Naomi Raquel Enright’s Strength of Soul proposes tangible strategies and ideas on how to challenge systemic racism through naming and resisting the ideology of racial difference and of the white supremacy at its root. Enright explores racism and the language that upholds this ideology through personal narratives that include an examination of her family’s experience. Throughout this volume, Enright shares reflections of her identity growing up as a bilingual, multiethnic individual, and as the mother of a son presumed to be white. She also advances ideas about how to confront societal notions of an inherent difference between the lived experiences of white people and everyone else, notions which result in the widely held belief that there is an inevitable “us” and “them.” Enright suggests that embracing one’s total identity can allow people to challenge systemic racism as well as the language and ideology that created it and upholds it. In these poignant and deeply personal stories, Enright allows readers to imagine a society on a genuine path towards justice, healing, and true transformation. Strength of Soul is for anyone who is willing to rethink the status quo and is interested in creating systemic change regarding institutionalized and internalized racism.
Dina –
I found this book very powerful. The author will change the way you think about “race” and challenge the conventional thinking that is holding back progress. By sharing her unique personal perspective and experiences, she draws the reader into an unforgettable and thought provoking journey. I highly recommend this book!
Cheryl L –
A moving argument for abandoning a malfunctioning and violent color system and embracing a new paradigm that allows for nuance and humanity.
njones –
Poignant and powerful, Naomi Enright’s “Strength of Soul” is more than the personal story of a mother who is “brown” with a young son who is “white,” navigating the social violence of systemic racism in the U.S. It challenges the lingua franca of an entire school of anti-racist diversity trainings proliferating around the country, by addressing the power of language as a key force holding white supremacist ideology in place, controlling how we conceive of ourselves and each other. Enright challenges us to use the words “racism” and “racist” and stop referring to “race” as if it exists–not as purveyors of “color-blindness,” as many are swift to protest–but as anti-racist citizens bent on the undoing of systemic racism based on a pseudoscience invented to justify slavery and systemic abuses ever since. Every time we use the word (other than to object to its use, or its pseudoscience), we psychologically reinforce the notion of its existence in the minds of others (even if unintentionally) and help to perpetuate systemic racism. Resistance to this idea among many “white,” “black” and “brown” diversity trainers is fierce, as it threatens a commonly-held frame of reference, enshrined in language used for centuries. Books, “tool kits,” public presentations, trainings, curricula and careers have been based on the use of the word by people with the best of intentions. But to eradicate systemic racism will require eradicating the false notion on which it is based–and that calls on us to be more committed to constantly learning, growing and unraveling this mess together, than to our professional advancement. Racism exists. Racist ideology exists. “Race” does not. We are not having “conversations about race,” we are having conversations about racism.
Aleka Mayr –
I highly recommend picking up this book. It discusses human ideology of “race”. The author has participated in many panel discussions/workshops/work groups regarding the topic over the course of her life, which is quite impressive. It’s hard to reimagine a society without the ideology of race, as well as recognizing the injustice race has and continues to play, but Enright has been able to compile a landscape using learned knowledge as well as first hand experience of being a parent. The fact that her son does not fit into the normative perceptions of family and heredity is perfect inspiration to open our minds to the fact that race language needs to be a thing of the past if we ever want a future without it as an oppressor.
Happy Reader –
With warmth, honestly, poignancy, and intelligence, Enright points the way forward for us as individuals and as a society. We learn from and connect to her personal story and take away real strategies for how to navigate the everyday othering of our highly divided and radicalized society. A must read for parents, educators, and anyone who believes that we can and must do better.
NajhaZJ –
Thank you, Namoi for sharing your family with us, for carefully lifting up the history and nuance of white supremacy in the United States, and its consequences globally, specifically from your perspective as a multiracial, Latinx, New Yorker. This book is a must read, and is timely. Strength of Soul carefully weaves together seemingly intellectual concepts of race and identity with autobiography, and is a call to action to not only white America, but all those invested in anti-racism and anti-colonial projects. Lastly, this book is great because it is readable amongst varying age groups, and can be used as a tool in the classroom and in homes.
CC –
Powerful stories and perspectives from lived experiences. Naomi’s stories truly left me with a lot of thoughts and feelings-mainly the strong recognition of how it takes all of us to dismantle the root of systemic racism and white supremacy. Thank you for sharing and bringing significant awareness to our society!
Peter J. Horn –
Combining memoir and impassioned argument, Naomi Raquel Enright gives her readers much to think about. She shares how she came to see the nuanced dimensions of her own identity, which provides a rich example for us to compare and contrast with our own story. She ends up making a case for a means to move our language and thinking forward, which has never been more timely–in my lifetime, at least. Regardless of where you’re coming from or your view of where Ms. Enright ends up, you’ll be grateful for the ways that she challenges some of the assumptions that are so commonplace it’s easy not to notice them. Read for just a little while and you’ll see the way Naomi lives the Strength of Soul that Adrienne Rich describes in the book’s epigraph.
David Morse –
I love this book. I couldn’t put it down. For many different reasons.Being part of an interracial family — I’m Eastern European Jewish, my husband is Navajo, and our daughters are half Jewish, half East Indian — I could relate to so much of what Naomi had to share about her own interracial family, and how people respond to them. And yet as a dark skinned woman, with a light skinned father, husband, and son, Naomi’s experience is so different than my own.This book is written from the heart. But it’s loaded with relevant history, which I love. From the old anti-miscegenation laws to early and very much invented, erroneous concepts of race, the book is very much an education in race in America. It’s also a wonderful telling of White privilege, and how we can sometimes not even be aware of it when we’re White.I feel like I learned so much from this book. I also feel touched. It’s a beautifully written, very personal narrative, that is so reflective of how race, and specifically color, are a prism through which so many of us view the world.I’ve never felt happier recommending a book. It will not disappoint.
Deevon La Rue –
Enright clarifies the fundamental contradiction between recognizing that race is a socially constructed fiction, and proceeding to reinforce that fiction in attempts to eradicate racism. Since racism is the reason for the construction of race, how can we use race to eradicate racism? A conundrum that few anti-racist thought leaders have provided fulfilling answers to.Enright elucidates the ways in which interracial families, especially those members who “don’t look” like the race to which they are assigned, lay bare the fact that race is wholly socially constructed. She also highlights the ways in which interracial families suffer the painful exclusion, judgment, ostracization, and imposition of assumptions by mainstream society. As someone whose family is interracial, this resonated deeply for me. The experience of being a mother whose parentage is constantly called into question, and the systems which function to divide parents from their children, spouses from spouses, etc., casts well-founded doubt on the legitimacy of racial categories. Enright rightly recognizes that physical phenotypes within singular families can diverge broadly, even with shared DNA, underscoring the illegitimacy of racial categories. Importantly, Enright is very clear and definitive in asserting that RACISM, not race, is real.The strengthening message I took from this book: in a society that seeks to thrust its definitions on you and your family like shrunken, itchy, defective sweaters, you have to “know who you are.” Letting yourself be defined by those perpetuating the core ideologies undergirding oppressive hierarchy is letting yourself be lost. Naming the system, rather than being named, is to plant your feet in the sand and exist. Allowing yourself to be summed up by people who can’t see past the color of your epidermis is the spiritual equivalent of allowing yourself to be erased.
CMW –
After finishing “Strength of Soul” I have thinking about it ever since and apply what I have learned to my daily life. It is a wonderful book. The author has a unique perspective into the meaning of race; in that too many speak about race in terms of skin color, nationality, religion or language. These are terms used only to divide us, or make us feel like the “other”, when in reality we are all the same. We all belong to one race, the human race. By reading about what the author has experienced in her life, this book gives us the understanding we need to conduct our lives, be better, and more thoughtful individuals. I look forward to her next book.
Linda Grebanier –
Strength of Soul was.a fascinating treatise on rascism and how the author and her family have been affected by it. The book is both scholarly and personal. As well as citing other prominent authors, Enright relates the topic to her white, Jewish. Ecuadorian background, speaking about her white, Jewish father and her son, who looks white , but is both white and Ecadorian, and how people have responded to them when she is with them. The book is easy to relate to , as well as engrossing.
Ric Sheffield –
Naomi Raquel Enright’s book, Strength of Soul (2019), is a remarkable book. While it is filled with deep reflection that provokes the reader to reexamine conventional notions of race and identity, it also conveys the passion and affective dimensions of self exploration with aplomb. Ms. Enright demonstrates both a sophisticated take on these topics and a facility for making her points through effective storytelling. This inspiring sharing, especially for the many who are proud members of multiracial and multicultural families, is a welcome addition to the literature. She articulates things that many of us have felt but lacked the ability to capture in words. This book is a gift, not just to her family, but to families like hers across this nation. If we are lucky, this will not be the last book to come from her.
myamazonaccount –
“’No se te parece nada.’ (‘He looks nothing like you.’) I felt the familiar internal constriction of anger but calmly and factually responded, ‘Si sólo miras las superficie.’ (‘If you only look at the surface.”) The employee understood, but what matters more, is that exchanges like that model for my son not only how to respond confidently and proactively but how to provide a counter-narrative.”I highly recommend this beautiful book, Strength of Soul. Naomi Raquel Enright recalls incidents in which she and her multiethnic family have been called into question: As a child, she is constantly asked if her beloved white, blond, blue/green-eyed Jewish-American father was her “real dad.” As an adult with caramel skin and dark brown hair and eyes whose facial features more resemble her Ecuadorian mother’s, Naomi has been assumed to be her father’s caretaker — and her son Sebastián’s nanny. It is heart-breaking and infuriating. Thanks to the pride and cultural understanding instilled in her by her activist parents, she has learned to “swim against the tide,” and has been creative in finding ways to resist the ideologies of racial difference. “Our stories are not written on our faces.”If you have met Naomi, you will never forget her. She is direct, outspoken, fiercely protective — and has an incredibly compassionate and courageous soul that is willing to see and say things most others would not. The lessons she has to offer from her experience about how to challenge systemic racism are thought-provoking, her perspective needed in discussions about white supremacy. I have shared it with my networks and given copies away.I am sure that as people read her book it will spark new conversations and connect people in ways they never anticipated!!
Adam W. –
The prose and poetry of Strength of Soul guide the reader through Enright’s life and expertise on equity and the human condition in America today. A fantastic read, eye-opening and thought provoking. It will challenge everything you thought about race and ethnicity in America.
Sandra Mizumoto Posey –
Author Naomi Raquel Enright was a Spanish teacher before her son was born, but there is something about having a child that brings out passion and ferocity in a person, in this case to change the world. She started by becoming a full-time equity practitioner. Of Ecuadorian and European (Ashkenazi Jewish) origin, Enright comes from a long line of civil rights activists. Her parents, married just after the Loving decision, raised her to be aware and outspoken, even as a child.When she, of darker skin, gave birth to a blond white appearing boy, she began experiencing even more racism in the form of people assuming she was the nanny instead of his biological mother. She became determined not only to challenge assumptions and the structural racism underlying them but to raise her child to not take advantage to the white, male privilege that would undeniably be granted as he moved through the world. In her battle against racism she criticizes both colorblindness and color consciousness, even the word race itself. Language gives form to and calcifies reality and, in Audre Lorde’s words, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” Enright explains, “Intentionality is crucial because without it we default to the language we have always known, which perpetuates the fallacy of racial difference and whiteness. Without an absolute paradigm shift, we as a society are simply adhering to and accepting the ideologies that created our destructive system of racism and white supremacy.” So how do we talk about the reality of racism without race? Simply that — we acknowledge that it is racism that births the concept of race rather than the other way around.The text reads as memoir, capturing and captivating the reader with narrative while embedding practical, applicable concepts that can be used in our lives as well as more formally by equity professionals. Her family story reveals the complexity of each of our stories — something we must begin to acknowledge when talking about identity, affinity groups, and each and every person we meet.The one weakness of the book is that the title doesn’t really reveal what the book is about and I fear those who would benefit from reading it won’t find it; perhaps it is more than anti-racists that need to read this but those caught in the web of exclusionary practice and privilege themselves. I hope all will follow Enright’s father’s repeated entreaty to “keep an open mind.” This story brings the reality of living in a racist society to life in a way that we all could use seeing through Enright’s personal and revelatory lens.
Alisa West Cahill –
Naomi Raquel Enright’s book, Strength of Soul (2019), leads me to write a first ever review on Amazon. Enright’s ability, and decision, to be vulnerable in an effort to tear down systemic racisim creates a powerful message. I stayed up late and woke up early to read this as difficult to put down-We can, and argueably must, acknowledge different lived experiences and racism without buying into the myth of race.Humans are complex. Insight into lived experiences are paramount for us to understand how we each move in the world (some w/ much more ease). Enright illuminates how systemic racisim IS VERY REAL, but reminds us that the idea of race, and the origins and purpose of this term, on the other hand, are not rooted in reality.Enright eloquently weaves personal narrative with theory, fact, and practice and illustrates the why we must, and how we can, name and combat oppressive systems while not accidentally giving power to these very same oppressive systems.Highly recommend!
CountryHarmonyFan –
Thought provoking work that challenges the reader to rethink their views on race.
walter –
This book was incredibly eye-opening. Enright beautifully mobilises her personal experiences–some of it, especially from her childhood, heart-breaking–to make a powerful argument against the ideology of race. As she puts it, ‘race is a necessary wheel for racism to to continue’. This is not about colourblindness–far from it. This is nothing short of a revolution, and so it takes time to wrap your mind around it. But at the end of her book, you get it: it is the ideology of race as the basis of ‘natural’ affinity or kinship that makes people assume that Naomi’s father cannot be her biological father, or that her son cannot be her biological son, or that she must be the nanny, or that she must feel alienated from white people, and thus, from her father, son, and husband. That is the foundation of racism, and you can’t dismantle racism without dismantling the ideology of race.Two paragraphs towards the end really blew me away:’With my previous paragraph in mind, below is a typical discussion I would hear in my equity work: “People of all races need to come together to fight systemic racism. White people in particular have to step up to create change because black and brown people need their allyship.”With an intentionality to reject the language and ideology of racial difference and whiteness that statement would instead be as follows: “Every human being needs to come together to fight systemic racism. Those who have benefited from whiteness in particular have to step up to create change because those who have been oppressed as a result of whiteness need their allyship.”‘ (p.150).It takes discipline and thoughtfulness to be able to change your mentality like that. Enright’s work challenges the status quo at the core of racism, and that’s what we need to truly transform the world. Highly recommended.
Jason Biehl –
I recently read Naomi Raquel Enright’s Strength of Soul, and was moved and inspired by her story, vulnerability, and ongoing work. Enright powerfully makes the case that “the social construct of race” is at the heart of systemic racism, and our divisiveness. Through personal, and at times painful storytelling, she emphasizes the importance of interrogating and resisting whiteness. While this book was published in 2019, this message and collective work remains timely.
Jared Karol –
Strength of Soul is that perfect mix of memoir, social commentary, and vulnerable storytelling. By centering her narrative and perspective in her personal narrative and lived experience, Naomi Raquel Enright is able to speak powerfully and compellingly about the negative impact of White supremacy and systemic racism. By the end of the book, I felt like I knew the author very well, which allowed me to expand my understanding and appreciation to continue to fight for social justice.
Johanna Lyman –
Naomi Raquel Enright’s book, Strength of Soul,” is truly a gem. She is a gifted storyteller with a powerful message: “True change will never come in this society if our ethos endorses the ideology of whiteness and the narrative of racial difference.” She asserts, rightly so in my opinion, that we must reject the “language and ideology of racial difference and of whiteness, and… understand that said rejection is central to the work of challenging systemic racism and white supremacy.” Enright weaves her personal stories of being in biracial families with clear facts and an educator’s lived experiences perspective about what it will take to dismantle the system of white supremacy. It will indeed take a strength of soul, and Enright clearly shows us how to make it happen. I highly recommend this book!
Linda Berberich, PhD –
In Strength of Soul, Enright writes from the perspective of understanding whiteness as both the daughter of a lighter complected father and darker complected mother as well as being a darker complected mother of a lighter complected son, and all the lived experiences that accompany it. She speaks to the utter absurdity of the concept of race while still acknowledging the societal ills of white supremacy and systemic racism. Her well-researched book demonstrates her understanding of a post-racial society beyond her own lived experiences and she writes in a voice that both demonstrates her reality as well as calls in those who share her calling, but not her experiences. As someone who frequently passes for many things I am not, I appreciated the call, as well as the final words of the book – our stories are not written on our faces. A welcome read for anyone willing to look beyond skin tone and see the humanity of all the people around us.
andrea yeriazarian –
Naomi shares her personal experiences and how her upbringing helped shape her perspective on race which challenges the status quo. It’s so hard to find folks who write from the perspective of a multi-ethnic person and how that so deeply impacts our experiences and our world view. As a fellow multi-ethnic and bilingual person, this book really speaks to me on a very personal level. I highly recommend this book.
Joan Lauer –
This poignantly personal account opens a window for us to glimpse what it’s like to be of non-majority ethnicity in our culture. Color is so salient. I felt both instructed and pained while reading it. Joan B. Lauer
Jc –
Beautiful and meaningful read. Powerful and personal. Thank you, Naomi, for sharing your family, your experiences and your perspective with us. Thank you for challenging us, your readers, to rethink the power of language, especially in its connection to upholding white supremacy. Highly Recommend!!