesMatter, I'm not sure I see a way forward that isn't plagued by violence. I'm not at all eager to find out I'm correct, of course. What I suggest to all reading this is, go get the book and see what got us here before opining upon the ways we should or should not proceed. Believe me when I tell you that the way you think we got here is, in fact, not that whole story and to effectively influence the course of future events you'd best be fully au fait with the full spectrum of facts.

The toughest part of the read for me was the simultaneous sense that the author's boiling mad and icy furious, and reaches for the facetious blade in those circumstances. While it's not unjustified, the overall more controlled, academic prose suddenly breaking out in snark is jarring (eg, an early use of the pejorative "hotepness" made me wonder where this was going to recrudesce).

Guns aren't the only weapon of choice for police officers. We must ask this question: Where do police officers learn the techniques that lead to the violent brutalization and death of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx peoples? The martial arts community. When we see a police officer mounting a Black person and controlling their wrists and legs, holding them in a chokehold, putting their knee on someone's neck, you know where they learned that from? A martial artist. They learn chokeholds from Brazilian jujitsu experts. ... In this regard, we also have to hold the martial arts community accountable. ... I've been to at least a few gyms in my life and always see someone who has all the signs of a white supremacist. Don't train them. I understand you have bills to pay and deserve to be paid for your labor, but you are actively teaching people who commit violence against Black and Indigenous people. If you want to help someone, actively recruit and train the people who are suffering from police violence in order that they can defend themselves.

The end does not support the beginning. "I understand you have bills to pay" is pretty snotty...if I, over-sixty white guy, said it to the author, he'd be incandescent with rage...and there's absolutely no recognition that the end of the clause does not contain any sort of mechanism for the beginning to be dealt with.

Anyway, while there's a lot to address in the world, there's also a lot to address in this book. It makes for a good read because perspective changes are urgently needed all around, and there's no bad place to start working toward a new, more flexible way of framing your personal conversation with it.