Jun 16, 2021
My Brother Moochie by Issac J. Bailey
This is one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read, and I can’t believe I forgot to tell you about it back in 2018 (when I actually read it), and I don’t understand why it’s not on every to-read list or Best Books list.
Issac J. Bailey is a journalist & author who lives in South Carolina. When he was a kid, his older brother was involved in a murder and sentenced to life in prison. This book tells that story, but it also tells the story of growing up Black in the South, of generational trauma and Jim Crow, of grappling with PTSD pre- and post-diagnosis, of the industrial prison complex, of internalized anti-Blackness, shame, rage, injustice, fury—and trying to explain all of this to well-meaning wh*te people.
The writing is painfully good. This is such a difficult, complex, nuanced story & history. It’s exceedingly difficult to translate both pain AND liberation onto the page, without watering either of them down. Bailey takes his experiences and compresses them into very few words. He heats them up until they’re dense and sharp and undeniable. He is crystal clear; he cuts like a knife.
10/10 would recommend.
About Sam
Samantha Pollack is a Copywriter & Creative Director who works with ethically minded, mission driven businesses who are actively trying to reshape our culture (and possibly tear down the patriarchy). She’s also the founder of The Highly Sensitive Business Owner, a 12-week online program that helps HSPs & neurodivergent business owners create healthier, more sustainable systems in their work.
Sam also writes about feminism, privilege, pop culture, entrepreneurship, the creative process, and whatever else is on her mind. She currently lives in Asheville, NC.
Emails for cult thought leaders.
(Personality included.)
Want to learn how to craft emails that inspire action and engagement WITHOUT the “tried and true” (cough: patriarchal) norms we’ve all been taught?
I’m doing it, and I can show you how to do it, too.
(But sometimes, I also like to write about the books I’m reading, or the creative process, or the entrepreneurial experience, or why I hate Steve Jobs, or how I met my BFF. I’ll send you emails like that, too.)
*Just kidding. It’s only an email list.
Books. Cats. Rants. Drawrings.
(and every couple months or so, an unexplained absence 🤷🏻)
