Journalist Alexis Okeowo's insightful second book, Blessings and Disasters, examines the complicated history of Alabama through a mixture of history, reporting, and personal reflections on her experience growing up in Montgomery. As she delves into Alabama's contrasts and contradictions, Okeowo (A Moonless, Starless Sky) shares her love for--and sharp criticism of--her home state.
A graduate of Princeton University who later became a foreign correspondent, Okeowo is "familiar with how places can be stereotyped and neglected." She chronicles the forced removal of Native American peoples from Alabama, interviewing several members of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Okeowo also chronicles her parents' separate journeys from Nigeria to Alabama. She interviews Alabamians of multiple races, genders, and generations about their experiences, piecing together a mosaic of different ideas about what it means to be from Alabama. Along the way, she examines the influence of evangelical Christianity on state politics; the intertwined effects of race and class on education and other outcomes for children; and the narratives the state has created to justify its policies.
"In Alabama, we exist at the border of blessing and disaster," Okeowo writes, musing on how the realities of her home state--its weather, culture, and religion--reflect (and swing between) those two extremes. With a keen eye for detail and a thoughtful big-picture perspective, Okeowo paints a layered portrait of a state whose green fields contain more heartbreak and more hope than most people realize. Alabama is more than cotton, Confederate flags, and civil rights, and Okeowo's book is a nuanced look at a place she wrestles with and will always love. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams