Offering a Cautionary Tale, "Take My Hand" is a Must Read!
“Our bodies belonged to us. Poor, disabled, it didn’t matter. These were our bodies, and we had the right to decide what to do with them.” -Dolen Perkins-Valdez
From her first novel, Wench, to 2022 release, Take My Hand, Dolen Perkins-Valdez proves the significance of her work as great literature. She also makes a call-to-action for readers to seek the truth. Proving to be a master in the art of historical fiction, she seeks to “ provoke discussions about the culpability in a society that still deems poor, Black, and disabled as categories unfit for motherhood” with Take My Hand.
In Take My Hand, Dolen Perkins-Valdez doesn’t disappoint as she provokes deep emotions and serious questions in her readers regarding reproductive justice. Enthralled, amazed and disturbed while reading this work, inspired by a Federal Court case (Relf v. Weinberger), readers experience gratitude and horror simultaneously. How so? Gratitude for surfacing the truth and horror in the realization that reproductive justice isn’t a reality for many Black girls and women (past and present). After reading, the possibility of keeping to oneself is unlikely. There’s an urge to ensure that this piece of beautiful literature doesn’t collect dust on a bookshelf but will meet the warm hands of literature enthusiasts. There’s also a feeling of obligation to victims of involuntary sterilization, like the Relf sisters, to seek justice by exposing this permanent blemish in U.S. history.
While not re-telling the actual events related to the involuntary sterilization of two African-American girls in 1973 (Relf v. Weinberger), this novel is brilliantly inspired by the author’s imagination of the emotional impact of these real-life events on the victims, their families as well as caring professionals (like the main character, Civil). All of which is based on historical records collected in three years of research conducted by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Moving back and forth in time, from the 1970s to 2016, Take My Hand implores readers to consider the relevance of past horrors to present day realities. The novel successfully serves as a cautionary tale delicately and boldly offered by Perkins-Valdez, and we couldn’t be more grateful for what she has brought to light in this work of art.
Relf v. Weinberger
During the summer of 1973, Relf sisters, Minnie Lee (14 years old) and Mary Alice (12 years old), experienced permanent sterilization without the informed consent of them and their families by a federally funded clinic in Montgomery, Alabama. The Relf sisters prevailed in Federal court case, Relf v. Weinberger (in Washington DC, 1974).
The Relf v. Weinberger case was a historic moment that shed light on more than 100,000 women (mostly non-white) forcibly sterilized in the United States for decades under government funded programs. The outcomes of the case resulted in officially initiating the required practice of informed consent prior to implementation of sterilization procedures. However, the practice of forced sterilization by state governments continued well into the 21st century. Thus far, only three states (California, North Carolina and Virginia) have officially apologized and established programs that compensate victims of forced sterilization.