A book beginning for Black History Month

Beginning

Kenneth Harper gazed slowly around his office.  A smile of satisfaction wreathed his face, reflecting his inward contentment.  He felt like a runner who sees ahead of him, the coveted goal towards which he has been straining through many gruelling miles.  Kenneth was tired but he gave no thought to his weariness.  Two weeks of hard work, countless annoyances, seemingly infinite delays -– all were now forgotten in the warm glow which pervaded his being.  He, Kenneth B. Harper, M.D., was now ready to receive the stream of patients he felt sure was coming.

The Fire in the Flint ~ by Walter Francis White, 1924 (this edition 2021), literary fiction, 184 pages

Although he is generally recognized for his accomplishments as the longtime leader of the NAACP, Walter Francis White also wrote several novels during the Harlem Renaissance.  Praised by W. E. B. Du Bois and by Konrad Bercovici, The Fire in the Flint remains an invaluable testament to the power of fiction to address political matters.

Dr. Kenneth Harper finds it difficult to overcome the deep inequities of life in the American South.  Born and raised in Georgia, he returns to his hometown following his graduation from medical school and service in the First World War.  Determined to open a clinic for his friends and neighbors, he avoids confrontation with white townspeople and focuses on the task at hand.  Soon, however, he encounters opposition from neighbors who regard his success and intelligence as a threat to their power.  Eventually, Harper is forced to lay his life on the line by opposing the Ku Klux Klan.

The Fire in the Flint is grounded in truth and moral decency.  Praised by Nobel Laureate Sinclair Lewis upon publication, White’s novel is a largely forgotten masterpiece of the Harlem Renaissance, perhaps the finest decade for art in the history of American culture.  This edition is a classic of African American literature reimagined for modern readers.

This book's perfect for Black History Month.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts

Book Beginnings on Fridays.

February is Black History Month

In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized Black History Month as an important time to honor the accomplishments of Black Americans.

Another book for Black History Month

Beginning

The question "What is man?" is one of the most important questions confronting any generation.  The whole political, social, and economic structure of a society is largely determined by its answer to this pressing question.

The Measure of a Man ~ by Martin Luther King Jr., 2001, nonfiction, 56 pages

These two meditations contain the theological roots of MLK's political and social philosophy of nonviolent activism.  In supporting reconciliation, Dr. King outlines human worth based on scripture, encouraging the reader to know each person has worth, rational ability, and an invitation to fellowship with the Creator.  In addition, he explains the three dimensions of life (length, breadth, and height) must all be present and working harmoniously in order for life to be complete as an individual and as a community.  Black and white photos from Dr. King's life and one of his simple prayers round out this short book.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays.

Children's books for Black History Month

Child of the Civil Rights Movement ~ by Paula Young Shelton, illustrated by Raul Colón, 2013, picture book (ages 4-8), 48 pages

Paula Young Shelton, daughter of Civil Rights activist Andrew Young, brings a child’s unique perspective to an important chapter in America’s history.  Paula grew up in the deep south, in a world where whites had and blacks did not.  With an activist father and a community of leaders surrounding her, including Uncle Martin (Martin Luther King), Paula watched and listened to the struggles, eventually joining with her family — and thousands of others — in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery.   "Uncle Martin and Aunt Coretta" were not family by blood, but . . . 

"Close because our fathers worked together.
Close because our mothers worried together.
Close because we all struggled together." 

This Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year is poignant, hopeful, moving, and an intimate look at the birth of the Civil Rights Movement.

Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad ~ by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, 2007, children's historical fiction, 40 pages

This Caldecott Honor book tells the true story of Henry "Box" Brown, who bravely escaped slavery by mailing himself North to freedom.

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone ~ by Katheryn Russell-Brown, illustrated by Frank Morrison, 2014, picture book (3-8 years old), 40 pages

Melba Doretta Liston loved the sounds of music from as far back as she could remember.  As a child, she daydreamed about beats and lyrics, and hummed along with the music from her family's Majestic radio.  At age seven, Melba fell in love with a big, shiny trombone, and soon taught herself to play the instrument.  By the time she was a teenager, Melba's extraordinary gift for music led her to the world of jazz.  She joined a band led by trumpet player Gerald Wilson and toured the country.  Overcoming obstacles of race and gender, Melba went on to become a famed trombone player and arranger, spinning rhythms, harmonies, and melodies into gorgeous songs for all the jazz greats of the twentieth century:  Randy Weston, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, and Quincy Jones, to name just a few.  Brimming with ebullience and the joy of making music, Little Melba and Her Big Trombone is a fitting tribute to a trailblazing musician and a great unsung hero of jazz.

My Brother Martin ~ by Christine King Farris, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet, 2003, children's historical fiction, 40 pages

The older sister of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. tells the childhood story of when Martin was first inspired to change the world around him.  Long before he became a world-famous dreamer, he was a little boy who played jokes and practiced the piano and made friends without considering race.  But growing up in the segregated south of the 1930s taught young Martin a bitter lesson — that little white children and little black children were not to play with one another.  Martin decided then and there that something had to be done, and so he began the journey that would change the course of American history.

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*** If you want more books like these, click HERE for a list of 33 children's books for Black History Month.

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts the Sunday Salon

Thursday Thoughts ~ it's Black History Month

1.  Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States.  It is a time to remember important people and events in the history of the African diaspora.

2.  Galentine's Day is celebrated on February 13th, the day before Valentine's Day.  Around noon on Monday, I plan to go to the Café.  No plans except chatting with gals who are my friends.  Invite your lady friends and come, if you want to join me there.

3.  Zoom in

The meaning of ZOOM is changing, so could I say that I'm zooming into a Zoom Meeting, since we're doing it online?  How fast is zoom?

4.  Zoom out

Colleen wrote:  "When in doubt, zoom out.  Ignore the cult of doom and gloom, and embrace the cause of zoom and boom.  We will laugh at the stupidity of evil and hate, and summon the brilliance of praise and create.  Life is crazily in love with us — wildly and innocently in love with us.  The universe always gives us exactly what we need, exactly when we need it." — quoting Rob Brezsny

5.  What's it mean?  When you zoom in on something, you take a closer look at it.  You might zoom in on one particularly beautiful sentence in a book you're reading, for example, reading it slowly a few times.

6.  Cat chasing a white dot (this isn't Clawdia)

When the sun shines in our windows in the morning, Clawdia comes and sits looking at me expectantly.  Sometimes I move my wrist so my watch reflects a little round dot of light.  Sometimes I use my iPhone, getting a squarish sort of light.  And sometimes, Clawdia just sits and watches the light show, when both lights start playing and chase each other.

7.  Our new apartment

When construction is completed and we move into our new apartment, our windows will be facing west.  I wonder how having no morning sunshine will affect Clawdia's thinking about the little white dots.

8.  Miss Sheri's Cafeteria

Someone told me Miss Sheri's went out of business.  Is that true?  I used to like to go there to eat, back when I still had a car.  (Update:  confirmed.)

9.  On the other hand

I'm not so sure a cafeteria would work now, since I use a cane.  I don't think I could balance a tray full of food and drink in one hand.

10.  My closest cousin died

I was on the Crown Center bus, going grocery shopping, when I got a text from Andy saying his mother had died on Tuesday evening, January 31st.  Carolyn was a year older than I was, minus a couple of days.  When she'd call to wish me a happy birthday, I'd always say that I had caught up with her.  We were the same age for two days each year.

11.  Remembering with a smile

I remember splashing together in the tub, when we'd visit overnight.  Two little girls, having fun.  And I still have the twin bed we slept in, side by side, when we were that small.

12.  Bulletin board

I've given up the volunteer job of changing the bulletin board on my floor every month, and my neighbor Galina has taken on the job.

13.  Word of the Day

snarf /snärf / verb (informal) = eat or drink quickly or greedily.  Example:  "I woke up hungry and snarfed down my breakfast!"

14.  Unforgettable Senior Moments and Remember

These two books really go together.  What I read at the beginning of the book on senior moments sounds exactly like what I read in Lisa Genova's book:  "The most familiar type of forgetting is absentmindedness, in which information is never properly encoded in one's memory, if it's encoded at all.  Say you've misplaced your keys.  When you laid them down, you weren't giving their location your full attention, you were distracted, or, as scientists say, your attention was 'divided'" (p. iv).  Click either title to read more that I've blogged about that book.

15.  Astounding numbers

This blog had more than 500 "pageviews" in 12 hours last Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.  Those stats are on the sidebar beneath my photo.  Usually there are only about 200-300 in a whole day.  Somebody must have spent a lot of time reading my blog that day.

A book, a puzzle, good things, and a cartoon

I'm currently reading Zora Neale Hurston's Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" (2018) as part of my TBR 22 in '22 Challenge — since I bought it in 2021, and the idea is to read books I already own.  The book is about Hurston's interviews (in 1927 and 1931) with the only person thought to be still alive to tell the story of being transported across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to America as a slave.  And by the way, this is also still Black History Month.

The Epigraph of Barracoon is a quote from Hurston's autobiography Dust Tracks on a Road:

"But the inescapable fact that stuck in my craw, was:  my people had sold me and the white people had bought me . . . It impressed upon me the universal nature of greed and glory."

Zora Neale Hurston was a novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist.  She was the author of four novels (Jonah's Gourd Vine, 1934; Their Eyes Were Watching God, 1937; Moses, Man of the Mountain, 1939; and Seraph on the Suwanee, 1948); two books of folklore (Mules and Men, 1935; and Tell My Horse, 1938); an autobiography (Dust Tracks on a Road, 1942); and more than fifty short stories, essays, and plays.  She attended Howard University, Barnard College, and Columbia University, and graduated from Barnard College in 1927.  She was born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, and grew up in Eatonville, Florida.  She died in Fort Pierce, Florida, in 1960.  In 1973, Alice Walker had a headstone placed at Hurston's grave site with this epitaph:  Zora Neale Hurston: A Genius of the South.

Here's a puzzle for you.  Find the Volkswagen bug.  I did.

I found it nestled among the snails and the mushrooms.  If

you want help, ask and I'll post the location in the comments.

I used to have a Volkswagen bug.  My VW beetle looked a lot like these.  I forget the exact year of  mine, but I think late 1960s.  Though VW called it Bahama Blue, I always thought it looked more greenish, like the first one.

This one is VW's own example of Bahama Blue.  You decide if it looks blue or green.  Is that, maybe, the color of the sea around the Bahamas?

Good Thing #1

Being friends with Dora

(We'll be having lunch together on Wednesday.)

Good Thing #2

Being friends with Emma

(We had lunch together last Tuesday.)

Good Thing #3?

Being friends with Lauree

(We had lunch together last Wednesday.)

Like Calvin, I'm willing to help Hobbes do nothing at all.  Wanna join us?

Deb at Readerbuzz hosts The Sunday Salon.

When MLK became a leader

For Black History Month, here's an article about how Martin Luther King, Jr. became a leader and gave a great speech without much, if any, time to prepare what he would say.  The article is really very much worth reading.

Black History Month

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man ~ by James Weldon Johnson, 1912 (this edition 2004), fiction with biographical introduction, 118 pages

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is James Weldon's Johnson fictional account of a light-skinned mulatto** who can pass for white.  The anonymous narrator is the son of a black mother and a white father living in the early part of the 20th century in the rural south, in the urban north, and in Europe.  The novel explores the complexity of race relations between whites and blacks in America and the search for racial identity by one of mixed ethnicity.

S. Weathersby left a 5-star comment on Amazon on February 28, 2016:

James Weldon Johnson first published this book anonymously in 1912, to avoid any controversy that might endanger his diplomatic career.  And it is actually not an autobiography, but rather historical fiction.  As he wrote this book anonymously, he created characters who were also anonymous.  Of all the dozens of characters in the story there were only about four who had names, some of them nick-names. Even the young man who tells his story has no name.  Much of the story draws from Johnson's personal life as a Civil Rights activist.  But unlike Johnson who attended Atlanta University, the protagonist in the story spent many years in a variety of jobs where he learned various trades and several foreign languages.  Not until the "ex-colored man" returns to the South knowing he could pass for white, did he begin to deal with the "race problem."  But rather than involve himself in the issues of racism, Jim Crow, and the rights of black people, he spent much of his time learning the music and vernacular of the early 20th century.  It is an easy book to read, probably more-so due to the anonymous characterizations which would not point to the identity of the author.

I decided, since it's Black History Month, that I'd download and read the book at the top of this post.  Click to enlarge this photo of stamps — plus the stamp honoring James Weldon Johnson — and see if you know or can figure out why each of these was being honored.  James Weldon Johnson, as you can see by the words and music on his stamp, wrote the words for "Lift Every Voice and Sing."  Here are the lyrics:

Lift every voice and sing,

’Til earth and heaven ring,

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;

Let our rejoicing rise

High as the listening skies,

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,

Let us march on ’til victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,

Bitter the chastening rod,

Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;

Yet with a steady beat,

Have not our weary feet

Come to the place for which our fathers died.

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,

We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,

Out from the gloomy past,

’Til now we stand at last

Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,

God of our silent tears,

Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;

Thou who has by Thy might

Led us into the light,

Keep us forever in the path, we pray.

Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,

Lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;

Shadowed beneath Thy hand,

May we forever stand,

True to our God,

True to our native land.

** Footnote added after reading the book:  The author used the word "mulatto," now considered outdated and offensive, three times in this book (my Kindle search shows).