Skip to content
Stories

Patricia J. Williams on Martha S. Jones’s The Trouble of Color

The Color of Trouble, Martha S. Jones’s new family memoir tackles topics of race, generational trauma, identity, and how one’s history is constructed. Weaving through documents that belonged to her family, Martha pieces together every little note, birth certificate and photograph to unpack not only who her family was, but the role that racism played in constructing their historical identity.

Patricia Williams, Northeastern Distinguished Professor of Law and the Humanities and WGSS executive committee member, breaks down the important takeaways of this book on the Windham-Campbell Prizes podcast. Williams highlights significant ideas regarding racial expectations, the importance of black joy, and the contradictions that exist between relief and guilt that comes with escaping generational trauma.  

Listen to the full podcast here.

More Stories

Why is Netflix’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ striking a chord? It knows boys are in trouble, experts say

05.15.2026

Carla Kaplan wins Goldsmith Award for Troublemaker 

04.15.2026

Patricia Williams, a legal scholar, is elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

05.28.26
All Stories