Poignant story by NPR Host/ Reporter

The book encourages people to really learn more about their family histories. I grew up near where the author did and was familiar with the settings. My family went to Arkansas though, not Alabama. I went to the same high school she attended, although years before she did.
She wrote:
"The civil rights icon Julian Bond has said that the protest for equal rights by black World War II veterans and the blinding of Isaac Woodard marked the beginning of the modern-day civil rights movement." Civil rights are discussed but in a deeply personal way to the author, mostly through what she learned about her father and the ill treatment given to him and other African American veterans after WW2. ( )

I picked this up because I heard Ms. Norris speak at a conference I attended. In this book, she tracks down her family's secret stories that shaped who they were and how segregation in America shaped her whole family. Her father's story is particularly poignant. ( )

Michele Norris's exploration of her family history is a stunning tale of systemic racial injustice, thoroughly researched and reported, but it also raises questions about all family's and their histories: who conceals what facts, and why. Certainly, her book spoke to me not only about her family but about my own immigrant grandparents, whose stories are only partially known. Who decides what will be passed on and what will be hidden? Norris discusses these questions and they have been with me since finishing "The Grace of Silence". ( )

Wow. Every American should read this book. It's so much more than it appears to be on first look. The reader expects a family memoir, and that is provided along with crucial and little-known American history. This book contains so much elegant wisdom, eloquently told. Further, it asks us to do more, to be more, to understand more.

I've been listening to Michele Norris on NPR for years without knowing anything about her. You won't find much that's current about her and her work in this book, but you can find that online. What you'll find are precious gems for living well.

All that said, this book will be loved by mature readers. Immature readers or those who don't accept responsibity nor have an appreciation of the give and take of all kinds of communities, including family, won't get it. But then, I don't think Michele was writing for those audiences.

She has a remarkable family, full of grace, and they're still passing it down through generations. Oh that we all possessed such grace! Don't miss a word of this book. It's the sort I'll read again and give as gifts. ( )

Insightful memoir weaves a narrative of the African American experience of the last 20/30 years that presents some stories that really leave you stunned. The stories related to Norris' own family are heartfelt but the one that made the most impression on me was that of Issac Woodard and his blinding at the hands of a Southern policeman. I love the details of Norris's writing. An example is when describing her search for the names of the officers involved in her father's arrest, she describes getting a sinus infection from the moldy pages and the comment on the various styles of penmanship from the policemen. I did admire the candid nature of some of the reminisces presented in the book. I also found interesting how she noted the downsides to desegregation in some neighborhoods. I think it shows how poverty is one of the main afflictions that serves the underbelly of other problems such as the education gap and indeed racism as well. ( )