Blazing words on racism from the Don
Bibi Alli writes about the power of the soil
Caribbean Life, MARCH 19-25, 2021 31
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
This really makes your
blood boil.
This. The racism gone
amok, discrimination, the protests
that don’t seem to work,
nobody’s listening. You’re
hot under the collar over it
all, totally inflamed, ready
for real action, and in “This
Is the Fire” by Don Lemon,
you’ll find some sometimeswarm,
sometimes-scorching
thoughts to sit with first.
Coincidentally or not, as a
trial begins soon in Minnesota,
this book opens with a
poignant letter from Lemon
to his young nephew on the
evening of George Floyd’s
death. Lemon writes of the
legacy he got from his parents,
his grandmother, and
his beloved older sister, and he
tells his nephew that the boy
is “old enough to know what’s
going on…”
There’s been enough complacency:
“Silence is no longer
an option.”
Once was a time, though,
when things were kept quiet.
“My life has been blessed…”
says Lemon, “but let’s be real:
I grew up gay and Black in the
South in the 1970s.”
Raised by an extended family
of women, he heard stories
of voter suppression, the denial
of education, and too many
hard times. Several years ago,
Lemon went to Africa with his
mother, to a fortress where
slaves left that continent; he
grew up in Louisiana and
knew about the area’s dark
past. He acknowledges that
things have changed; that
some things are “‘different
this time’,” but they’re still
the same, whether you live in
poverty you’ve been manipulated
to be in, or you live in a
well-to-do enclave and try to
Shop While Black.
Racism, he points out, is so
endemic that we don’t always
see it sometimes, or know its
Book cover of “This is the Fire” by Don Lemon.
entire history. We condemn
White Supremacy without
understanding how it ever
existed in the first place, we
march to “defund the police”
but forget that many Black
families likewise fear a neighborhood
without them.
“Racism… is a contagious
assailant,” he says.
“Healing is you and me
standing on the John Lewis
Bridge. We can get there… if
we’re willing to do the work.”
As today’s books go, “This
is the Fire” is pretty thin. It
doesn’t look like much, but
dive inside for 10 minutes and
you’ll see that it’s thick with
hope.
And yet, one might argue
that, despite that the words
here are fresh and current,
author and CNN Tonight
anchor Don Lemon doesn’t
tell readers much that’s new.
George, Breonna, Jacob, Stephon,
Sandra, their names are
familiar, and absolutely no one
has forgotten the last White
House administration. Readers
get a bit of biography and
that delicious Lemon sense of
wry humor, but what else?
Perspective.
Lemon’s thoughts are the
kind that make you gasp.
They’re I-never-saw-it-thatway
avowals that leave room
for self-education, reparation
with wisdom, honest reflection,
and fixing what’s so
deeply and wrongly embedded
in this country.
They demand that you
think. Now.
And so, whether you’re up
for a heated argument, a fiery
debate, or just a warm talk
with someone, this is the perfect
time to read those words.
“This is the Fire” will spark a
discussion.
“This is the Fire: What
I Say to My Friends About
Racism” by Don Lemon
c.2021, Little, Brown
$28.00 / $35.00 Canada
224 pages
“This is the Fire” author, Don Lemon. CNN/Jeremy Freeman
By Tangerine Clarke
Bibi Alli’s passion runs deep
as the soil she has been tilling
from a very young age. Her
story is stunning, and worthy
of being told during Women’s
History Month, that celebrates,
beautiful, brilliant sisters.
Alli’s new book, “The Power
of the Soil” is the story of a
former vendor girl from the
Demerara region of Guyana.
“As I reflect on my life, the
soil has played a very significant
role, from planting seeds
as a child, to now planting
to share to families from my
organization, Culture of Blessing/
Fundación Cultura Bendiciones,”
said Alli.
“There is power and victory
in the soil. As you read through
this book, you will be taken
on a journey as if you were
walking in my shoes. My story
illustrates my life as a survivor
and a hustler,” she said with
conviction.
“I came from a lifestyle
of abject poverty, which had
showed no possibility of anyone
in my family ever seeing a positive
outcome in the future,”
expressed Alli, adding that she
came from a hard working
family.
“It was my determination
and fortitude to survive such
an existence that prompted me
to plant vegetables seeds and
become a street vendor, hawking
my vegetables and fish on
the streets of Windsor Forest
and Ogle in Demerara, Guyana.
This eventually led me out of
the quagmire of an extremely
disastrous quality of life,
though luck guided me to a
brighter future in Venezuela,
and finally to a very successful
way of life and career in the
United States of America,” Alli
writes with emotion.
The notoriously hardworking
lady, who once shared a
home with her parents, five sisters
and two brothers, chronicles,
her harsh upbringing living
with an alcohol addicted
father. Unfortunately, his troubled
life ended with him committing
suicide, leaving his
wife as the breadwinner.
As the eldest, Alli’s mother
felt it would be better for her
daughter to accept an opportunity
to live and work in Venezuela,
offered by a citizen of
that country, whose vacation
house in Guyana her mother
cleaned.
This kindness was the beginning
of what would be a new
life for Alli, and a chance to
help her family.
“I worked as a service girl
until my second adoptive family,
Mr. Alcaya Abreu in the
city of Valencia, helped me and
supported my academic training.
I learned hairdressing and
stylist courses at the INCES
Institute. In return, I took care
of his six-year-old daughter,
Blanca, being her nanny for
many years.”
Alli went on to succeed,
becoming a wife and mother
of two children who were
born in Venezuelan, and lived
in a beautiful house in Parque
Valencia, Edo Carabobo according
to her.
“It was after living these
experiences that I decided to
start a foundation of aid to
Venezuela; the homeland that
received me when I needed refuge
from Guyana,” she said.