July 15, 1968. It is only three months following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the nation is burning. Black and White America are locked in the tense grip of massive change. Into this inferno steps an unsuspecting young White couple. Neither significantly knew even a single African American person while growing up. Now, a child will change all of that forever. In this fateful moment, a Black baby becomes perhaps the first in the history of New Mexico to be adopted by a White family. Here is a brazenly honest glimpse into the mind and heart of that child, a true story for the ages that flows like a soulful river--separated from his mother at birth, placed into foster care, adopted, and finally reunited with his biological family in adulthood--an astounding journey of personal discovery. Jaiya John has opened the floodgates on his own childhood with this piercing memoir. Black Baby White Hands, a waterfall of jazz splashing over the rocks of love, pain and the honoring of family. Magically, this book finds a way to sing as it cries, and to exude compassion even as it dispels well-entrenched myths. This story is sure to find itself well worn, stained by tears, and brushed by laughter in the lap of parents, adolescents, educators, students and professionals. Here comes the rain and the sunshine, all at once.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Great Resource for Families Considering Transracial Adoption:

Black Baby White hands is a great resource for any family considering adopting a child of a different race. Jaiya does an excellant job of leading the reader through the roller coaster of emotions that children experience as they try to establish their own identity in their family. This book does not discourage adoption, however, it provides a spring board for family discussion of sensitive topics. As social worker specializing in infant and child adoptions, I encourage any family who may be considering... more info

With An Open Mind You Will Be Blessed:

As a mother, I believe the messages in this book to be so valuable that I do not want others to miss them. This motivates my following comments. Most of the reviewers here seem to understand the spirit of this book. A few do not. In particular, the two dated prior to my own show a fundamental misunderstanding of what this book is. The author is sharing the journey of emotions and thoughts he went on AS A CHILD. He is not railing at his parents as an adult. He is not complaining, being ungrateful, or feeling... more info

Self-indulgent, Negative and Repetative:

I was excited to read this book, but was very dissapointed and personally feel it is way overrated. The language used is supposedly "poetic", but I just found it pretentious and esoteric. More importantly, however, I feel that the author basically took his own experience as an unhappy, isolated child and searching, hyper-sensitive adult (which seemed to me to be more a function of the author's innate personality than the fact that he was transracially adopted... or at least a combination of the two) and... more info

Pity Party!:

Honestly, I only made it half way through the book before I could not stand it anymore. Although the author is a very eloquent writer, his pity party over his life was more then I could bare. He was raised by wonderful loving parents who did the best they could to raise him with all the opportunities, guidance, love and affection they could. He had extended family that loved him and treated him with respect (and by his own admittance, some overcame huge prejudicial upbringings to fully love and accept him... more info

Accessories:

Health o Meter HDC100-01 "Grow with Me" Teddy Bear Scale for Babies and Toddlers

Binding: Health and Beauty
Published: 2005-05-06
Availability: Usually ships in 4 to 6 weeks

$79.93

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