A unique and exquisitely wrought story of one multiracial woman's
journey to discover and embrace herself in a family that sought to deny
her black heritage, Sil Lai Abrams shares her story in Black Lotus: A
Woman's Search for Racial Identity--an account that will undoubtedly
ignite conversation on race, racial identity, and the human
experience.
Author and activist Sil Lai Abrams was born to a Chinese immigrant
mother and a white American father. Out of her family, Sil Lai was the
only one with a tousle of wild curls and brown skin. When she asked
about her darker complexion, she was given vague answers. At fourteen,
the man she knew her entire life as her birth-father divulged that
Abrams was not his biological child, but instead the daughter of a man
of African descent who didn't know she existed.
This shocking news sparked a quest for healing that would take her down
the painful road to reclaim her identity despite the overt racism in her
community and her own internalized racism and self-hatred. Abrams
struggled with depression, abuse, and an addiction that nearly destroyed
her. But eventually she would leave behind the shame over her birthright
and move toward a celebration of her blackness.
In Black Lotus, Abrams takes you on her odyssey filled with extreme
highs and lows and the complexities of not only the black experience,
but also the human one. This vivid story reexamines everything you think
you know about racial identity while affirming the ability of the human
spirit to triumph over tragedy. Ultimately, Black Lotus shines a light
on the transformative power of truth and self-acceptance, and the
importance of defining your personal identity on your own terms.
