My Stars Are Still Shining by Amina Warsuma is a memoir written by Amina, describing her own life journey to this point. My Stars Are Still Shining is written in a raw, gritty style that does not hold anything back and offers Amina’s honest perspective on life and people. The book begins with Amina talking about her background, the people in her early life that had the most impact on her life and raised her, her biological mother who abandoned her and their troubled relationship, dealing with sexual abuse and a world where drugs and alcohol were freely available, her career as an international model, men and relationships, being a single parent, her relationship and friendship with Michael Jackson, and so much more.

My Stars Are Still Shining is an engrossing memoir and takes one through many different worlds, each different from the other. Growing up in poverty in Harlem, NY where Amina spent a lot of her early years, she gives a glimpse into the life of blacks in those days, the mass migration from the south towards cities like Chicago and New York, and the condition of blacks in the south. At the same time, she also talks of getting her first taste of wealth and her subsequent rise as a model where she left her days of poverty and violence behind. I also loved reading about her deep friendship with Michael Jackson, and she talks honestly about who he was as a person and the person she knew. The writing is compelling and candid and makes for a very interesting memoir which I would recommend.

My Stars Are Still Shining by Amina Warsuma touches upon her life as a fashion model, her career as a celebrity interviewer, and the rough path which led her there. Warsuma not only talks about her struggles, she also talks about New York City and Harlem between the 1940s and the 1960s, and the American south in the last one hundred years. This story features harsh and heavy subjects, but it should be expected in a memoir.

Memoirs are really difficult to read and review because it is an intimate story attached to a real human being and their struggles. To note, I was vaguely aware of who Amina Warsuma is because of the Battle of Versailles Fashion Show in 1973. She was one of eleven black models featured in the show and at the time it was revolutionary. So I was immediately drawn to this book. When I read My Stars Are Still Shining, I couldn’t help but want to share how it made me feel.

There is a very rich ambiance to Warsuma’s writing; her story is written in a way that makes it seem as though she’s actually with the reader, speaking the words she has written. Aside from that, the subjects she covers and the things she’s been through, both the bad and the good, are so dumbfounding that I often found myself taken aback, thinking, “How could one person do this?” The simple answer: with perseverance and strength. My Stars Are Still Shining is an unforgettable and awe-inspiring memoir.