264: Class of Hope and Change

*received in exchange for my review*

Synopsis

Reclaiming their time. Sharing their lives. Speaking their truth.

Millennials, the young people who entered adulthood during the first 18 years of the 21st century, have come of age during one of the most dramatic periods in modern human history. The rapid changes taking place in their individual lives parallel the rapid changes occurring in technology, culture, economics, and politics in societies around the world.

For the past ten years, millennials have been the driving force behind large and small changes across the full spectrum of life. They have built their own seats, created spaces for themselves at the tables of influence, and claimed their places as equal stakeholders in the ongoing project of human civilization.

They have a lot to say, and we made time to listen.

Class of Hope and Change captures this moment in history through a series of conversations, conducted over the past two years, with over 50 millennials. This book is an intra-generational conversation among young people who bring a variety of life experiences and cultural perspectives to discussions about a wide range of timely and timeless subjects.

This beautiful movement of love, trust, and truth is rooted in the belief that through conversation, we can discover the gems of wisdom which lie beneath the surface of what we typically see and share on social media.

Life in the real world is not always pretty, but we think truth can be communicated in love…and we aspire to do just that.

Pick up your copy of the book, and join us!  

The Good

First and foremost it is something to read the thoughts and opinions of black people always.

The amount and variety of voices (the chapter on technology is one of the best examples of this because when you think the narrative of technology is going to be one-sided someone comes in with a differing/rounded opinion)

Wide variety in topics- it is not just social justice (there are chapters on social media and art)

There is a lot of consciousness so this was not just  uninformed opinions

Reading the opinions of people who are millennials (around my age)- one of my issues I have realized is feeling so much black content (particularly literature) is written for folks older than me. Yes, the older generations works can still say something to me but there is something to reading things that pertain directly to me.

The chapters were short and easy to read- Another gripe (yes, another one) is that sometimes I feel people put on airs when writing nonfiction (and poetry and literary fiction). This book is not formal and stuffy which I think makes it flow really well. Also, the different opinions are usually a chapter to page at most so not long. I personally paired it with watching television (reading during the commercial breaks, it was easy to switch back into the show or movie versus other books where there are not many breaks in the chapter)

Beginning of chapters- throws out truth bombs and manages to capture all these different things that need to be said about the topics in one page

The Meh

Some chapters were tough to read because of the subjects of the chapters.

It would have been interesting to have even more variety in voices. There were points where it felt like people were repeating the same ideas (but I do think it gives a snapshot into the values and ideas we as black people carry. Basically, it possibly shows what was passed on to our generation and what we will pass on to other generations.)