They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl's Fight for Freedom

One of the memoirs that I wanted to read after the October 7th events that kicked off the latest round of horror in occupied territory, is called They Called Me a Lioness. I picked it up as an audiobook, as it rose to relevancy for being pertinent to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. This is a history of the region and grassroots activism, but also a story of childhood interrupted by Zionist policies and judicial system.

Yes, you should read it.

An American journalist, Dena Takruri, focuses on the lioness Ahed Tamimi, but does not tell her story in a vacuum. It acknowledges her privilege in becoming a young counter culture figure due to her youth and proximity to certain beauty standards, speaks of the foundational support her family and community has built in their fight for their lands and culture, and gives faces and names to the tragedies that make up the one-sided fight between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Not to make my blog about me, but this is a whole “how is my complacency and bystander behavior contributing to the Islamophobia and Middle Eastern biases so prevalent in the United States” journey that I am trying to take means that I was receptive to her story. While other reads or listens are at times recounting anecdotal examples, I find that the ones from Palestinians who use their family as examples of the injustice in this conflict makes it easier for me to conceptualize how fucked up it all is. 

Since the subject is so young, there is a different tone (one of hope, unaware of what the future would hold for them since this was written before October 7th 2023, and one of patience as they are not yet bogged down with the feeling of futility) in the retelling of the events that proceed Ahed Tamimi's life. 

In her early twenties, she has seen her family locked up and killed by the Israeli government, in addition to spending time as a political prisoner. More know for the images of resistance of her that went viral, and for the videos in which she acted in emotional self-defense as a child, she has been seen as a threat and has to deal with the consequences of being a lioness. The government has tried to tame and imprison her, but have yet to break her spirit.

At the time of the attacks, she was being held and was one of the people in captivity. In November of 2023, Hamas and Israel were able to negotiate a hostage swap that included Ahed Tamimi. Like many others, she has be removed/fled/displaced from her home on the West Bank. And after listening to her story I know that this is a crime decried by many Indigenous populations throughout our modern history. 

Why do we keep making the same mistakes, why do we keep creating new wounds within our species, and why do we vilify one group (Hamas) when other has a higher body count? This book does not answer that, and the many that I have read do not give me a satisfactory reason. Here I am reading and recommending with the hope that knowing about a horror might do something to negate another in the future. 

Where do your hopes lay?

Five recent celebrity memoirs ranked by (self) importance

There seems to be a rule with being rich and/or famous, once you have a certain momentum it is hard to not gather more riches or more fame. Opportunities come with a lot less effort, the hard work of putting yourself out there is already done. How much of their force that a celebrity then puts into that momentum depends on their character, some slap their name on a thing and some try to have a (however small it may be) touch in creation.  

I love reading celebrity memoirs, most of the time they are obvious cash grabs in which we pay more than normal to read their PR about themselves. Some people may be honest and admit they have a ghostwriter, so may be trying to fool us (but surely not themselves), and then there seems to be others (in my experience it seems the comedians dominate this category) who want to prove that they can write a compelling story about their progression in life - all on their own.

Anyway I got five memoirs to rehash, starting with the most offensive and ending with the best, these celebs really had me thinking:

5. Bob Hope is racist, sexist, and xenophobic. I Owe Russia 1200 may be the most offensive book I have read in a long, long, long time. This is the primer for heartless conservative boomers, a way for them to learn how they can insult everyone around them. He admits multiple times to doing yellow face (Mickey Rooney must have asked him for advice), harassed Jayne Mansfield and her husband in the majority of the book, and then tries to do this self deprecating thing that hinges on his weird “I am the lowest of the white males and common man who should be taking instead of joking about taking with these people” outlook. Nothing redeemable in this memoir or celebrity, although it was sad to read that John F Kennedy was still alive at the time he wrote it.

4. Diane Keaton is an intelligent privilege woman, who had the type of upbringing that allowed her to have a mediocre but successful career in Hollywood. I am not a fan, of the movies that she was in that I liked - I attribute it more to the writers and other creatives involved. More so and especially now that I read her memoir Brother & Sister. This comes off as callous and self centered, even though it is suppose to be about why her brother did not have the same success in life as she did. Spoiler: he had mental health issues. Due to the time period and family atmosphere, this went unchecked to the point that he had to self medicate. Aside from her inability to recount anything from his perspective and account for years of his life, she then uses her star power to get him a new organ without considering his diagnosis and his feelings in it all. She is kinder to Woody Allen then she is to her own family. 

3. Lily Allen in My Thoughts Exactly at least tries a little bit more than Diane Keaton. While she does gloss over and try to excuse the claims lobbied at her about how she has appropriated and used the black community, she at least does a better job of addressing it than Paris Hilton or other offenders. 

She is a woman coming from a privileged background, definition of nepo baby, but has the honesty to admit that when her father bought her first recording opportunity it tanked because he did not know what he is doing. She does base her success instead on MySpace and the magic of a certain time period, so some lack of self awareness is involved. But overall as she describes how she was raised, how long it took her to discover her sexuality and self, she let us in on her baby loss, how and why she decided to focus on her children, and the power dynamics in the music industry that leads to sexual abuse and assault, her stalker, and her “breakdown”. She shares a lot, is funny at times, while showing a fallible side to celebrity that is refreshing even if she still has work to do.

2. Alan Cumming has been flexing his writing skills with one man shows and a memoir about his father, a book that I so desperately want to read. While I have not got that memoir just yet, I had the chance to listen to his Audible original (or exclusive?) Legal Immigrant. This format differs from the rest, in that it includes show tunes and songs that fit the little bits centered around his American citizenship process. While this is meant to be humorous, he doesn’t mock the process so much as points out the ease and resources he had as being a successful entertainer looking to emigrate to America. The end includes interviews he did with others whose experiences were different: to show the care and awareness he has about why others choose to leave their country and the difficulties they face. Entertaining, even if it isn’t the most fun topic to discuss. 

1. Quinta Brunson, She Memes Well: Essays, is the more traditional memoir read as of late. As a fan of Abbott Elementary and A Black Lady Sketch Show, I wanted to learn more about a young funny writer who is knocking it out of the park with her success. Though she seems so young and just starting off, to see her movement from a youth working at Apple to a rising star at Buzzfeed, made me realize how much work and subtle influence she had even before I made the effort to recognize her goddessness. Not everyone can be a Quinta, but she makes you feel that you could be a badass version of you. I think this is because her essays have that personal touch: it’s like she was writing just for me and not the hordes of adoring fans she already has.

For the most part upbeat, she keeps it honest even when telling a more surface level anecdote or when she dives in deeper to upsetting and changing life events. I loved learning about her up to that point, and have high hopes that she will continue to woo us with her writing and her ability to make us laugh without resorting to jokes at the expense of others. Bob Hope could never and maybe should pick this up to learn a thing or two about comedy, except I am just realizing he has passed so that would be in the afterlife I guess.

A change of opinion: audiobooks

I used to judge those who only listened to audiobooks. I know unforgivable, ablest, narrow minded, these are all things that I was, I still am, and will probably forever will be. (Not to brag, but to be honest)

As I have become older, and was checked by others, I realized this opinion is shit. So I only have really started to delve into it in the last couple of years. I was using audiobooks as a way to help me make my way through my true crime list, as way to prevent others judging me for how many books on my shelf were from this genre. And they result was: I shouldn’t be ashamed, it didn’t work since those around me were forced to hear what I was reading as opposed to speculating based off the cover and blur, and I ended up wanting to buy each book I listened to in the end anyway.

Overall, I found that replacing the time I dedicated to watching tv or listening to podcasts (while doing work or chores) could be replaced by listening to books. SO YEAH FOR MORE BOOK TIME! 

While I still dedicate a lot of my focus attention to reading a physical book or eBook, I found that I have an impressive book body count at the end of each month. 

 And in the last couple of months my journey has progressed to fiction. I am liking where I am going on this journey. So far I have found that the benefits and small joys to overcoming my prejudices have been:

1. I can see how an audiobook could be it own storytelling art form as some narrators are better matched for the story than others. Examples being the play Evil Eye by Madhuri Shekar or The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth

2. I am starting to share in the amusement there is to find when using a singular narrator whose voice is noticeable “masculine”or “feminine,” and when that narrator has to then switch to the other sound for opposite gendered characters who have dialogue. Especially if there is an accent involved. Examples: Sarah Gailey's River of Teeth or Upright Women Wanted

3. I am starting to find and hone my feeling for where in the story I should give up and DNF (in fact most of my DNFs have been audiobooks). Most recently was Cook County ICU. 

4. And I am clearing out my book tbr list so quickly! As mentioned by most of the books above. Downside will be that it is now another medium that I use as an excuse to add more to my list, but still something to help check off my list.

For those who would find my old views offensive and judgmental, I am sorry. You are right. 

For those who are starting out on the path to audiobook enlightenment, welcome you made the right choice!

And for those still stuck on is this reading or not, of course it is. Anyway that you decide to consume stories (or smut) is okay.