[The following is a short article from Wellesley Is…, a PDF-only magazine based in the small southern Ontario town where I grew up. You can subscribe to it by going to WellesleyIs.CA.]
Scott Neigh Publishes Two ‘Bottom-Up’ History Books
by Mavis Kerr (Wellesley Is.., February 2013, p. 16)
Scott Neigh wants us to look at history from the bottom up. Growing up in Wellesley as an exceptionally bright student, son of Ed and Margaret Neigh, he returned to the area to launch his two recently published books. Based on dozens of interviews with activists of all stripes from across Canada, his premise is that we usually learn our history “top down” from the perspective of our rulers, not from the viewpoint of the men and women who are in the front lines of the struggles to achieve justice. Through the stories of activists he has crafted two books of history, one called “Gender and Sexuality” and the other with the intriguing title, “Resisting the State.”
His writing is very personal and engaging, from his descriptions of the weather as he arrives to interview a feminist activist in the United Church, to his own self-revealing brushes with [reproducing] racism. Reading these books, you will not go unchallenged regarding your own blind spots and prejudices. For more information about Scott and his projects go to http://talkingradical.ca/ . The books are available at Wordsworth Books in Waterloo.
