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Today, Catherine Meeks is a national leader of racial healing and an esteemed retired professor of African American studies. But being a Black woman in America can be difficult. Join Meeks as she describes the adventures and adversity she encountered on her path to becoming an empowered voice for change.
Growing up in Arkansas under the terror of Jim Crow, Meeks learned firsthand about injustice and the desperation it causes. But with the support of her family, she moved to LA to study at Pepperdine. When a Black teenager was killed by a campus security guard, Meeks awakened to her prophetic voice, and a local women’s group gave her hope that racial reconciliation was possible.
She later led a group of students to West Africa, where she met her husband. Yet her years-long battle with rheumatoid arthritis severed their relationship, leaving her a single mother. Meanwhile, she worked tirelessly at Mercer University to expand the African American studies program, all while earning her MSW and PhD.
Quilting together these memories—bitter and sweet, traumatic and triumphant—Meeks shares her hard-earned wisdom: Learn how to discern the Creator’s work. Listen to the voice saying “yes” to opportunity. Become a wounded healer. Know when to practice silence and when to speak out. Readers will leave the pages of A Quilted Life enriched by Meeks’s unique perspective and insight.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
February 13, 2024 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781467466165
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781467466165
- File size: 1154 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 1, 2024
This engaging memoir comes from anti-racism activist, media commentator, and retired socio-cultural studies professor Meeks (Living into God's Dream, 2016), who's spent her life breaking down barriers and standing up for people who've had no voice. It's difficult to imagine this celebrated and accomplished woman counting herself among those silenced people, but as she makes clear through descriptions of her early days as the daughter of an illiterate sharecropper in Arkansas, she's traveled a very long way. She and her family experienced long separations, hunger, housing insecurity, substandard education, and flagrant racial discrimination. Meeks credits her mother and other supportive mentors for always pushing her to try harder, work harder, and believe in herself, a trait Meeks admits took her several decades to achieve. Referring to inspirational insights and her deep religious faith, Meeks shares personal milestones and career highlights with great humility and truth, calling out bigots and instances of ingrained institutional racism she's encountered along the way. Meeks comes across as an eminently relatable elder who has quilted together a truly amazing life.COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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