I have a crush on Trevor Noah. But not like that creepy Hollywood stalker
crush. I’ve never been to any of his
shows and I don’t think we’ve ever even been in the same city at the same time. To put this in perspective, I have crushes on
two other people that I’ve actually met. One of them will occasionally like my
Instagram pictures and every time I get the notification, I screen shoot it and
send it to my sister in Namibia with a bunch of heart eye emojis. He and I hung out a couple times, then he
moved to a new city and, oh well… The other actual crush is on a guy that I’ve fantasized
about marrying and knowing. :P I remember
one time, I was talking to him, but I wasn’t looking in his direction. Then I turned and looked at him. He was staring at me in a very inquisitive
manner that sent a shock through my body once our eyes met. From that point on, I labeled him The One though
I’ve never acted upon any of my feelings.
I don’t even know if they’re real, honestly. I’m still figuring him out. But these men are currently my Top Three. Let me be clear: If Trevor Noah ever stared at me in a bedroom
come-hither type of fashion, I’d probably stare back at him like, “TF you
looking at?” But he’s cute and I like
smart guys. *shoulder shrug*
I also have a Top Three in one of my favorite subjects: books.
The very first book that changed my life was the fiction book The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. I remember being assigned this book in my 12th
grade AP English class. I remember instantly
being able to understand every written word that was the embodiment of the main
character and becoming so emotionally connected to her. I knew her struggle. At that point, I didn’t know books could do
that to you. After reading, I wanted to
have a sit-down discussion with my teacher and talk about everything that
affected me from reading those pages.
She didn’t really have time and at some point, gave the class an assignment
of picking an author, reading three books by that author, then writing an
interpolation of their writing style. Of
course, I picked Toni Morrison and read Song of Solomon and two other books. To this day she is my favorite author.
The second book I read that made a lasting impression on me
was The House at Sugar Beach: In Search
of a Lost African Childhood by Helene Cooper. I saw this with a short summary as a
recommended reading title in Ebony magazine one year and decided to read it
when I noticed that the author was from Liberia. At the time, I was dating a guy from there
and thought it would give me insight into his life and upbringing. The most fascinating thing to me about that book
was not only the way it was written—it was such a captivating read—but there is
a part of the story that is etched in my memory forever. Helene’s family was heavily involved in
government leadership and in 1980, there was a coup and the government was
overtaken. Being that their family was
no longer safe, her father flees promising to return for them. She and her sisters are left alone holed up
in their home with their mother waiting to leave the country. At one point in their wait, armed militia
breech their enclosure and make their way to their home to raid it. Though scary, they just take some things and
head out until one of the soldiers notices the young Helene and circles back. Helene’s mother steps in between her daughter
and the soldiers and begs them to take her instead of her daughter. They do, and I remember reading that part of
the story in such amazement at her mother’s courage to do whatever it took to
protect her children. I had just graduated
college a couple years prior to reading this book and was fascinated with her
maternal instinct. Would I do something
like that? It’s true that you never know
what you’ll do until you are actually faced with that situation.
Rounding out my Top Three is Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime. I read this book in less than 10 hours. It was that arresting. Most of what I loved about it is that I
learned so much! Plus, it completely
drew me in. Once while siting on my
mother’s couch, I laughed so uncontrollably with my hearty Southern girl laugh
and tears rolling down my eyes, that my mother looked up from where she was
watching the news and said, “Oh hush! It’s
not that funny!” But it actually is!
I was reading the chapter where Trevor talks about how he was home alone
with his blind great grandmother. The house
had a detached outhouse for its bathroom.
This was simply a small enclosure with a hole in the floor with a toilet
seat over it and newspaper for wipes.
Often there’d be flies around the hole and this particular day, it was
raining out plus the flies. Trevor, just waking up from a nap, decided he
wasn’t going out there that day. You’ll have to read what happens next for yourself,
but it was funny enough that my mother was seriously annoyed by my laughter.
Born a Crime also provides great first-hand insight into
apartheid. Born in 1984 to a South African
mom and a Swiss father, Trevor was literally the product of a crime. Though his mother had and loved her
independence, she could not legally love a white man. His father, an expatriate, thought the whole
idea of apartheid was silly and commenced his secret illegal relationship with
the woman from down the hall. Trevor writes
about a childhood where he couldn’t even walk down the street with his own father. When the family would go places together, his
dad would walk on the other side of the street.
They couldn’t play together at the playground and as Trevor got older,
his mother would even hire a fair skinned “colored” woman to walk with Trevor
while she walked behind them as if she were the help.
This book details the emotional
perspective of at least one person who lived through this period of apartheid, something
that history books don’t often do.
Trevor also talks about how the creators of the South African apartheid
system actually studied slavery in various other countries before putting their
system into place with the assumption that it was the “best” of all the chattel
systems. I never knew this. In addition, Trevor recognizes his
mother’s deep faith in God and her belief that Jesus will save you from
whatever, wherever, whenever. This
strong faith culminates with a crocodile-tear jerking final chapter of the book
as Trevor expresses his love for his mother’s strength and tenacity. I LOVED
this book! And not because I have a fantasy
crush on this guy. It really is a great
book.
