But there are people and stories that refuse to be forgotten.

Civil Townsend is ready to retire, to find her peace and to leave the past behind. Until one day, she arrives at the door to learn the unthinkable has happened and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.ĭecades later, with her daughter grown and a long career in her wake, Dr. As Civil grapples with her role, she takes India, Erica and their family into her heart. Neither of the Williams sisters has even kissed a boy, but they are poor and Black and for those handling the family’s welfare benefits that’s reason enough to have the girls on birth control. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she intends to help women make their own choices for their lives and bodies.īut when her first week on the job takes her down a dusty country road to a worn down one-room cabin, she’s shocked to learn that her new patients are children-just 11 and 13 years old. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend has big plans to make a difference, especially in her African American community. The book is a clarion call to remember the atrocities committed in the not-too-recent past, and to protect the childhoods of those to come. But what stands out about this story is the humanity Perkins-Valdez brings to every character, rendering the betrayal of trust even more shocking. Inspired by true events, Perkins-Valdez has crafted a riveting combination of family conflict and courtroom drama. Yet that’s not the worst that’s done in the name of public health. She’s eager to serve her community and aghast when she realizes she’s part of a vast government program to force experimental contraceptives on unsuspecting Black girls as young as eleven. We see them through the lens of a compassionate, recently graduated nurse named Civil Townsend, whose first job entails working at a family planning clinic.

Take My Hand is the story of two young Black girls, Erica and India, who live a hardscrabble life in Alabama in 1973. I listened to Elton John with my best friend, wore saddle-back jeans that happily have never come back into fashion, and stayed out late on summer nights playing kickball with the neighborhood kids.Īs you read Perkins-Valdez’s latest, I urge you to consider your own tweenhood. As a tween in the 1970s, my life was small and protected.

Dolen valdez