Review: How We Fight for Our Lives
How We Fight For Our Lives
Saeed Jones
Synopsis: Saeed Jones tells the story of growing up a gay, black man, finding out who his is, and his place in the world.
This book is a brutally honest, emotional roller coaster. It’s difficult at times to listen to Jones describe the heartbreaking and traumatizing situations that he found himself in, in search of discovering his true self, at a time when homosexuality still wasn’t discussed much. He describes how growing up in the late 80’s into the 90’s, the only time he really heard people talk about being gay was in relation to them dying of AIDS. Reading this book makes me grateful that the LGBTQ lifestyle is more normalized now, and that young people questioning who they are have more access to information and safe ways to ask questions.
I won’t lie to you. This is not a family friendly book. There is a lot of strong language, and at times it’s very sexually explicit. I even caught myself wondering why so much detail was necessary. But every time I found myself questioning that, I later understood what it brought to the story, and overall appreciated the raw vulnerability of it.
How We Fight For Our Lives is courageous. I cannot for the life of me fathom the kind of strength is must take to write a memoir like this, and share such raw wounds for all the world to see.
If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t know what this book was about when I first downloaded it. I was looking through African American non-fiction books and the title caught my eye and I borrowed it from the library. I’m grateful for this. Had I know what it was actually about, I don’t know that I would have borrowed it, only because it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I’m very glad to have read it. For me, it’s a spotlight on a population that isn’t discussed much.
This book will not be for everyone, though no book truly is. But if you are able to go into it with an open mind, I would recommend reading How We Fight For Our Lives. I wholeheartedly believe that by listening to the stories of those who aren’t necessarily like us, we make our world a little bit bigger, and our compassion for the others stronger. Mr. Jones has done us the honor of offering his heart and soul, bruises and scars for us to learn from. I would encourage you to accept his invitation.