Black History

[Kiki03910]

I'm celebrating Black History Month by buying and reading works by Black authors. I actually strive to read books by all kinds of people all year long, but I wanted to bring attention to this month. The United States wouldn't exist in its current form without the forced labor of enslaved Africans and their descendants. I highly recommend reading about the history of chattel slavery and the fact that slavery is still literally legal in prison systems here.

One love.

[WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo?]

@Kiki03910 , could you list some of the books that you have read? Are there any that you recommend? 

I mainly read fiction. Last year I coincidentally happened to start reading Walter Mosely's Easy Rawlins series during Black History Month. (It starts with  Devil in a Blue Dress.) It includes a lot of Easy (his legal name is Ezekiel) dealing with horrible systemic racism, especially in the early books. I found it hard to read the books all in a row, so I alternated reading lighter fiction in between. 

All that to say that I would probably do better reading books with hard topics gradually throughout the year, rather than reading about such a painful subject all at once this month. I'd still be interested in any recommendations, though! 

[Kiki03910]

@WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? There are many, but here's a start:

"The Rest I Will Kill" --William Tillman

"Slavery By Another Name" --Douglas A. Blackmon

"Seems Like Murder Here" --Adam Gussow*

"Never Caught" --Erica Armstrong Dunbar

"The 1619 Project" --Nikole Hannah-Jones

"Between the World and Me" --Ta-Nehisi Jones

"Barracoon" --Zora Neale Hurston

That's from a quick look at my Nook. I'll look at my Kobo later. And yes, Mosely's books are great!

 

*Gussow's book examines southern violence and blues music. I can usually handle reading just about anything, but this one I had to limit myself to 1 chapter a day max. Sometimes I wanted to just stop, but I felt like I needed to bear witness. It's extremely graphic, but lynchings happened, and we should not forget.

 

[Kiki03910]

Oh, a truly great title is "The Warmth of Other Suns" by Isabel Wilkerson!

"Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom" --Catherine Clinton

 

[KSmom]

I’m reading Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi right now. The subtitle summarizes the book well- The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. It’s a thick book and slow reading, but it is definitely worth it. His thesis is that racist ideas did not lead to racist policies but that racist policies led to racist ideas. These racist policies needed justification and he shows how as policies changed, the racist ideas that supported them evolved.

[Kiki03910]

1 hour ago, KSmom said:

I’m reading Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi right now. The subtitle summarizes the book well- The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. It’s a thick book and slow reading, but it is definitely worth it. His thesis is that racist ideas did not lead to racist policies but that racist policies led to racist ideas. These racist policies needed justification and he shows how as policies changed, the racist ideas that supported them evolved.

Amazing. That makes a lot of intuitive sense. I'll get this book. Thank you!

[Kiki03910]

I've been watching "The 1619 Project" series on Hulu. Highly recommended!

[Kiki03910]

On 2/25/2024 at 8:28 AM, KSmom said:

I’m reading Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi right now. The subtitle summarizes the book well- The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. It’s a thick book and slow reading, but it is definitely worth it. His thesis is that racist ideas did not lead to racist policies but that racist policies led to racist ideas. These racist policies needed justification and he shows how as policies changed, the racist ideas that supported them evolved.

I just bought this book. I've been thinking about a moment in the 1619 Project series when they observe that the civil rights movement was about actually making the United States the democracy that it claimed to be. We're still not there, for POC and women and LGBTQ+, and it's hard (for me, anyway) not to be incandescent with rage.

[KSmom]

I haven’t watched the Hulu series but I’ve read the book, parts of it twice. I will check it out. It seems like the last 15 years or so there has been a real racist, sexist, anti-LGBTQ+ backlash. 

[Kiki03910]

1 minute ago, KSmom said:

I haven’t watched the Hulu series but I’ve read the book, parts of it twice. I will check it out. It seems like the last 15 years or so there has been a real racist, sexist, anti-LGBTQ+ backlash. 

I got the original 1619 Project packet and it was pretty amazing. I don't understand some people's hateful refusal to deal with reality or worse to deny it, whether it's history or biology or whatever. I'm a white woman who grew up in a lower middle class background in northern New England. None of my grandparents had any higher education. Few of the next generation did. I see a whole lot I have in common with other oppressed groups, though I'm well aware of my privilege. I really hope we can get this train back on the fucking track in November.