What does Evaristo’s depiction of her family members’ various political and social values suggest about the benefits of embracing a community mindset versus an individualist one? How does the outcome of her own life and attitude support this?

Through comparing her parents’ values to those of the previous generations on her mother’s side, Evaristo shows that it was her parents’ prioritization of community that shaped the values allowing her to pursue a life in the arts that was not only beneficial to her but to those around her. This is mainly shown in the relationship between her mother and maternal grandmother, Nana: Nana was “driven by her own social advancement” (44), more interested in clinging to individual power than in sharing resources. Evaristo’s mother opposed this philosophy by marrying a Nigerian man and becoming deeply engaged in community politics, fighting for racial and gender equality...