Wounds: A Collaborative Memoir in Stories is about the triumphs and the pains experienced in Razel Jones, (African American) and Daniel Abbott's (Caucasian) collective journey toward cross-cultural navigation. Jones and Abbott explore the concepts of Race, Difference, and Cross-Cultural navigation through stories beginning with their youthful experiences in rural northwestern Michigan.
On the heels of the senseless, race-inspired murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor, change is past due. The void of understanding Difference and the need for activists and allies in various forms is absolute. This book offers tools to enable the building of meaningful cross-cultural relationships, and to inspire activism and advocacy.
“Wounds is a must-read for every American of every color. Razel Jones, a black man, and Daniel Abbott, a white man, share their stories of race, family, resistance, loss, violence, overcoming, and love with astonishing grace and candor. Whether it’s Abbott exhorting white Americans that they can no longer look away from our nation’s systemic racism or Jones insisting that beauty and righteousness reside not in our similarities but our differences, this book is both a clear-eyed testament and a call to action written by two brothers who know what of they speak. If we allow it—if we don’t look away—Wounds is a book that will heal us.”
“In an age when discussions about race and privilege seem to inevitably escalate into us versus them tribalism, Razel and Daniel model for us what it looks like to engage in culturally intelligent dialogue, perspective-taking, and friendship. Their rich, honest narratives are rich with lessons for all of us in how to create a more culturally intelligent world.”