3 comments about Six Women's Slave Narratives (Schomburg Library of Nineteenth Century Black Women Writers).

1. An overall good read, however, it was longer than it should have been. This book gave an insightful view of slavery through the eyes of six slaves and the people in their lives. At some points in the book I gasped at the thought of how these women were treated. I was intrigued to continue reading in some spots, but in others I chose to skip over entire paragraphs. I would recommend this book to anyone writing a paper on slaves and the cruelity in which they were treated, and also how slaves percieved themselves in the early 19th century.



2. If you will read 'The Slave Narratives' you will get to read interviews with over 2500 former slaves who were still living in the mid-thirties, and also their views and feelings about life in the old South. Why limit yourself to just a handpicked 6 stories when there are 2500 out there? Hmmm?



3. Six Women's Slave Narritives is an absolute must for any historian or seeker of truth. You will cry and shivers will run down your spine as you feel the past rush through you with every turn of the page. This is a compilation of 19th century Black women writers in different situations. Interestingly, the typeface changes slightly throughout the book, imitating the possibility of time travel. Some of the women are educated, and some are simply expressive. The editors notes help clarify confusing issues and questions. If you are studying history, women, black history or slavery, you will be engrossed by this heartrenching and soul-moving collection of personal exposure. Be ready to cry, wince, and change your outlook on life.

5 comments about I'm Not Dancing Anymore.

1. I think Terri was brave to write this book. It seems to be a very honest account of her family, and their relationship to OJ. From what was written, OJ seemed to remove himself from HIS family, who obviously love him, and create a new family with Nicole and the Brown family, rarely having contact with his family, except it seems out of obligation. I think it is very telling of how OJ treated his family after the murders also,they ran to his side to support him,attended the entire trial,and yet he seemed dismissive of them.Terri recounts how he barely communicated with them, leaving the home a day after the murders and never telling them where he was.The Simpsons camped out at his home to support him, and were left in the dark,having to rely on the news to see what was going on.They were devoted to him at this time,and he seemed to prefer the company of his friends.He seemed to treat his family shabbily,and didn't seem to want or care about having their support.I think it is a telling account of what he is like,and his priorities which didn;t seem to include his own family. Terri also recounts how close he was to the Brown family,and how painful that was to her and her family. I think it is an honest account of her feelings about her Uncle OJ, and I think she tried to be fair about his guilt or innocence.She seemed to want to beleive he was innocent, but struggled with alot of questions and had some doubts.I do think that on the subject of Nicole, and her family,particularly her sisters, Terri seemed to be envious of them, reveals some not so nice stories about them, and left me wondering if her account was rooted in jealousy,which I can't say I blame her if you compare how Simpson seemed to favor the Browns. I think she felt angry about how the Browns were such a big part of OJ & Nicoles life,while her own family was left out of so much. I have read elswhere things about Nicole such as her temper, and how participated in fights etc. with OJ, but I don't think that makes her a bad person, and doesn't mean she deserved to be murdered. I think alot of it was Nicole trying to have some control of her life,defend herself,and fight back against the treatment she got from a very violent man. I don't say Nicole was perfect, just that Terri's account of Nicole & family is a bit shaded by jealousy,and from her desire to believe her uncle was innocent.
   All in all, a very good book, and I have alot of respect for Terri having the courage to write it. I believe overall it was an honest account of her story.



2. Terri, you did a beautiful job. I rented the book from the library and now I must own it. Your expresed yourself clearly about what it is like to have a famous person in your family. I know that Nicole was no angel and was even worse when she drank. I wondered how many people knew that she was under therapy for her temper. She pushed your uncle's buttons and one day she pushed to hard. It is just that simple. Just the things she would say to him about pushing a man around in a wheel chair one day. Well sweetheart that man that you are pushing around in that wheelchair made it possible for you to live the life that you did live. I will never understand this though, if she was oh so afraid of him, why did she go back to him?? He was doing very well with Paula until she wanted to come home, like some spoiled brat. Now I am not saying what happened to her should have happened to her; but I am saying that once you are divorced and have a one-half million dollar settlement plus child support, then you move clear across country. No but she had to stay up under O. J. For what love??? I don't think so.



3. When the OJ Simpson trial was being shown on television every night, I was about 12 years old, and never gave it my full attention. I was cognizant that most people thought that he had murdered his wife and her friend, but I didn't take the time to watch the happenings of the trial; it's just not a topic that will typically hold a 12 year old's attention. Now that I am 21, I am interested in knowing the facts as well as the skepticisms of the trial and murder. Terri Baker, (OJ Simpson's niece) did a great job of filling me in.
   
   
   
   Terri candidly informs her reader that OJ Simpson never really took up much time with his blood relatives. He preferred spending his leisure with Nicole Brown's family and his celebrity friends. On special occasions, the Simpson family would come together as a family, everyone except OJ. His visits were sporadic, and when he was around, his mind was somewhere else and everyone catered to his needs. She also says that the family had always put OJ on a pedestal, and no one ever confronted him with anything, even if they felt that he was doing something wrong. His money? Well, he made sure that he and Nicole lived lavishly, but he wasn't very generous with the Simpson family. In fact, they really didn't reap any financial benefits from OJ.
   
   
   
   OJ was physically abusive and very possessive of Nicole. The book states that there are recordings of Nicole calling the police because OJ had struck her. There are also photographs illustrating a battered Nicole.
   
   
   
   Terri was very vocal about the deaths of Nicole and Ron Goldman and the infamous "trial of the century." Although the Simpson was not very forthcoming with their feelings concerning the murders, Terri had a very difficult time coping. She was having problems at her job and eventually stopped working, and got heavy into alcohol. To this day, she is unsure if her Uncle committed those crimes, but it is something that will bother her for as long as she lives.
   
   
   
   She also let us know how spaced out her uncle was, namely during and after the trial. The day the verdict was announced, they threw a party at OJ's house, and someone congratulated him and asked him how it felt to be home, and he looked at them like they were insane. Terri also mentioned that during the trial, OJ had a very impassive look on his face which drew even more skepticism as to whether or not he is guilty.
   
   
   
   I really, really enjoyed this book and all it said about OJ and the lives of he and his family. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to become more knowledgeable of the trial of the century.



4. I thought this book was very good. Terri did not take sides in this book. she stood by her family even when she had doubts about her uncle. terri tells us over and over in the book how OJ has little to do with his family. I am glad to see that she saw this and was not blind like most of her family was. it is good to hear she has her life back on track. good book with lots of info about OJ and his family.



5. Terri Baker has produced a well written book based on her eyewitness account of the O.J. Simpson murder trial and all that followed. I feel that to say I "enjoyed" the book would be somewhat sadistic, but it was worth the read for anyone that had any type of interest in O.J. Simpson and/or the murder investigation and trial.
   
   This appears to have been a labor of unconditional love, self-analysis, loyalty, forgiveness and healing. It took courage to write a book that is so personally revealing of herself, The Browns, The Goldmans, The Dream Team, Kato Kaelin, Paula Barbieri her Uncle O.J., Rockingham and the rest of the Simpson family. As I read this book, I felt as if I was there among all the family, friends, groupies, media and those that were along for the celebrity ride. Ms. Baker has given her readers an up close and personal view of everything one could imagine and then some things one probably had not thought of. At times I felt she gave the reader more information than we really needed to know, but in order for the reader to fully understand...she had to let the reader into those sacred, private and personal moments.
   
   Her compelling accounts of the various incidents, conflicts, awkard moments and private moments made me feel her every emotion. She provides information about Nicole that not even the tabloids exposed. However, she did not provide a lot of information about Justin and Sydney, but I can understand her respecting the innocent children that have lost more than anyone in this entire ordeal.
   
   If you take away the "celebrity" from the Simpson Family...you have just about any family in the world. The issues and family secrets that the Simpsons share are typical of many dysfunctional families. But most people probably have never really analyzed things as deeply as Ms. Baker did.
   
   Upon finishing the book, I felt that Ms. Baker has made peace with her dysfunctional family, confronted and conquered her demons, picked up the pieces of her life that were lost during the trial and learned how to make lemonade out of lemons.
   
   The book left me wondering though...has O.J. ever shown any gratitude to his family for their dedication, love and loyalty during his ordeal. Did he learn anything from all of this? Has he read this book? How does he feel about this book? Some family members lost jobs and money by choosing to stand by his side all those months. The traveling back and forth, the great financial expense and personal scarifice was a high price to pay. I do hope that he eventually lavished his family with some financial blessings as he did for The Browns and others over the years.

No comments about The New Sun (Intersections: Asian and Pacific American Transcultural Studies).

4 comments about Malcolm X: The Last Speeches (Malcolm X Speeches & Writings).

1. In 1991 I met Malikah Shabazz (one of M/X's daughters) and she autographed my copy of this, telling me that this was her favorite of the varying complations that filled bookstores at the time. I agreed then and now. This presents a more complex look at the varying stages of Malcolm's evolving philosophy while other such compliations are more selective to represent such phases in Malcolm X's evolution Elijah Muhammad's teachings (which I personally have no use for), socialism, black nationalism, etc. to promote the point of view of the compliers. Here, we see that M/X, while consistant in his search for something better for Black people. So it can rightly be called "A Malcolm X Reader" or "The Evolution of Malcolm X Thought."
   
   He also mentions Nelson Mandela in passing in this collection, and what he has to say about his days in the Nation of Islam near the end of this book will give fans of the pre-1964 thought of M/X much pause. After this, check out "Malcolm X Talks to Young People." While that is a representation of his later thought, it's also quite good. But read this after the "Autobiography" and M/X Speaks" to get the full enchilada of Malcolm X Thought.



2. Dr. Bruce Perry, former collaborator, more recently biographer of Malcolm X, searched for decades after Malcolm X died for more speeches and interviews by Malcolm X. He spent years tracking down the man who had the tapes that led to this book, finding him in the rain forest jungles of Guyana, and being able to interview him while the revolutionary government of Marice Bishop still ruled Grenada. He knew Pathfinder would publish them, because Pathfinder was the publisher Malcolm X chose while he was alive to publish his work, because they believe in Malcolm X's words because they are Malcolm's.
   There are three sections, two speeches given before Malcolm split from the Nation of Islam from January and February 1963, two interviews from december 1964, and the last two speeches we have in full, one he gave February 15, 1965 and another he gave the next day. Malcolm X was murdered on February 21, 1965.
   You can judge for yourself how Malcolm X grew and changed.l One thing, it wasn't to become someone just into peace and love and non-violence and all sorts of silly things that people say, but that Malcolm X never was into. I just leave you with the contrast in titles. The titles of the 1963 speeches are "Twenty million Black people in a political, economic, and mental prison" anmd "America's gravest crisis since the civil war," rooted in the problems of Black people in America. The speeches given in the last week of his life speak of the world: :There's a world wide revolution going on" and L:Not just an American problem, but a world problem."



3. This book has all of the themes that Malcolm spoke about during the last year of his life. He patiently explains over and over that the U.S. government is not and can't be "ours", not without a revolution : it is theirs, it belongs to the superrich
   ( mostly -white ) man. He calls this system " the power structure" or, most scientifically of all, then and now, "Western, or American, imperialism". He speaks of the need for Blacks in "America" to be proud of their African roots;
   the need to become and to stay politically independent of the twin parties of capitalist racism; of women's equality and dignity - that's right ; it's one of the main reasons he broke from the Nation of Islam - and he speaks of the Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cuban revolutions as examples to emulate HERE. Above all he teaches you , of whatever color , creed ,or sex , to start with the standpoint that most of the people in the world are your potential allies and what is called " America" - the U.S. government and the Yanqui Empire - is your and my deadly enemy. Anti-capitalist and pro-socialist, this is not the Malcolm of biographers, or movie directors, or other "interpreters" - it is Malcolm X speaking for himself, putting forward a line of march relevant to every fighter for meaningful social change today, tomorrow, and beyond.



4. If your view of Malcolm X is from the Spike Lee movie, reading this book and the other books of speeches from his last year "Malcolm X: The Final Speeches" will turn your head around. Malcolm is depicted as a purely humanist, apolitical person, after his trip to Mecca who simply loved everyone. The speeches and interviews from his last year show him as an increasingly political person who was working with Cuban, Congolese, Algerian revolutionists and with revolutionary socialists in the United States to fight for African liberation and against the growing US War in Indochina.
   
   Moreover, Malcolm's speeches from this year also document the reactionary and corrupt practices of the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad and its terror campaign against Malcolm and anyone else who dissent. He had held back from this, but he needed to do this to expose the threats against himself and his family.
   
   As in his other speeches and interviews Malcolm speaks in a voice with lots of practical school-of-hard-knocks knowledge and reasoning, in a soul stirring, voice, with lots of wit as well as wisdom thrown in.
   
   
   While this book may not be directly available from Amazon at times, they are available from the booksfrompathfinder on Amazon that you can find by clicking on the new and used books on this page.

No comments about To Tell a Free Story: The First Century of Afro-American Autobiography, 1760-1865.

1 comments about Love Across the Color Line: The Letters of Alice Hanley to Channing Lewis.

1. While renovating an old house, a person found a lace stocking filled with love letters from a woman to a man. Also enclosed is a photo of a black woman. Instead of being correspondence between two blacks, it turns out that these letters were written by an Irish-American woman to her black male lover.
   
   History buffs and amateur genealogists should love this book. Outside of the interracial context, this book answers how do you find more information when you come upon a historical artifact. The answer is to look at old census documents, old maps, old magazines. Also, let people know what you found and see if someone may know helpful third parties. Just as modern techniques show that we leave our DNA everywhere, for approximately 150 years or so, Americans have left photographs and writings everywhere. Your reality can be found, even a century after the fact.
   
   The editor of this book said that the contributors knew this book must be a collaboration from the start. I actually think a historian with a background in women's history, African-American history, and local Massachusetts history could have written this book all by her- or himself.
   
   The extant letters were written by Alice to Channing; there is no existing two-way correspondence here. However, the book stated that when relationships fell apart, women often asked their paramours for their letters back. So while I thought that Channing may have kept these letters, it was actually Alice who did so. In that same vein, the book uncovers much more about Alice than Channing. In fact, it stands out that the chapter devoted to her is deep whereas the one devoted to him is scant. Still, you gotta work with whatcha got.
   
   This book is inspiring in that it proves such relationships did exist before Loving v. Virginia. However, that is where the inspiration ends. This relationship was riddled with abuse, jealousy, "gold digging," and misogyny. Just as Frederick Douglass wed a different white woman than the one to whom he wrote love letters, Channing never divorced his white wife to marry Alice. Patricia Hill Collins has soundly condemned the idea that this pairing is Root's "love's revolution." That stands out here. In fact, modern census figures show that couples co-habit interracially much more than they wed interracially.
   
   While this book does mention Smith College at several points, it never brings up that Northampton is now nicknamed "Lesbianville, USA" by its own residents. Greenwich Village was known for its tolerance toward interracial couples and gay couples. The authors here never state whether Northampton residents of that era would have been equally open-minded.
   
   This book does leave some questions unanswered. Alice was 32 when she wrote to Channing and 40 when she married another man. Did she pursue Channing because she didn't want to be an "old maid"? Channing was obviously literate, but the authors never suggest how he learned to read. They mention several times that the Civil War was a close memory for all involved. During the slavery era, it was illegal to teach blacks to read. This book never answers how Channing became one of the exceptions.
   
   Critics have complained that books don't bring up issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality enough. Well, this book juggles all of those balls. In fact, this book spells out ways that the interracial component of this duo may have been the smallest worry of the couple's concerns. Alice never brings up race in her letters, but the authors suggest that clearly race was a salient issue at this time. I am pleased that I found this book.

5 comments about Writing Home: Collected Essays and Newspaper Columns.

1. This book of domestic essays by Michigan journalist Cindy LaFerle is a major delight. The rich topic of LaFerle's family life, from delivering newspapers on dark Sunday mornings with her son to remodeling her historic home and baking bread for peace, is comfort food without the calories. The essays pair especially well with a warm cup of tea on a cold afternoon. LaFerle's calm and compassionate humor will remind readers to be grateful for the many blessings of home.



2. From the preface: "At a writers' retreat I attended several years ago, author Madeleine L'Engle posed a question, "Why do all of us want to share our stories?" Her answer affirmed what each of us knew but couldn't express as elegantly: "We share our stories because we have faith--faith the universe has meaning and that our little lives are not irrelevant." I found this profound and wanted to read deeper.
   
   Cindy has put together some wonderfully arranged thematic essays. The essays are funny, poignant and show a slice of life. The essays are fun reading them in book sequence or skipping around (Sorry Cindy. You probably wanted them read in the sequence published.). I enjoyed reading them.
   
   Cindy's writing style in this book is like a conversation between friends. There is a sense of humor mixed with plain down to earth speech and common everyday situations that anyone can relate to. Most essays are short, easy and fun to read.
   
   The Christian Science Monitor, Reader's Digest, Country Gardens, Writer's Digest, The Oakland Press and The Royal Oak Daily Tribune have all published Cindy's essays and columns. Cindy lives in her home town, Royal Oak, Michigan, with her family.
   
   I found this book easy and fun to read. I don't know when these essays were first published, but they just a relevant. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone wanting something entertaining to read. Since there a re a series of essays, there is no real need to rush, reading from cover to cover. You can pick up this book at anytime and read one or more of the essays when you have a few minutes to spare while relaxing. I would rate this book as a great read and worthy of consideration by readers.
   
   Bob Medak, Allbooks Reviews



3. 
   Cracking open Cindy LaFerle's debut collection of columns and essays is the equivalent of chatting with your best friend at a coffeehouse. She talks about everything under the sun -- from the love of her deceased tabby cat to the ubiquitous mean mommy syndrome we all face at the PTA. Her steady, flowing writing lulls you into the comforts of her world. It's not all rosy, however. Her discussion of the Iraqi War or Martha Stewart's decline are timely issues to be taken seriously. Nonetheless, you feel you are in trusted hands with Ms. LaFerle. She won't let you down. In every one of her 294 pages, she never does.
   
   
   
   The book is a compilation of over a decade of newspaper columns in The Daily Tribune (Royal Oak, Michigan) and essays which have appeared in notable magazines such as Readers' Digest and Better Homes and Gardens. Since her background mirriors that of many work from home mothers, she is a highly relatable writer both in intention and in content. Her tone is never preachy. It is truthful and without pretense.
   
   
   
   This nurturing scribe has stopped her column. Her local readers in Michigan must mourn the loss of their regular commentator. As she recently sent her only child off to college, she may have been concerned that her home life would not yield a full column's worth. She quotes Aldous Huxley at one point (page 64):
   
   
   
   "Everyone who knows how to read has it in their power to magnify themselves, to multiply the ways in which they exist, to make their life full, significant, and interesting."
   
   
   
   Cindy LaFerle does that with her writing. She magnifies her own world to make it our own. We can only hope she will be inspired to continue the quest with her pen. Her obvious talent to weave honest, yet striking tales is definitely something to write home about.



4. Rebeccasreads highly recommends WRITING HOME as a lovely bouquet of womanly thoughts about things little & big, sad & funny, & topical to today's modern life.
   
   Cindy La Ferle's essays are grouped together by subject rather than eras: first she welcomes us into her House and Garden, & then introduces us to the muggy swamp of Child Care; to her Social Life (such as it is being a work-at-home-parent & spouse); to the philosophies of Kitchen Duty, & to her Creature Comforts.
   
   Then she gets as serious as she can about Work Ethics before opening the Family Album. She also shows us how she's Keeping Up Appearance & Keeping the Seasons, & as with all things, she gets Older and Wiser & into Soul Caring.
   
   Oh, & she's into organic produce, herbs, overnight retreats at a Jesuit monastery, walking with her women friends, & a life of prayer & peace. & she likes to laugh!
   
   WRITING HOME is for everywoman who thinks about her world, & would make a perfect reading group selection, & gift, no matter the season!



5. "The sacred is in the ordinary. It is found in one's daily life - in friends, family, and neighbors; in one's own backyard."
   
   The above quote comes from a thank-you note Cindy La Ferle keeps in an "altar" above her kitchen sink. Its simple observation pretty much sums up the philosophy expounded in her book, Writing Home. A columnist for a Detroit area paper and freelance article writer, La Ferle writes about what she knows best - home - and how our home life shapes and colors who we are.
   
   My personal favorite essay is "Quit Picking on Barbie." The big-breasted fashion doll has been getting a bum rap for years... Most little girls just enjoy dressing her up and designing homes and careers for her. She doesn't scar our sense of femininity at all. Another column, "Recovering Perfectionist," stirs up many familiar emotions as well. Women do seem especially susceptible to perfectionistic behavior, La Ferle observes. Our "people-pleasing" impulses prevent us from attempting many worthwhile endeavors because we're afraid we won't be able to do them perfectly. We need to let go of this need to "be right or look good" all the time. In the humorous "Seeing Red" we learn about the pros and cons of being a redhead - or at least the Miss Clairol version of it.
   
   From "Baghdad and Banana Bread"- finding security from the horrors of the world in simple baking - to "The Lost Art of Loafing"- an art I really need to take advantage of this summer- Writing Home wisely reminds us that truly there is no place like home. -- Cindy Appel for the FEARLESS REVIEWS

5 comments about A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (Dover Thrift Editions).

1. I am as big a fan of Thoreau as there is (I've given 5 stars to 3 of his other books), but I am sorry, this one is just a bit too wordy. Thoreau rambles a lot in this book, there are places where a few paragraphs of descriptions of his trip are followed by pages of wandering thoughts. Maybe I am not at the point to truly appreciate his writing yet, but I do think this book does have its weakness. Written before Walden and other volumes, I think at the time Thoreau hadn't yet mastered the craft of seamlessly blending his thoughts and philosophies with narratives and descriptions. If the relative weights of the actual trip narrative and his rambling thoughts were reversed, I think this would have been a much better book (and he would have sold a few more in his lifetime too!)



2. This book is a record of a trip that Thoreau took with his brother, John, on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers in 1839. Although it certainly contains commentary about what the two brothers saw and did during the trip, this is hardly a travelogue. The book was written not immediately after the journey, but 7 years later, following the death of John. Indeed, it was written while Thoreau was living in his cabin on Walden Pond, as a kind of memorial. But even as a memorial, it's a bit odd, in that Thoreau is extremely careful to keep John's identity anonymous throughout the book.
   
   The brothers took their leave of Concord one Saturday afternoon in 1839, in a small rowboat. They rowed down the Concord River to Lowell, then turned up the Merrimack, where they commenced to row up river as far as Hookset. Upon reaching Hookset, they visited for a week (a week whose events are not discussed in this book), then turned around and retraced their route to Concord. Thoreau provides a detailed account of how they spent their days. However, since much of the days were spent rowing, they had plenty of time for silent contemplation, so much of Thoreau's material presented here are the thoughts that came into his head as they rowed. The topics covered were quite varied, ranging from fishes, literature, poetry, the Bhagavad Gita, philosophy of history, King Philip's War, climbing expeditions in the Berkshires, New Hampshire geography and history, morality, natural philosophy, Goethe, and Chaucer. There are also extensive essays on friendship and religion.
   
   This is the most explicitly philosophical of Thoreau's books. Nevertheless, naturalists and those interested in local New Hampshire history will also find material of interest. I found Thoreau's excursis on his personal religious beliefs (which he presents as a quasi-Sunday sermon) to be highly engaging.



3. Thoreau sought the seclusion of the pond to write *this* book, not _Walden_. In 19th-century terms, this treatise is a modified travelogue based on a 13-day boat trip that Henry and his brother John took in 1839. By today's standards, contemporary editors and many an English teacher would decorate this manuscript with red ink and admonish the author that he strays too often and too far from the main subject. Bill Bryson's essays wander too, but he doesn't usually reach back and quote the Bhagavad-Gita, Homer, Chaucer, or Shakespeare. But whenever Henry takes in his surroundings, he is reminded of something else, and before you know it a serious discourse is off and running, and it has nothing to do with floating upstream or down. He expresses his opinions or offers his knowledge about fish, mythology, religion, poetry, reading, writing, history, government, traveling, waterfalls, friendship, love, life, nature, art, dreams, and science. He reminisces about a previous trip to the Berkshires and a sail down the Connecticut River. He breaks into poetry at whim -- sometimes his own words, more often someone else's. Along the way, the brothers paddle from Concord, Massachusetts, to the area around Concord, New Hampshire, and then turn around and go home. We meet some of the people they encounter along the way and get a glimpse of New England life during that time period. In some respects, the people and the land haven't changed much at all. We can see Thoreau's environmentalism when he talks about dams and their effects on the habits and habitats of fish -- concerns that are still with us today. We can laugh at his puns and enjoy his wordplay (i.e., "The shallowest still water is unfathomable" and Man needs "not only to be spiritualized, but *naturalized*, on the soil of earth.") Above all, we can explore these rivers and shorelines during a time period that we will never see personally, with the aid of a native naturalist who's in the habit of sharing his observations and thoughts.

   Read _Walden_ first. And if you find you enjoy Henry's take on nature and civilization and life and living, pick up _A Week_. There are a few gems lurking in here that you might connect with.




4. [From Boating on the Catawba...in the
   "Musketaquid"]

   I will take the definite role of the
   Nay-Sayer in the long line of aficianados
   and idolators who insist that *Walden* is
   Henry David Thoreau's masterpiece...
   I will simply state that this work and
   "Life Without Principle" are his great
   contributions to literature, thought, and
   value...

   Take this quote from "Life Without Principle"
   (before I get to 'A Week...'):
   "To speak impartially, the best men that
   I know are not serene, a world in themselves.
   For the most part, they dwell in forms, and
   flatter and study effect only more finely
   than the rest. We select granite for the
   underpinning of our houses and barns; we
   build fences of stone; but we do not ourselves
   rest on an underpinning of granite.
   we do not teach one another the lessons of
   honesty and sincerity that the brutes do, or
   of steadiness and solidity that the rocks
   do. The fault is commonly mutual, however;
   for we do not habitually demand any more of
   each other."

   If that is not "preaching," but in the
   sense of a prophet, not a mere sermonizer,
   then there hasn't been any in a long time.
   But Father Mapple's sermon in 'Moby-Dick' is
   right up there with it.
   
   If I had only known of Thoreau [and I had
   not read much of him (and little then)except
   at the University] and had to believe that
   Thoreau was just what he seems to be in
   'Walden,' then I would have given the man
   short shrift...because there is not enough
   of any sort of heart or soul in that work
   to believe that he is even human. But
   fortunately, a Thoreau worshipper (or rather,
   *Walden* worshipper) forced me, by his own
   imperious egotism, to try to understand this
   man Thoreau and his views. It is fortunate
   that I did, for I discovered 'A Week....'
   
   This Penguin Classics edition is excellent
   in a number of ways -- the two most important
   being the notes in the back which explain the
   allusions, and ancient Latin and Greek sources
   and excerpts(for those who might not know them)
   which Thoreau quotes and sometimes translates;
   and the incredible "Introduction" by the editor,
   H. Daniel Peck.
   He can say his wondrous words himself:

   "There is good reason for 'A Week's open
   acknowledgment of the attritions of time
   and loss. Conceived initially as a travel
   book, 'A Week' was immeasurably deepened into
   an elegiac account of experience by a tragic
   event that occurrred in Thoreau's life in
   the period following the 1839 voyage. In
   1842, Thoreau's companion on that voyage,
   his brother John, died suddenly, and in
   agonizing pain, from lockjaw.
   Without question this was the greatest loss
   that Thoreau ever was to suffer. (He seems
   to have undergone, in the aftermath of his
   brother's death, a sympathetic case of the
   illness that caused John's death, and the few
   entries that appear in his journal in this
   period are desperately mournful.) Interestingly,
   though the pronoun 'we' characterizes the
   narrator often in the book, the brother's
   name is never mentioned -- an indication perhaps
   of Thoreau's enduring need to distance himself
   from this loss. there is nothing in 'A Week'
   that directly refers to the death of John Thoreau.
   Instead, his memory is evoked through various
   symbolic strategies. For example, the long
   digression on friendship in the chaper
   'Wednesday' surely is intended to reflect the
   intimacy Thoreau shared with his brother. Even
   the ubiquitious 'we' of the narrator's voice
   speaks to this intimacy. So intertwined are
   the two brothers' identities in this pronoun
   that it is often difficult to tell whether a
   given action has been taken by Henry or John,
   or both at once."
   
   "To emphasize the elegiac aspects of 'A Week'
   is to remind ourselves that throughout Western
   history, rivers -- and voyages upon them --
   have served as metaphors of transience and
   mortality. Yet, as I indicated earlier,
   'A Week' is not solely a mournful book. Its
   rivers also support a spiritual buoyancy, and
   provide the setting for exploration and adventure.
   Most important, however, the book's larger
   structure enables it to 'transcend and redeem'
   the individual losses that it recounts."
   
   [wonderful writing here!]
   "In general, the outward-bound voyage of 'A Week'
   dramatizes the writer's encounter with time and
   its losses; on that voyage, he pays close
   attention to the shore -- which, in its discreet
   scenes of spoliation and historical change,
   symbolizes the passage of time. The homeward
   voyage, on the other hand, suggests assimilation,
   resolution, and renewal. If the primary mode of
   perception on the outward voyage had been
   observation (of the shore), then the primary
   mode of the return voyage is contemplation.
   Now we are involved in an inward exploration,
   and, symbolically, our vision leaves the shore
   and returns to the river and the flow of
   consciousness that it represents."
   -- H. Daniel Peck; "Introduction."
   




5. Lately, I've come to really like the writings of Thoreau. It has taken me several years to return to this author...after being forced to read excerpts from Thoreau at a ridiculously fast pace during high school. Little time to read and less time for reflection left a bad impression of Thoreau in my mind that has, as I said, only recently been overcome.

   But now, upon my return, I have found "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" by Henry David Thoreau to be a very invigorating book...one to be savored and not read too quickly. Taken at a good pace, it has been a joy.

   While transcendentalism still strikes me as a rather facile and egotistical philosophy, I have really come to see and appreciate the mystical quality in Thoreau's works. Like most mystical authors, Thoreau is not always engrossing--he is actually rather tedious in points, but his work is punctuated by passages of sheer brilliance.

   Seeing nature through Henry's eyes has been a wake up call to me personally. This book breathes excitement and lust for life upon the reader. Even his long winded discussions of different kinds of fish serve to alert me to my own lack of wonder. This world, even in its current subjection to futility , is still a wonderful creation. Nature (and Thoreau's picture of these rivers especially) echo the declaration of the Psalmist: "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands" (Psalm 19:1).

   I highly recommend this wonderful book.

5 comments about When We Were Colored: A Mother's Story.

1. Eva Rutland's When We Were Colored is the slightest of these three books, but in some ways the most intriguing. A collection of personal essays originally printed during the 1950s in women's magazines such as Redbook, Woman's Day, and Ladies Home Journal, they were first published in 1964 under the title The Trouble with Being a Mama. Thus, with the exception of the new preface written for this reissue, the book is not retrospective but rather a series of contemporaneous accounts of her family's experience of what she calls "integration qualms." At times, Rutland would agree with Henry Louis Gates Jr., who wrote in his better-known memoir Colored People (1996), "For many of the colored people in Piedmont . . .integration was experienced as a loss. The warmth and nurturance of the womblike colored world was slowly and inevitably disappearing." However, Rutland's overall purpose was not to indulge such nostalgia, but to educate her readership, who were largely white women. Her pedagogical methods are shrewd. She begins each essay "seeking common ground with white mothers" on issues such as the role of "psychology" in childrearing, helping your children make friends, moving the family to a new neighborhood, difficulties with husbands and fathers, preparing children for school and dating, and joining the PTA.
   
   Once she has built firm connections with her readers, she introduces the "hook" at the end of each essay. She describes the day her brothers, walking home from work, were jumped by a group of "white boys" and cut with switchblades. She ends the essay with a reflection on her brother Sam, a college graduate:
   
   the deep, ugly bruises of a lifetime of blows--the long, long walk on a cold, wintry day to the segregated school, the push to the back of the bus, the climb to the "jim crow" section of the theater to see a special movie, the longing walk past the spacious parks and swimming pools reserved for whites, and job--truck driver, under the supervision of a man whose education could not touch his own. The switchblade marks were only the surface marks--a symbol of "what they think I am."
   Many essays end with similar anecdotes: her daughter's white schoolmate whose mother won't let her "come over"; a bright black child with excellent grades placed with the "slow learners" in school; a school dance so fraught with racial and sexual tension that her daughter asks later: "I was so embarrassed . . . Why didn't they just tell me not to come?" In places she addresses her audience directly: "But I can only tell you that they are human as are your own children." Of the night she watches Vivian Malone walk past Governor Wallace and enter the University of Alabama under armed guard, she writes, "I cannot help but believe that somewhere, perhaps in the South, a white mother, simply because she was a mother, also watched with tears and pride and fear."
   
   Rutland returns frequently to the theme of social class: her father was a pharmacist and though she insists they were poor, she admits "we were so much better off than many of our Negro neighbors." All her mother's relatives had graduated from college, and her mother consistently had hired help. As a child her world existed "across town," where friends and members of her extended family lived among the black bourgeoisie of Atlanta. Of her friends, she says "All had cars--comparatively rare in my day--many had fine houses, some had maids, and most attended private schools." Returning as an adult to these neighborhoods, she writes:
   
   Visiting Atlanta, I would go from one spacious home to another--luncheon and bridge during the day, parties at night. Or we would visit Lincoln Country Club--the Negroes' private club with its own little golf course. Or we would take the children to visit our alma maters and the other surrounding Negro universities, stroll on the beautiful campuses, listen to a lecture, attend a University Players production, walk through the library. How I wished my children could grow up there, go to school there. How beautiful it seemed--Atlanta with its ermine-trimmed, diamond-studded, velvety cloak of segregation.
   Though one may read the above sentence as tinged with irony, Rutland was a proud woman: proud of her race and class; proud of her family, especially her compassionate and tolerant mother; proud of her children; and proud of the "brave young people" who decided "segregation was wrong anywhere--schools, bus stations, lunch counters--and picketed all over the country"--even when they shut down her beloved five-and-ten cent store.
   
   At the same time, though she denies it, she is touched by shame. She writes that the color of her skin is the mark of the slave ship, the stamp of shame upon her heritage. As she explains,
   
   The shame transmits itself to you, and you lower your head when confronted with the symbols of your past--a bandanaed Aunt Jemima, a black-faced comedian with a Negro dialect, a bare-footed boy with his face sunk in watermelon.
   
   And the shame becomes a burden on your heart, a chip on your shoulder, carried with you into the marketplace, the streets, the schools.
   In the next breath, though, she insists that because of her family and her segregated schooling, where she learned Negro history and literature (especially the poetry of Paul Lawrence Dunbar), "I think I escaped the shame altogether, and the chip rests lightly on my shoulder." I'm not so sure. She does have a sense of humor and is able to laugh at herself. But in her urgency to convince her white female readers of the full humanity of Negro mothers and children, pride battles shame. Continually imagining herself through white eyes, she remains shadowed by what "they" think, the double-vision so well described by W.E.B. DuBois in Souls of Black Folk (1903). In the end, pride wins out. Her book closes as she watches the 1963 March on Washington: "But most of all I was proud of the people, black and white, who stood in the sweltering sun, tired and weary, quiet and dignified, saying more eloquently than we ever could, We, the people of the United States."
   
   From the January/February 2008 Issue
   "Stepping Out and Moving Forward" by Margo Culley



2. Ready or not, here comes the picture perfect African-American family
   Norman Rockwell never got around to painting. Eva Rutland, with
   absolutely no formal child-rearing knowledge, is the ever so
   delightful wife, and mother of four children. She makes it
   possible for us to sigh and then laugh in WHEN WE WERE COLORED. She
   shows how raising four African-American children during the early
   years of segregation was accomplished. There were no textbooks or
   how-to magazines, and rarely does Rutland seem to be even advised
   by her own mother; trial and error is the order of the day.
   Recognizing no priorities keeps her sane, if you can call it that.
   She is the normal African-American mother who is not afraid to take
   advantage of segregated neighborhoods and allow her children to
   develop into who they will become. Rutland is the pioneer
   of "Mother Knows Best"(tm) or better stated, let the housework wait and
   just go with the flow. She is the mother who never made it to the
   sit-coms.
   
   In a very charming and witty fashion, Rutland discovers mothering
   four different individuals requires patience, delegation,
   flexibility, and creativity. Plus adequate amounts of keeping her
   children involved in community and church leaves no time for
   destructive behavior. Just when her patience runs out, Rutland is
   canny enough to pass the torch to Bill, her husband. She is
   brilliantly funny enough to know when to retreat into the bathroom
   with a magazine and locked door. Readers can follow this mother
   through her children's dating years and laugh in spite of themselves
   when she suggests how her daughter can remain a lady on her first
   date.
   
   You feel the peace emanating from this mother who courageously
   selects a house in an all-white neighborhood instinctively trusting
   her children will cope. Yes, Rutland is the quintessential mother of
   yesteryear and all mothers can learn from reading WHEN WE WERE
   COLORED: A Mother's Story. It will leave you enlightened
   and inspired, it will make you proud that segregation, racism,
   discrimination, riots, and prejudice did not weaken this strong
   mother, or inhibit how her children turned out.
   
   Rutland's memoir earned several awards and the only thing left to do, is come up with even more awards for this wonderful story.
   
   Reviewed by Swaggie Coleman
   for The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers



3. Eva Rutland takes us back to a time of penny candy, 5and 10 -cent stores, and racism. In times when the world seemed much gentler, some Americans could not simply sit down to eat at restaurants unless it was marked Colored, and could not go to the school of their choice. Ms Rutland struggled to rear her children without the emotional scars that sometimes came with dealing with racism.
   
   
   Eva had an open door policy. All were welcome at her door; no one was discriminated against. Eva was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia in the house that her grandfather, a freed slave, built himself. That community had not segregated itself. Although Atlanta was segregated, where Eva lived, everyone knew each other and Eva knew how to find common ground with her neighbors no matter what race they were.
   
   Bill Rutland, Eva's husband, was a trailblazer. He joined the Air Force at the time that it was first desegregated. Not wanting to be separated from his family, he packed them up and moved them to California. Bill met discrimination when he went out in advance to find a home for his family. Some neighborhoods were integrated but Bill had a hard time finding them or a realtor that would help him. Whenever Bill found a house that he wanted, he would have trouble procuring a loan to purchase it. He found a run-down house in a neighborhood that Whites had began to desert because of integration. When the family wanted to move to better surroundings they had to get one of Bill's co-workers to buy it for them, much to the outrage of the seller.
   
   Eva combated racism by becoming a den mother, joining the PTA and every other group that she could find; so that she could help her kids understand that not everyone was a racist. Eva found that every mother has the same fears for their children so she reached out to all mothers and not just members of her own race. Instead of looking for adversity, Eva always looked for the common ground. Eva was a tireless worker who was so busy insuring that her children's mental health did not get ruined that she often did not have time for herself.
   
   
   
   I loved this story! Rutland wrote strictly from a mother's point-of-view and did not let bitterness enter into the equation. I read this book and cheered for her She bared her heart to her readers and wrote with honesty stating flaws and all. Every man, woman and child, especially the younger generation, could benefit from reading this book. This book is not about color but about a mother trying to do what is best for her children, in a world determined to keep them as second-class citizens. Every race would gain something by reading this story.
   
   Margaret Ball
   
   APOOO BookClub- .



4. Book review of "When We Were Colored: A mother's Story" by Eva Rutland, 2007, IWP Book Publishers, ISBN 13: 978-1-934178-00-3, 152 pp.
   
   Book reviewer: Joe Fabel, American Authors Association Review Board
   
   Eva Rutland is a most unique individual who has shared with the reader the wisdom of her life as an individual, a wife and a mother. She is unique because she values the virtues which lie within. Exterior behavior norms are not what she is about for her family. Yes, she teaches her children how to live with others; yet she goes beyond to emphasize the true value of living a life of commitment to excellence. She instills within her children, whenever they will sit still and pay attention, the virtues of living and choosing to perfect themselves as full human beings.
   
   There is reference to her upbringing in the South, a time of sheltering within the black community as defined by white segregation mores. She states that it was a time of comfort in the sense that she and her folks understood the boundaries established, knowing what the segregating Southern whites demanded. There was never a question of what one could or couldn't do.
   
   The quiet segregation experienced among people in the West, the quiet yet definite
   "lines marked in the sands" is a daily occurrence. Eva Rutland emphasizes that each of her family must achieve academically, socially and personally according to their abilities and gifts. There must be no question of squandering what the good Lord has allotted each of us.
   
   This is a story by an insightful and sharing mother. The book should be on all reading lists of all levels of the schools, available for the parents of all the students. It contains
   messages by which each individual must live his or her life, be you a child, a parent,
   a neighbor or simply a citizen. Eva's message is a golden rule to live by.



5. "Eva Rutland has done all of us a grand favor - [to] tell the powerful and poignant story of the courage and love of a black mother in a society that devalues black children."
   -- Cornel West, author, "Race Matters," Professor of Religion, Princeton University
   
   "Eva Rutland's chronicle of child rearing during the transition from segregation to civil rights is warm, poignant, and funny. It is also a powerful object lesson in how and why women - as mommas and grandmothers -have long anchored the soul of Black America."
   ---Willie L. Brown, Jr., former Mayor of San Francisco and former Speaker of the California State Assembly
   
   "Rutland brings the reader back to a time and place in this country when there weren't protected civil right, when she couldn't swin in the local pools, when a visit from a neighboring white girl who wanted to use their phone prompted a dangerous visit from the police..."
   ---Martha Mendoza, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Associated Press
   
   "'When We Were Colored' has an amusing 'Moma Knows Best' sensibility. The book also gives the reader a serious look at the West's black middle class - usually invisible in American storytelling."
   ---Janet Clayton, assistant Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times
   
   "Eva Rutland's evocation of race, place, and time has near perfect poignancy and verisimilitude. With a wonderful blend of intemacy and sociology, 'When We Were Colored' recaptures the wisdom, resiliency, and love of a family overcoming a world once oppressively divided into black and white."
   ---David Levering Lewis, Professor of History, New York University, and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography

4 comments about Barefootin': Life Lessons from the Road to Freedom.

1. I received the book in good time and the book is in good condition.



2. This is an extremely good book. The author not only graphically tells it like it was in MS in the 60's, but also relates her life story that can only encourage anybody. From a kid picking cotton in the Delta in the 50's to becoming a Harvard Fellow and a recipient of a McArthur Genius Fellowship later in life, MS Blackwell tells a Hell of a story. This book is a must read.



3. I am reading this book now, but more importantly,
   I saw Ms. Blackwell last night , at a reading at 61 coffee
   in Vicksburg Ms. She is an amazing presence, and the
   co-author, Joanne Morris, who read, also.
   This is well, just read it . You will love it.
   I have not written a review before, I love lots
   of books, but this one is special. I moved to Mississippi
   from Minnesota, and this is what I needed to hear about this
   state.



4. Barefootin' is as captivating and real as Mississippi Delta Blues.It is memorable, entertaining, and beautifully written.I learned a lot, felt a lot and cheered a lot while reading this wise, funny and brave recounting of the life and times of an American Renaissance woman, Unita Blackwell, who has lived long enough and remarkably enough to become an historical icon of the Civil Rights struggle. But, thankfully, her earthy humanity overcomess that pigeonhole and, as Barefootin' makes clear, Unita is a woman for the ages.