Part 1 Summary and Analysis

Rebecca Walker starts her autobiography with several vignettes of her life. She shares stories from her childhood in snapshot-like snippets. As a preface, she confesses her feelings about her mixed heritage. She confesses that it is hard to remember details of her life; she says her personal history exists in broken pieces in her mind.

This gives Walker a broken sense of self. She concurs with a friend who believes that a time of incarceration is welcome, because the rues are well defined and life exists without the risk that freedom brings.

Walker desires the constraints of institutional life in a way, because she never knew restraints as a child. She was encouraged to step out and experiment as a young child.

On walker's first birthday, her mother fed her two of her favorite foods, chitterlings and chocolate cake. She celebrates...