My Jewish Face & Other Stories is an amazing collection of interconnected short stories that tackle the issues of Jewish identity, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, social activism, rape, lesbian relationships, parent-child relationships....and the list goes on. Surprisingly, I didn't feel overwhelmed. Kaye/Kantrowitz's poetic writing style gives such attention to detail that it can address big issues without becoming convoluded and confusing. She doesn't try to "solve" anything; she just shows how these issues manifest themselves in her different characters. As a young, heterosexual, non-Jewish woman, I had a little trouble relating to the characters, but through my struggle to understand them, I learned a lot about a culture different from mine. I laughed, I nearly cried, and I couldn't put this book down. The ending left me stunned and gave me A LOT to contemplate. Read this book with an open mind, and you will be glad you did.

I have read & re-read essays in this volume over and over again. I think of this as among those texts that remind me there are those who went before me--and that the struggle for recognition is not over. Among the key texts here are Sandoval's essay on racism & feminism, a report based on a real conflict that took place in the NWSA and Alarcón's pathbreaking essay on Chicana subjectivity. But there are so many others as well...my main critique is that the anthology is not as representative as it could be with a leaning towards the "Santa Cruz circle"--and yet the truth of the matter is that there was an incredible grouping of women of color studying & writing there in the mid to late 1980s!

This collection of writings by women of color truely challenge and inspire the consciouness through essay and poetry. A reaffirming voice for women of color who are working on radical social change on on a personal to a global perspective.