Race, Identity, and Privilege from the US to the Congo

A hybrid of memoir and history, Race, Identity, and Privilege from the US to the Congo explores Brenda F. Berrian’s experiences of being both an insider and outsider throughout her global travels and of developing her racial, feminist, and political consciousness as a Black woman along the way.

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In July 1961, five months after Patrice Lumumba’s assassination, 14-year-old Brenda F. Berrian’s consciousness was raised by her family’s move to the turbulent Republic of the Congo. Race, Identity, and Privilege from the US to the Congo traces Berrian’s experiences of subsequently traveling the United States, Canada, France, and three other African countries against the backdrop of emerging African independence and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Detailing the complexities she faced in her global identity as a Black woman, Berrian explores how the love and support of her parents and her developing racial, feminist, and political consciousness--strengthened by her embrace of literature and music of the African diaspora--prepared her to deal with adversity, stereotypes, and grief along the way.