Say The Wrong Thing

Part memoir and part social commentary, Amanda Kemp’s short book provides insight and strategies for creating racial justice and a strong sense of shared community. Her voice is vulnerable and personal as she reflects on her own interracial relationship, parenting her Black teenaged son, and making art in the age of Black Lives Matter. Her short essays leave you cheering and hopeful.

Kemp’s searing and tender commentary about herself, life within her interracial family, and racial justice take the reader on a rare journey into an African American boundary crosser. Kemp grew up in poverty in a predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood but went on to graduate from Stanford University and earned a PhD from Northwestern University. Now married to her European American husband, Kemp watches the way that race plays out in her family, her work as a performing artist and professor, and in her spiritual journey.

This intimate short collection of essays will leave you pondering deep questions long after you stop reading. A great conversation starter, this short book is a must read for people concerned with racial unity, making Black Lives Matter, and educators and youth development professionals.