5 comments about Denmark Vesey: The Buried Story of America's Largest Slave Rebellion and the Man Who Led It.

1. 
   I find his work to be primarily "his story", rather than an objective historical account. He was unable to set aside his on prejudices and write a well-balanced account of Denmark Vesey. Is it possible that only a person of African American descent can tell our story truthfully. I generally say yes. But I have read a few non-Africans who have done an excellent job and dare write the truth.. But I believe if you want your story told right, you can't count on outsiders to tell it. However, I did learn some things and I have been directed to some real historians, which some of them are of African descent. So I am in hopes of getting a fuller view of the great Denmark Vesey, who would have led a successful rebellion of Charleston had it not been for a house slave running to massa to tattle.
   
   In addition, why is it seen as a crime to the people holding my neck under water, desperately trying to drown me that I wish to cut their throats if given a chance. It is not every human's right to destroy those who wish to destroy them? It is your God given right and command. I guess as long as they are the ones doing the killing, stealing and raping it is all good?!
   
   Some irritating comments by the author:
   
   Vesey motives were no peaceful."
   
   "Among the quasi-Christian slaves of the Sea Islands, he was a savage Chieftain who, as a token of his powers, had chosen Gullah Jack as his war advisor and his familiar.
   
   "This duality is central to Vesy's leadership - a free black who felt himself enslaved, a secular enlightenment autocrat who was also a passionate religionist, a liberator of the oppressed and a potential murder of the innocence."
   
   What a bunch of horse manure. Dah! I wonder why some folks think it is criminal for the oppressed to want to slaughter those who terrorize them, rob them of their labor, work them to death, rape their wives and daughters, sell their children off like cattle, etc. It is their duty. It is generally garbage, but even in garbage you can find a few gems. And those gems for me were his shoutin out some real historians I am familiar and who I know don't write any rubbish.
   
   "At the conclusion of this meeting, he insisted that everyone present contribute twelve and a half cent in order "to pay that black man's wages to his mistress." Author
   
   Is this a direct quote and what is the source? Or is the author using quotation marks for emphasis. I can't imagine a black man using the wording. Isn't it obvious that the man is black. Why the need to say "black man." This is why I doubt this is a direct quote made by black man in reference to another black man.
   
   "In both the old world and the New, the records of slave revolts are a testimony to the courage of human beings, but they also are evidence of the human unwillingness to accept the laws of probability?" Author
   
   This is rubbish. Let me remind the author the only way the white slave owning class knew about the slave revolt is because a house slave ran to his master to report it. Therefore, the probability that the revolt would have happened had it not been for this man is 100%. The author contradicts his own story. Also, may I remind the author of little island called Haiti. Every slave rebellion except that of Nat Turner was spoiled by a slave telling his owner about what was happening. I figure what gets them is that these Africans generally out smarted them and they only had information through another black, not their own intelligence, which the author said several times clearly in his own words. When it was first reported, the tattler's owner did not even believe him. So this is wishful thinking on the part of the author.
   
   I do not recommend this book. If you must read it, check it out at the library. Don't waste your money on it.



2. This is an empowering and inspiring story by a gifted storyteller who surprisingly managed to stay neutral and objective throughout his research into the man and the myth of Denmark Vesey. There are so many lessons for all Americans courageous enough to examine the actions and motives of their immediate ancestors as well as their own often conflicting feelings toward each other.



3. The parallels between Denmark Vesey's failed slave insurrection in Charleston in 1822 and the start of Toussaint's successful slave insurrection in Saint Domingue (now Haiti) in 1791 are striking. In both circumstances, black slaves comprised the vast majority of the population -- 75% in Charleston, 90% in Saint Domingue. In both, the hopeful liberators were former slaves who had become literate, fairly well-to-do, free blacks. Both Toussaint and Vesey distrusted mulattoes, who were regarded in both societies as a distinct class, with ambivalent loyalties. Both leaders took advantage of the disparate religious beliefs of their followers to enhance group cohesiveness.

   In any such mass event, planned well in advance, the risk of discovery or betrayal is always great. Remarkably, in both of these planned insurrections, rumors and confessions alerted authorities weeks in advance of the scheduled dates. And in both, the white slaveholders were incredulous that ignorant, simple blacks could possibly coordinate an uprising of the size suggested by their informants. In both instances, the threat was dismissed as fantasy. As we know, the French authorities of Saint Domingue were too late in recognizing the magnitude and reality of the uprising. Few of us, however, have grasped the slim margin of time by which white Charlestonians were able to prevent a similar success in Charleston. Considering that Charleston was the prime destination of French planters fleeing the conflagration in Saint Domingue, Charlestonians should have been more attuned to the threat brought on by their slaveholding, minority autocracy. But, as Robertson points out, there was a degree of theater involved in living as a dominant white minority among a vast population of black slaves, and part of that theater was the belief by slaveholders that their slaves were grateful for being well treated--that slaves could recognize that it is better to be fed and clothed and sheltered as a slave than to be free as a savage. This delusion led to the Charlestonians' nearly fatal delay in responding to the signs of impending insurrection.

   STRENGTHS: The story of Denmark Vesey is as fine an example of "Silencing the Past", in Michel-Rolph Trouillot's words, as the story of Saint Domingue. Despite the conscious efforts of Charlestonians to obliterate the history of the event (efforts well chronicled by Robertson) the author has assembled a creditable body of confirmed and "probable" details about Vesey and the planned insurrection. His unflinching thoroughness is revealed in such details as the fact that Peter Prioleau, the slave who initially betrayed the plot, was freed in 1822 by a special act of the legislature, and given a lifetime pension. We learn that by 1840, Prioleau is himself the owner of 7 slaves. The brief text (153 pages) is readable compelling, and well documented.

   In an appendix, Robertson includes 1 paragraph biographies of the other men who were executed along with Denmark Vesey. These poignant scraps are practically all that is know of many of these would be liberators.

   Interestingly, we learn that Vesey's attempted insurrection apparently led to the US's refusal to grant diplomatic recognition to the Republic of Haiti until the US Civil War. This veritable boycott of the Western Hemisphere's second oldest republic by its older brother may be seen as a significant cause of Haiti's financial and political instability during the first half of the 19th century.

   WEAKNESSES: I'm stumped here. Perhaps the only shortcoming I can point out is that the text would be enhanced by a period map of Charleston, to enable the reader to follow some of the geographical commentary.

   CONCLUSION: This short, fluidly written history of an event which could have resulted in a stunning alteration of American history, is also great reading.




4. David Robertson's book on the life of Denmark Vesey and the planned insurrection of slaves and freed blacks is a powerful, griping story unknown by most American blacks and whites.

   American school children are always instructed on the bravery of George Washington, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, etc. and other courageous Founding Fathers who rebelled against the mighty British Empire. As we know, the colonials fought for freedom, liberty and justice. While Americans are proud of the Founding Fathers, the English government believed our heroes were traitors and worthy of death. The labeling of one as a "hero/patriot" or "rebel/terrorist" is related to ones perspective of the "cause".

   In a brief 153 pages, Roberston leaves the reader grasping for more information about this free, skilled(carpenter), relatively well-off black male, who at the age of 60 risked his life to free slaves in a plan surely doomed for failure. How could a former slave believe an insurrection of this type would not only go undetected, but also ultimately succeed? Robertson provides the reader with enough historical information about Vesey that one believes the plan would have succeeded if not for a few informers. The fact that Vesey and his trusted compatriots enlisted 9000 slaves prepared to rebel clearly demonstrates his planning and leadership skills.

   After his betrayal, the manner in which Vesey conducted himself under tortuous conditions is inspiring. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the American judicial system.

   Upon reflection, what is evident in this story of Denmark Vesey is not that a slave rebellion ultimately failed and many of its organizers and participants executed. What is clear is that basic human rights, respect and dignity (as so eloquently delineated in the U.S. Constitution) are not only universally desired, but will ultimately be seized by those so denied. History is full of such brave men and women who pursue justice regardless of personal circumstances and comfort. Denmark Vesey was such a man; an American indoctrinated with the concept of freedom and willing to give his life so his fellow man could have it.




5. I was surprised to see that this wonderful biography has not been popular among Amazon.com customers. In telling a moving story of courage and rebellion, Robertson succeeds in bringing the reader to Vesey's time and place. This book should be taught in schools, particularly as it brings to life an important and largley overlooked figure in American history. I cannot recommend it highly enough to readers interested in American history, slavery, the South, and social justice.

No comments about African-American Autobiography: A Collection of Critical Essays (New Century Views).

5 comments about Sugar Ray.

1. To talk about the grandness of Sugar Ray Robinson may seem a commonplace, but in the annals of the boxing there has not been such kind of boxer who has displayed such style, refinement, effectiveness and elegance. 109 KO along his life and the fact to have recovered four times the World championship have become a true myth in this sport.



2. A champion among champions. One of the greatest of all time tells you his story - he is a fighter, not a writer. Don't expect pretty prose, expect a deep, moving look into the life of Sugar Ray Robinson.



3. it is what it is. you get Sugar Ray's story right from the man himself. its concise and thorough and entertaining and inspirational



4. Sugar Ray - 3.75 Stars
   
   I wanted to love this book. I wanted to love Sugar Ray - he was Ali's hero and in a lot of circles he is considered pound for pound the greatest boxer of all time!
   
   I wanted to love this book and Sugar Ray - but unfortunately I didn't.
   
   I almost feel like I'm committing some sort of sacrilege here - and I'm sad to say - I found Sugar Ray Robinson somewhat unlikable.
   
   The story is a great story - a very poor family's struggle and their support and love for each other - Sugar Ray's discovery of boxing and his rise to fame and fortune and the phenomenal and heart breaking comeback and the sad decline in the end. His story really is very interesting, but the book doesn't capture it. It doesn't capture the Sugar Ray magic and I felt that Sugar Ray wasn't 100% honest - he and the book were truthful, but I felt that there was something missing - that he wasn't completely honest.



5. Sugar Ray Robinson was One Of THe Greatest Fighters Ever.Very Uplifting of How He Overcame SO Much.He was a Great Warrior Inside of The Ring.Muhammad Ali called Him The Greatest.A Must Have.

5 comments about Burning Down My Masters' House: My Life at the New York Times.

1. Where is the no star option? Blair is a pathological liar--even his book title is a preposterous lie; it has the audacity to imply that Blair is some kind of a crazy rebel who is fighting power/symbolic slavery by breaking out of a slave role and destroying his masters abode. This is plain sewage. He is a fool, an arrogant nutcase and so full of himself that he cannot see past his own privilege, abuse of power and narcissism. He is an insult to every journalist who actually takes her or his job seriously. Instead of blaming drugs, depression and suicide attempts, (he is not the only writer on the planet who has some kind of psychiatric struggle - did Poe, Tolstoy or Churchill lie their way through life?) he should look into his soul and see that the emptiness and broken moral compass within is his own job to fix.



2. The "victim" approach is not acceptable when you're a discovered liar. This book is nothing more than an attempt to blame the entire Blair disaster on something or someone other than himself. His actions are because he is black, pressured, a drug user, depressed, etc. Reality should set in now, he did what he did because he is a sociopathic liar. If you want to read a book that gives you insight into nothing, this is a good choice.



3. Holy Moley!! Blair is the narrator of the audio version of his book. He speaks in such a passionless, monotone voice that you run the risk of falling asleep while listening to it in your car. James Earl Jones he's not.



4. 
   For the record, I HATE the New York Times!
   
   But for this clown to play the race card,
   
   Jayson Blair is a turd,
   
   and a severe discredit to his race.
   
   by that I mean, of course, the human race.
   
   He will burn in hell forever.



5. To say it is poorly written would be too much of a compliment. You don't have to get even halfway through before you can figure out exactly what happened here. Some publishing house obviously offered him a large advance to write a book, and he threw together whatever he could think of off the top of his head, very little of which is probably true, threw in some "woe is me" for cohesion, and tossed it onto the editor's desk. Whether or not anyone even tried to edit this thing, I don't know, but if they did, they should be fired. This is slop, worse than those celebrities who try to "write" books. To think of all the talented people out there who receive small advances and modest printings, while this thing has done better than it ever should have can make you sick to your stomach.

5 comments about To Be Loved: The Music, the Magic, the Memories of Motown : An Autobiography.

1. Like his main protege' Diana Ross' book SECRETS OF A SPARROW, I found this autobiography, TO BE LOVED, a bit too self-flattering and unapologetic.
   
   Berry Gordy's story is extremely fascinating, his accomplishments in, and contributions to, American music are absolutely gargantuan. He deserves a great deal of credit for having created the conditions for an unmatched musical legacy to flourish. The lore surrounding the founding and early development of his great musical empire is almost as wonderful and engaging as the music itelf. You DO get some of that here.
   
   Gordy also explains many of his business decisions. From most accounts, Mr. Gordy and his family were astute business people. However, Gordy's single-mindedness could often cause him to ignore or underplay some of the artist's gifts, appeal and marketability. For example, great as Diana Ross' star potential was, other female artists, even within the Supremes, were not as fully developed as they deserved to be, while Diana was given "special" opportunities in the way of extraordinary classes [beyond Motown's famous Artist Development]in modeling, etc. Was this purely a "business" decision? In the meantime, artists such as Kim Weston and Brenda Holloway, both quite gifted vocally, and very attractive physically, basically languished at the label.
   
   Gladys Knight and The Pips, while having had moderate success at Motown, but not given that "extra push," absolutely exploded after they left the label, had huge sales, and were awarded several Grammy awards.
   
   The Spinners fared even worse at Motown. But after they left the label they had phenomenal success in the early-mid seventies with singles and album sales. Many of those singles are considered r&b classics.
   
   Was there just too much talent at Motown for all of it to be promoted as deserved? Was Mr. Gordy too hands-on during those years?
   
   I wasn't satisfied with Mr. Gordy's take on some of these situations. As a huge Supremes' fan, I was especially dissatisfied with his matter-of-fact comment that, within the original group, Diana had the "sparkle," and Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard didn't, to paraphrase. People loved all 3 Supremes, and us fans recognized the magic and potential in all three. The fate of Florence Ballard is especially sad. She was dead [of a broken heart?] at age 32, just about 9 years after her ousting from that group. Her replacement within the Supremes was literally waiting in the wings to take over, between the early evening and later performance at a Las Vegas casino in July, 1967, when Flo was fired from the group. Was this also, a purely business decision? Was Mr. Gordy willing to hear Flo's grievances about being relegated more and more to the background, when the fans loved her to be featured, and by many accounts, she was the "founder" of the group?
   
   I really prefer Mary Wilson's unvarnished take on the Supremes' story, as presented in her wonderful books DREAMGIRL and SUPREME FAITH [both available in one volume]. She tells it like it is, and, along the way, exposes her own warts and blemishes, but also comes across as a rounded, real, fallible, wonderful person. TO BE LOVED didn't have nearly enough of that.
   
   DREAMGIRL sold like hotcakes, while Mr. Gordy's book did rather poorly. Ms. Ross' book also sold poorly. A lesson??? If you're going to do a memoir, people will really relate more the more real you relate.



2. It is always hard to believe autobriographies, especially in the music-biz where people are fighting others constantly for power, money and all those things. Since Berry Gordy is a controversial figure, we have to doubt it.

   Doesn't take away the fact that is interesting seeing the rise of his Motown label through his eyes. He discoverd many acts and also wrote and produced many hits in the 50's through 80's. Jackie Wilson, Martha Reeves, Mary Wells, The Supremes, Four Tops, Temptations and Miracles all are very much part of the Gordy legacy.

   He started as a boxer, admiring Joe Louis before turning to music. One of his earliest friends was Smokey Robinson, someone who he also admired and who never turned his back to him. Something the Jackson 5 did, though they were almost part of his family.

   His familymember were often married to people from his company. Jermaine Jackson and Marvin Gaye for example. He himself married often and had more than 8 children with 4 different wives, including Diana Ross.

   It is very interesting to read about how he felt about the music business and Motown, but doubt the honesty




3. This was one of the most fascinating books I've ever read. I couldn't put it down. So many awesome characters and people that everyone knows. Definately recommended. Highly



4. I'm amazed at the almost uniformly positive reviews of this book by other readers here. Berry Gordy accomplished a great deal by founding Motown Records, no question about it (what he did for African American culture in general is immeasurable); what I object to is his (predictible, but no less shocking) glossing over of many unpleasant facts in this book. The fact is, Gordy was a mean and ruthless businessman who stomped on countless others in his rise to the top (the part he played in the downfall of Florence Ballard alone is unforgivable); his warm and fuzzy recounting of his and Motown's story simply reads false to me. Better books on this subject are J. Randy Taraborelli's Motown book, his biography of Diana Ross, and the two Mary Wilson autobiographies. Those read quite a bit more convincingly.



5. Glad to hear from the man who made Motown. If you are a fan of the music than this is a must read!!!!!

3 comments about Lay My Burden Down: A Folk History of Slavery.

1. Editor and compiler B. A. Botkin wrote the first of its kind comiliaton of the over 3000 interviews of ex-enslaved African Americans done by the WPA in the 1930s. As the subtitle suggests, he provides "A Folk History of Slavery." Read excerpts from first hand accounts of the horrors of slavery and of the remarkable resilience of the enslaved. For a more detailed compilation (those contained here are brief snippets) consider Blassingame's "Slave Testimony").
   
   Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction." He has also authored "Soul Physicians," "Spiritual Friends," and the forthcoming "Sacred Friendships: Listening to the Voices of Women Soul Care-Givers and Spiritual Directors."



2. I read "Lay My Burden Down" by B.A. Botkin, almost forty years ago. Botkin's collection of these narrative is indeed a national resource. It's a great book for researches of American History. People of every ethnicity should read this book. These narratives so confirmed the slave stories passed down from my great grandparents when I was a child, that I was overwhelmed for a while. The ex-slaves spoke freely about what freedom meant to them. Moreover, they spoke about how the lack of freedom made thier lives a living hell. The first portion of narratives illustrate that nothing, not even slavery can blot out humor or the opportunity to find joy in some aspect of life. One felt like rejoicing when slaves excaped thier horrific exsistence. Then, there was lasting sorrow tinged with hope for the ones who were not freed until the end of slavery in 1965 or a few years after.



3. A friend of mine once described slave narratives as the equivalent of the library of a foreign culture. Reading one is embarrassingly simplistic. Consider Botkin's book a whirlwind tour. Although I believe every American should be exposed to these narratives (above and beyond the historical representations from textbooks), the stories in Lay My Burden Down are so powerful, so full of intensity, I gave the book 4 stars because it is almost brutal in its power. The humor of the first sections soon fades, and the grim truths of slavery become more and more difficult to face. Proceed, but with caution.

5 comments about Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song.

1. The book has an introduction by Hilton Als. In early 1939 Billie Holiday sang "Strange Fruit." It made the audience nervous. Someone clapped and then everyone clapped at the night club, Cafe Society.
   
   Billie Holiday performed the song countless times. The song encountered great resistance. It was banned by South African Radio during the existence of apartheid. The song was written by a white Jewish school teacher from New York City, Abel Meeropol, writing under the pen name Lewis Allan. He is better known as the adoptive father of the sons of the Rosenbergs. He brought the song to Billie Holiday.
   
   Billie Holiday embellished things in her ghost-written autobiography. Cafe Society was the brainchild of Barney Josephson. Meeropol felt that Billie Holiday was not comfortable with the song. Josh White also performed the song.
   
   Lynching was a conspicuous theme in black fiction, theater, and art, but not in music. Lynching brutalized feelings everywhere. The U.S. Congress refused over and over again to pass an anti-lynching law. The performance on record is elegant and understated. There was a sense of inherent drama in a Billie Holiday presentation. The record sold ten thousand copies the first week by some accounts. The song made one sit up and listen and think. Hearing the record was an epic event for the fifteen year old Ned Rorem.
   
   The title of the song was used by Lillian Smith for her anti-segregation novel. When Billie Holiday moved to the other jazz clubs "Strange Fruit" went over well. The book is part oral history. The collage style is effective. When Billie Holiday was depressed she added "Strange Fruit" to the program.
   
   In the American mainstream "Strange Fruit" was too sensitve to sing. The song made its way into a song book used by Pete Seeger and other folk singers. The song was learned by a number of the red diaper babies of the 1950's era. Nina Simone performed the song in the 1960's. The book contains a 'Strange Fruit" discography.



2. This book is an elegant portrait of a song, the woman who sang it, and the man who wrote it. It is a poignant look at the interplay between them all.I am not a student of jazz, and yet I found this book to be fascinating. It is as much about civil rights and human dignity as it is about music. Margolick is an amazingly astute observer of events, and he has an uncanny ability to describe what he sees in beautiful, elegant prose. This book would make a wonderful gift to anyone interested in jazz; interested in the civil rights movement; interested in Billie Holiday; or just interested in a little known profile in courage. Read it and savor it!



3. There are few songs in the world that stop you in your tracks and render you speechless of mind and heart. Billie Holiday sang one of them. The combination of her signature smoky vocals and the stark lyrics of the song written by Abel Meeropol, a white Jewish schoolteacher in the Bronx, proved to be spellbinding. Its emotional charge stirred activists and intellectuals and even popular notoriety. Margolick's biography of the song is a slim volume but full of interest, well-written and researched.



4. Strange Fruit : The Biography of a Song by David Margolick, Hilton Als, moved me! I think Margolick did a great job of ferreting out and marrying an extensive array of first person accounts of people's experiences listening to Billie Holiday sing her heartbreaking ballad, enough so that I almost felt like I was there too at times! Margolick doesn't pretend his book is a historical analysis - it's a biography, and a short one at that. As such, it does it's job and will resonate with me, as does Billie's song. It would be to the historians that I would look for analysis of its effects on society - anyone listening? The book adds another layer of fine patina to an historical moment in musical history and illustrates how brave Billie Holiday must have been!



5. I was glad to see the announcement for this book, an essay on Billie Holiday's landmark song, "Strange Fruit." Margolick does a good job of describing the song's origins, its performance by Holiday and its initial reception by audiences and critics.

   Unfortunately, there is little analysis of the song's impact on the African-American community or on American society in general. While the narrative is presented well, the commentary is often superficial: "Some African Americans...disliked the song because it portrayed blacks as victims. Others literally feared the song, thinking that far from enlightening people, it would stir up racial hatreds and actually lead to a new wave of lynchings." But which of the many views was dominant? Margolick provides some educated guesses but no real evidence. We see how the song affected particular individuals but not how it influenced the cause of civil rights.

   Moreover, the purpose and scope of the book are never made clear. As a biographical essay, STRANGE FRUIT omits much of the context we would need to understand Holiday and her life. As a social commentary, it fails to marshal evidence in a cogent or convincing way. The author presents no critical evaluation of the song itself, and the book is ultimately more a tribute than anything else.

   The unusual length of the book also makes it hard to categorize. It's more than a conventional essay yet less than a full-length biography. While the comments of those who knew Holiday are generally interesting, Margolick's attempts to synthesize the material -- to make sense of it all -- often seem forced, incomplete or even contradictory.

   STRANGE FRUIT is strangely unsatisfying. Readers who want to understand the song's impact will be left wanting additional evidence and a more thoughtful commentary.

1 comments about A Touch of Innocence: A Memoir of Childhood.

1. I read A Touch of Innocence as research for a project on black dance in America and found myself lost in a different world. Dunham's autobiography of her early years is a work of art. Her descriptive prose reads like that of one who writes for a living instead of as a diverting side-line to the dance. This book should be on the nightstand of every person interested in great black literature.

3 comments about Brown Sugar: Over 100 Years of America's Black Female Superstars (New and Updated Edition).

1. I love that Mr. Bogle continues to uncover and expand on African-American female superstars in his book, "Brown Sugar"; however, I would've liked to see more coverage on two of the following actresses: Meagan Good and Jurnee Smollett. While they are mentioned, it is nothing more than a passing glance, and with the body of work that both of these young ladies are known for, I just feel that they deserve more coverage in Mr. Bogle's future considerations. Nonetheless, it is a great read.



2. This book is an excellent source for anyone doing research on modern Black film history.



3. I really enjoyed the PBS series that came out of the first edition of this book 20 odd years ago and I am thrilled to see that it has finally received it's well-deserved update...so much has happened since then! Donald Bogle provides a thorough and insightful account of the last century of black female superstars and the book is full of illustrations to help you put faces to names...one on every page. Very recommended.

No comments about Demography of the Dobe !Kung (Evolutionary Foundations of Human Behavior).