Getting to the Heart

#63: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

If there is one non-fiction book I would have the whole world read, it’s this one. The writing is articulate, a little sassy, and full of emotion without being overly dramatic. The lessons and tales told therein are witty and educational without being preachy, and the feeling you get after turning the last page is the feeling we bookworms search far and wide to cherish.

Beginning with the author, I knew almost nothing about Trevor Noah before reading his memoir. I knew he was a) handsome b) had an indistinguishable, yet highly articulate, accent and c) hosted a sarcastic late-night talk show. Just before reading this book, I did know he came from South Africa, but that’s where my knowledge about him ended. After reading this book, there’s little more to say besides I’m in awe of him.

He was a punk growing up. And I mean, a trouble-maker-constant-powder-keg-ready-to-take-anyone-down-with-him punk. I like these sorts of people. They embody the “live now, pay later” mindset and, often, the payment isn’t as bad and definitely worth the fun of the trouble. Trevor Noah was entrepreneurial and sharp, figuring out ways to get what he wanted without much damage to those around him, but he also seemed to live by the rule that when it’s no longer fun or profitable, get out. It’s a lesson they should actually teach in business school, though, now that I’m thinking of it, they kinda do with the “Fail Forward Fast” theory (my personal favorite).

One thing that I wasn’t expecting to take from this book was the idea of race and race relationships. I didn’t know Trevor was half-black-half-white. I didn’t know that he was born that way at a time in his country’s history when it was LITERALLY illegal to be so. Inter-racial relationships were completely banned and a person could even spend up to four years in prison just for being with someone! It’s a bit scary to realize not only that this was something that happened, but also to learn that this was something that happened in my lifetime.

This book is incredible because before each chapter, the author gives a little history lesson. Sometimes it’s actual documents explaining the laws of apartheid. Sometimes it’s a little lesson or history with his personal annotation. Always it tells me something I didn’t know. I’m a bit ashamed at my own lack of knowledge about apartheid. I was familiar with the word, sure, and I had heard the name “Nelson Mandela”, but I knew more about the “Mandela Effect” than I did about the actual person or the actual struggles people still live through. Trevor breaks down racism with such logic that you can see he’s given the subject a lot of thought. He hasn’t just accepted that this is how the world works, but he’s examined it critically, analytically, and philosophically. We’re given insight by him that brings everything down to its basic level and, with full conviction, we can declare that racism is dumb. It’s just DUMB! The idea that people could be judged or different based on something as ambiguous as skin colour is a false narrative fed to society throughout history. And it needs to end.

One of the hardest things I had to accept after reading Born a Crime was my own ignorance. I’ve always considered myself “with it”, as the cool kids say, but the fact is I’m ignorant of so much. The pain of my brothers and sisters around the world. The ingrained systemic racism built into almost every society in the world. The fact that, even if I myself do not think or act in a racist manner, there are powerful people in the world mandating laws against the minorities. It doesn’t stand up to reason, but it doesn’t fall just because you point out its flaws, either. In today’s culture, July 8th, 2020, we as the world are being shown the pain behind the curtain. This book brings it home with a face, a childhood, a life lived in the midst and while yes, Trevor Noah strove and talked and wrote and pulled himself out, not everyone can.

I’ll say it again, everyone should read this book. Come for the laughter and cheekiness of the author, stay for the writing and emotion breathed into every page, and leave with a better understanding of our responsibility to those never given the opportunities we take for granted.

Related posts:

The decision-making process is considered one of the most important organizational phenomena. Most choices are based on more than one perspective; besides the end responsible entity, other…

Roadblock. Afterthought. Annoyance. If those words come to mind when you think of screenplay format, then I have news for you.

Most businesses buy Google Business Reviews because they know the effects of word of mouth! In the case of your business reputation, what people are saying about you can make or break your business…