113: The Sunshine Mind

Synopsis

The Sunshine Mind is your guide to finding hope and joy in every day and embracing the beautiful person God made you to be.

As modern women living and working in LA and Hollywood, Tanya Rad and Raquelle Stevens know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed by trying to keep up, develop real relationships, pursue life passions, and hear from God at the same time.

Real, honest, and shared from personal experience, Tanya and Raquelle wrote The Sunshine Mind with today’s woman in their hearts. Each of the 100 inspiring readings offers faith, hope, strength, and peace to encourage you to become the beautiful person God made you to be.

Through short encouraging readings on how to become less obsessed with perfection, seek validation from God rather than others, see negative circumstances as new opportunities, and more, you’ll learn to…

• Respond with faith to the stress and anxiety that life brings
• Embrace the truth to help you handle the pressure to “measure up”
• Live free from worry in simple and practical ways
• Reflect on God’s plan for you and embrace his perfect love for you–just the way you are
• Share God’s love and joy with the people around you

Leave anxiety and stress behind, find a better way to conquer your struggles, and create a life of peace and joy with The Sunshine Mind.

The Good

I. It is approachable and has in mind many modern everyday issues.

II. Day 2 of Sunshine Mind (and many of the other relationship focused chapters) felt like an answer to part of Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation single/dating section.

III. It has actionable steps alongside each devotional.

IV. Short approachable chapters that you are able to read every day.

V. There was a prayer that was put at end of some of the devotional days.

VI. It made me reflective – a devotional would come up that would be something I needed to read.

VII. It is about giving back positivity which I think is not talked about enough.

The Bad

It is more self-help with scripture tacked on top than devotional at times? It can feel not God centered because it is not focused as much on the relationship with God as other devotionals?

Thoughts

I. Devotionals

A. Some are meant for different seasons, people, etc.

B. Is there a difference between devotionals by those of cloth and those who are not of cloth?

II. To be fair about what was said in The Bad section I think that other devotionals are probably not as focused on giving back to others as this one. (I still stand with the critique though)

III. Day 2 of The Sunshine Mind (and many of the other relationship focused chapters) felt like an answer to part of Truth’s Table: Black Women’s Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation dating portion.

IV. There is a lot of pressure inside and outside the church to have your life together by your late twenties. This idea that you are successful because you are married, have kids, and have a high paying career is interesting. What if Gods plan is for you not to get married until later in life? Or not have a high paying job? Are we so caught up in checking off boxes that we are missing the joys of the journey of life? Is the world’s idea of success in conflict with Gods plan for your life?

B. I want to see more focus outside of kids, marriage, and jobs in media.

It would be interesting seeing a Christian book from someone who does not plan on having kids, getting married, or having a big corporate job.

V. Do we let negativity be our default too much and not put out enough energy into spreading positivity.

I received this from Zondervan via bookishfirst

115: Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent

Synopsis

Africa Is Not A Country is a bright portrait of modern Africa that pushes back against harmful stereotypes to tell a more comprehensive story.

You already know these stereotypes. So often Africa is depicted simplistically as an arid red landscape of famines and safaris, uniquely plagued by poverty and strife.

In this funny and insightful book, Dipo Faloyin offers a much-needed corrective. He examines each country’s colonial heritage, and explores a wide range of subjects, from chronicling urban life in Lagos and the lively West African rivalry over who makes the best Jollof rice, to the story of democracy in seven dictatorships and the dangers of stereotypes in popular culture.

By turns intimate and political, Africa Is Not A Country brings the story of the continent towards reality, celebrating the energy and fabric of its different cultures and communities in a way that has never been done before.

The Good

I learned and reflected a lot.

Constructive Collectivism (a term the author used that I like) – Respect that the view of Black Americans and those in diaspora is represented alongside those in the continent in a nuanced way. I feel, usually, the diaspora (online at least) enters into conversations at war, so it is a fight instead of a discussion.

Structure- there is an understanding of how Africa has gotten from point A to C from how the author structured this book.

The chapter about media was my favorite because so much that was said I could see immediately in my head.

The Meh

Parts of it I was not into as much as others.

Thoughts

I. Global Antiblackness

A. There are so many invested in the subjugation and downfall of Black folks across the diaspora.

B. How do we move forward without true reconciliation and healing between groups? All this performative activism and such without actual giving back and fixing what is broken is wild.

II. Media representation

A. Can you have discussions about African representation in West without mentioning Black Americans?

There is a whole conversation about Black Americans heavy influence on American/western culture.

Black representation across the diaspora is different but still linked.

B. Pan-africanism or some ideas around it can slip into those who ancestors were enslaved have no identity which can get into a lot of messy stuff.

C. Wakanda- It is refreshing (and surprising) to have someone talk about Wakanda positively. It is nice having someone speaking on significance that it had for Black diaspora especially in space when it feels like there is so much negativity surrounding it now.

D. The west does not have enough African suburban representation.

III. Social Media & Aid Organizations/Saviorism

A. Commentary about how social media and aid organizations operate on this instant gratification.

-This saviorism energy of wanting to save/respond as quickly as possible can be detrimental for so many reasons.

-If you do not perform your aid publicly it is a problem.

-It becomes more about who is/isn’t helping & shaming people into helping than the issue(s).

B. White saviorism cannot operate without xenophobic & racist ideas of African/Black people.

IV. Does Africa get space to be complicated?

I won this book from  W. W. Norton Company via goodreads