Loren's Reviews > Love Cemetery: Unburying the Secret History of Slaves

Maybe if I'd read this book when it came out in 2007, I would've been impressed by how groundbreaking it was in acknowledging the buried history of Black and African American cemeteries. From the perspective of 2024, the book seems to focus too much on the white author and how she felt about acknowledging the legacy of racism in Texas -- and not enough about the people and stories buried in the cemetery. I would have rather seen the surviving community in the foreground of the story.

When traditionally African American cemeteries are being rediscovered under apartment buildings in Florida, when the memory of enslaved people and their burying grounds has been erased, there is still much that needs to be said about the politics of cemeteries and their surrounding communities. I need to go find a book that is addressing those issues currently.