New & Noteworthy: The New York Times "Vivid and relatable. The
writing is like Vanessa herself; funny, charming and brave." --Mindy
Kaling Through a series of extraordinary, incisive, often-humorous
essays, Emmy Award-winning actor Vanessa Baden Kelly examines what the
idea of "home" means to a Black millennial woman. How important is race
to the idea of community? What are the consequences of gentrification on
the life of a young Black woman? What aspects of a community help--or
hurt--a family with a young child? In these profound, intimate essays,
Baden has found a space where she can work out thoughts and feelings she
feels unsafe saying out loud. As she processes the initial ideas more
fully, her essays evolve from personal stories to fully-realized
communiques of a generation of Black women who are finding a new sense
of both belonging and ostracism in private, work, and public life. A
single ride on a Los Angeles public bus that begins with the
overwhelming odor of a man sleeping across one of the seats travels
through a range of ideas and choices: "choosing" to sit in the back of
the bus; the interconnectedness of living in a majority-Black community
in the Crenshaw district; the segregation and gentrification of Los
Angeles; the challenges of raising a child in a modern urban
environment. Underlying the theme of each essay are questions of how a
Black millennial woman can find "home" anywhere when confronted with its
invasion by police, men, and society's expectations.
