All the Women in My Family Sing is a beautifully collected work of essays that includes the voices of a diverse women of color. Many of these essays examine racial elements within The United States, but there are also pieces that look at other countries and their view of what are considered minority populations. Deborah Santana as the editor of this collection has done a fantastic job of highlighting the strength, beauty, and complexity of the many women who shared their stories within the pages of All the Women in My Family Sing.

The book itself is broken down into eight sections that all examine a different aspect of living life as a woman of color. Some of these sections focus specifically on the woman who is writing the story, while others are women sharing the stories of their children or family members and how these stories connected with their lives. All the Women in My Family Sing is difficult to summarize as it is full of so many diverse elements and to truly experience the words of these women you need to find this book and read every story. Whether they are sharing a letter, poem, essay, story, or even a speech there is so much power behind their words. I read this book all the way through in an entire day and did not want to put it down.

I will say that my favorite section within the collection was “But Beautiful…The Beauty Myth.” Through these essays there are discussions of finding your own beauty by accepting who you are as well as accepting that the ideals of beauty that are presented by society do not include all women. The essay “Invisibility” by Nikki Abramson was my absolute favorite and I found her discussion of growing up as an adopted child within an all white family to be exceptionally interesting. There are so many more essays that I found so engaging and beautiful, but this one would be my suggestion as your first read if you don’t plan to read the full book in one session.

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