Book Reviewed: The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family by Kerri K. Greenidge

The two Nanas; the legacy of Grimkes’ struggle for abolition and women’s rights This book explores the racial and political history of the extended family of white Grimke sisters; Sarah, and Angelina Grimke born in a slave-holding family in Charleston, South Carolina, later become antislavery revolutionaries and pioneers for women's rights in the 1820s. This work highlights the significance of Grimke's three African American nephews and their families. The Grimke sisters’ older brother, Henry had three sons from an enslaved woman named Nancy Weston. The sisters take the responsibilities of caring their nephews and shape their future with good education who later become prominent members the African American community. The life of the white Grimke sisters is not free from the sin for their racial paternalism. The sisters could envision the end of slavery, but they could not imagine Black equality, when their Black nephews did not adhere to images of a how an enslaved person must behave towards white women. They were harsh and shrewd that reflects on the limits of white racial politics during early America. This story is masterpiece of hope, the quest for freedom, for redemption, and for a voice in the nation during a devastating time in American history and how it has shaped the lives of African Americans in 21st century. In this journey, the two sisters strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement, and the uneasy ways of love. The two sisters were undeterred by the harsh criticism for their activism but also had significant influence on the lives of their nephews and their families. This work focuses on the work of two Nana’s from Grimke’s household, one black and one white; Angelina “Nana” Weld Grimké (1880 – 1958), an African American journalist, playwright, and poet was born to Archibald Grimké; and Angelina Nana Grimke Hamilton (1872-1947), a white Nana, born to Sara Grimke Hamilton and William Hamilton, the granddaughter of Grimke family’s matriarch Angelina Grimke. The book contrasts the legacies of the two women, the black Nana was inspired by the challenges they faced in a dominantly white world and reflected on the pain, suffering and rage of the colored elite and the impact on other less fortunate people with enslaved legacy. But the white Nana was a medical doctor from the University of Michigan who lived to exalt Grimke family for the unassailable service offered to the oppressed people. She never spoke of the slavery practiced by her white grandparents in South Carolina, nor did she have any empathy for the economically and socially challenged African Americans. The author narrates the story of Grimke’s with passion and illuminates how their legacy has helped shape racial activism. Strongly recommended to readers interested in African American history, and abolition movement.