February is Black History Month and there are a plethora of books to read on the subject. The following are just some of them.
With last year's Oscar winner, 12 Years a Slave, and this year's TV adaptation of Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes, there has been a growing interest in the era of slavery in the western hemisphere. Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made by Eugene D. Genovese has been, for decades, the definitive sourcebook on the experience of African-Americans during that grim period of history. Examined in great detail within Genovese's book are the institutions that those living under slavery built or modified as forms of subtle resistance: the church, the family and even language itself. Open forms of resistance, such as slave revolts, are also examined.
American Uprising: The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt by Daniel Rasmussen is not about the well-known Nat Turner Rebellion in 1831 but one a generation earlier, on the eve of the War of 1812, in which 500 slaves participated. It was an armed revolt that brought the city of New Orleans, and the south as a whole, to the brink of a revolution similar to the one that had only recently occurred in Haiti. The rebellion was crushed but fears of another rebellion continued to grip the southern planter class until the Civil War.
The Black Washingto-nians: 300 Years of African American History is a timeline covering the beginning and growth of the black community in the U.S. capitol from 1791 until the dawn of the current century. Compiled by the Anacostia Museum at the Smithsonian, The Black Washingtonians (the famous including musician/composer Duke Ellington) shows the mix of slaves and free people that formed the core of the community, the development of the black middle and upper classes and the pivotal role of Howard University in the creation of key black role models.
Those who are old enough to remember the TV miniseries Back Stairs at the White House may be drawn to Clarence Lusane's The Black History of the White House. Lusane's book tells a history steeped in slavery and injustice in contrast to the stated values of its residents. A quarter of all American presidents owned slaves, slaves initially did much of the work at the White House, including building it. Over time, there were demonstrations for abolition and, later, the repeal of Jim Crow laws. Black politicians ran for office, others staged marches and rallies, and still others - artists, performers and community leaders - were invited guests. This chronicles them all.
Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Women of the Civil Rights Movement by Stuart A. Kallen are both children's books on the true heroines of black history. In Let It Shine, the portraits (illustrated by Stephen Alcorn) accompany concise biographies of Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Ella Baker and Rosa Parks, among others. Kallen's book, on the other hand, is made for older children and covers black women's history, thematically examining their participation in civil rights organizations, the fight for voting rights, education and politics.
Check any of these out today at your local library.
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published on Wednesdays. Vanessa Colantonio works at Coquitlam Public Library.
