Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

WOW.  Loved it!!!!!  And, another book off my Summer Reading list.  (It is technically still summer, just saying.)

I listened to this one on Audible on the great advice of my friend Sarah M.  I usually prefer the page, but boy was she ever right that this is one to listen to and absorb auditorily.  Mainly because Trevor Noah himself tells his own story.  Spectacular.

Born in South Africa during Apartheid, Trevor was literally proof of a crime - his mother is Black, his father is white.  Mixing among races was illegal then.  And in a nation obsessed with labels and place, Trevor himself was confusing - he was light skinned, raised Black, multi-lingual, and considered special by some because of his skin.  And considered dangerous by others for that same skin.

Trevor's stories of his childhood are hilarious, laugh out loud funny, and horrifying at the same time.  He got in all sorts of trouble as a kid.  He was always running - from his strict but loving Mom, from the police,  from his scary step-father, from the gang down the street.  Told with an abundance of humility and truth and pluck and wry humor, this is a story everyone should hear.  He had me laughing out loud with the story of the Turd and the Demon. Then I was horrified by the stories of abuse at the hand of his stepfather, with no protection from the police (oh, that's a woman for you!!!).  Then I was stopped in my tracks by several statements:
 "Soweta's story is the story of driveways.  Hope."  Many of the poorest people still built driveways, because the ultimate success was having a car - so they built driveways just in case.  Rarely did these driveways ever hold a vehicle.  And:  "Language, more than color, defines who you are to other people."

 BAM.  In the South, we call that "who's your daddy?"  If you sound like me, you must BE like me.
 If I can define you by what language you speak, even more than what you look like, if I can feel more comfortable with you because I can literally understand what you are saying, then you must be ok.
 His knowledge of several dialects and languages saved Trevor on more than one occasion, because people are so eager to label each other based on either skin or language (appearances!!!).  Brilliantly written and even more brilliantly told with different accents and languages peppered throughout, Trevor explains his South Africa as he saw it.  Many insights into race from all sides, into the definition of belonging, and the hard truth of tough love, this is a fascinating and tremendous book.  I highly recommend it!!!!! An amazing story, of an amazing man and his even more amazing Mother.  Because she is the reason he is who he is today.

Well done, Trevor.  You DID break the cycle.  See, your Mom was right.  Again.  ;-)