Culture 2: African American Literature

 

Culture 2: African American Culture

 

A.    Bibliography

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. (2010). Sit-in: how four friends stood up by sitting down. New York. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780316070164

B.     Plot Summary

Four friends who were young black college students went to a lunch counter at Woolworths in North Carolina. Businesses at the time were segregated and the students order food, all the while knowing they would not be served. They sat quietly and patiently. They were not served and when a police officer came by and could find nothing wrong with their actions, the manager of the Woolworths closed early and asked everyone to leave. After making news of their peaceful interactions, more and more sit ins at lunch counters happened. The peaceful protestors gained momentum, all while following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words promoting peace. President Kennedy gave a speech to the American people asking for kindness and equality, and eventually had legislation to end segregation.

C.    Critical Analysis including Cultural Markers

The overall theme of the book is a direct connection to culture. In the southern United States during the 1960’s was woven into the fabric of the Civil Rights Movement. The four friends who first sat at the Woolworths counter waiting for a donut and coffee, with cream on the side were following the call of Civil Rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. for peaceful protests. The book has two quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. spun into the story: “Be loving enough to absorb evil” and “We must meet violence with nonviolence.” The written descriptions of how some of the peaceful counter protestors were treated is vivid, “Coffee, poured down their backs Milkshakes, flung in their faces. Pepper, thrown in their eyes.” The entirety of the story revolves around culture, specifically the Civil Rights Movement era in the Southern United States of America.

D.    Review Excerpts

Publishers Weekly: “The narrative incorporates a steady stream of food metaphors, noting that the students ignored the law’s “recipe” for segregation (“a bitter mix”) replacing it the “new brew” of integration. Unfortunately, this device is more trite than moving (“Their order was simple: A double dose of peace, with nonviolence on the side”) and, at times, can come across as glib.”

Barnes and Noble: “Andrea Davis Pinkney uses poetic, powerful prose to tell the story of these four young men, who followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words of peaceful protest and dared to sit at the "whites only" Woolworth's lunch counter.”

E.     Connections

Penfold, Alexandra. All Are Welcome. ISBN9780525579649

Celano, Marianne. Something Happened in our Town. ISBN 9781433828546

 

A.    Bibliography

Watson, Renee. (2017). Piecing me Together. New York. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9781681191058

B.     Plot Summary

Jade is a young black student who attends a private mostly white high school in Portland, Oregon. She is a scholarship student who is offered many opportunities due to her “potential”, one of which is the Women to Women program. She is matched with a mentor who not only starts the mentorship in a disappointing way but may getting more out of the mentorship than Jade. Jade deals with friendship issues and social injustices in her own life, as well as in the world around her. Jade uses her art to deal with her feelings and reflect on the issues she values. One of the most important lessons Jade has learned is to stand up and advocate for herself. By doing this she can achieve what her heart truly desires.

C.    Critical Analysis including Cultural Markers

This novel follows the narrator, Jade, in her friendships, family, mentorship, being a student at a mostly white high school, and as a young black woman. Jade comes from a family of little means, and she lives with her mother and her uncle. She attends the private high school on an academic scholarship. She finds herself in a position to prove her ability to others. Her mother had encouraged her to take advantage of all the extra opportunities afforded her due to their low income.

When Jade gets involved with the Women to Women mentorship program, she has the opportunity to connect with a young woman of color who also attended her private school. Jade’s mentor, Maxine, comes from an affluent family. Maxine shares with Jade how her family would “tone down their blackness” when not at home. When the Women to Women group attend outings like the symphony, fancy restaurants with new foods, and cocktail parties Jade is unsure of herself and feels out of place from the things with she is most familiar. Jade suggests the Women to Women group could also add some everyday information like how to balance a checkbook and start a business, things that are important in day-to-day life.

Jade is touched by real world happenings, like when a teenage black girl who lives near Jade is beaten by the police. She uses this to inspire her art, have conversations with her Spanish teacher, and allow her to create an event featuring young people to highlight their art, poems, and feelings about racism.

D.    Review Excerpts

Newbery Honor

Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner

New York Times bestseller

Kirkus:” A timely, nuanced, and unforgettable story about the power of art, community, and friendship.”

The Children’s Book Review: “It is a frequent complaint of teachers, librarians, and children’s literature scholars that authentic and well-written multicultural literature is difficult to find. Renée Watson’s new novel, Piecing me Together, goes some way towards addressing this scarcity, in a story which is both challenging and accessible.”

E.     Connections

 

Warga, Jasmine. Other Words for Home. ISBN 9780062747808

Williams, Alicia D. Genesis Begins Again. ISBN 9781481465809

A.    Bibliography

Myers, Walter Dean. (1997). Harlem: a poem. New York. Scholastic Press. ISBN 590543407

B.     Plot Summary

Through amazing pictures by Christopher Myers and words by Walter Dean Myers this book shares the story of black people coming from Ghana, Mail, Senegal, and the banks of the Niger and finding their place in Harlem. The poem introduces the reader to the colors on the asphalt streets, while the pictures reflect people playing in the water from a fire hydrant and an older woman watching the world outside her window. We see the black skins, clapping hands, and joyous calls of people in storefront temples. The “weary blues that Langston knew, and Countee sung” tells how music is shared at the Cotton Club and the Apollo. The poem highlights the daily life of the people of Harlem with poetry and picture.

C.    Critical Analysis including Cultural Markers

 

Harlem: a poem starts with, “Harlem was a promise of a better life, of a place where a man didn’t have to know his place simply because he was black.” The poem goes through the everyday happenings of the people of Harlem; playing in the street in the water from the fire hydrant, women doing each others hair, listening to music, attending church, hand washing collard greens, and sitting in the window looking out on the world. The illustrations by Christopher Myers show varying shades of black skin. Walter Dean Myers includes the church, even if in storefront locations is an important and valuable part of the culture of the people of Harlem. The poem speaks of the lows and truths of hard time to a renaissance in Harlem, including the Apollo. Every page of Harlem: a poem bring to life the importance of culture to the people of Harlem.

D.    Review Excerpts

Caldecott Honor

Coretta Scott King Book Award, Illustrator Honor

Goodreads: “Walter Dean Myers calls to life the deep, rich, and hope-filled history of Harlem, this crucible of American culture.”

Publishers Weekly: “This heartfelt tribute captures the many moods of Harlem, bringing to life a very real urban community steeped in cultural history. Myers begins his poem with the words ""Harlem was a promise/ Of a better life, of a place where a man didn't/ Have to know his place/ Simply because he was/ Black""; this cautious optimism informs the text.”

      E. Connections

Woodson, Jacqueline. This is the rope. ISBN 9780399239861

Blackall, Sophie. Hello Lighthouse. ISBN 9780316362382

A.    Bibliography

McKissack, Pat. (2019). What is given from the heart. New York. Schwartz & Wade Books. ISBN 9780375836152

B.     Plot Summary

When James Otis and his mother lose their husband/father they are too poor to even bury him in a suit. They must leave their farm and move elsewhere. They are lucky to have clothes on their backs and a roof over their heads as they do not have much else. When their church gathers items for “love boxes” for members of the church who do not have much the Reverend tasks the congregation with, “What is given from the heart reaches the heart.” A woman and girl lost everything in a fire and the Reverend has added them to the love box collection. James Otis’ mother is happy to give to the newest recipients and James Otis points out that they don’t have anything to give themselves. His momma tasks him with figuring something out for the little girl Sarah. James gives so much thought and tries to figure out what he has that can be passed on to the little girl which would be of value to her. He finally figures out he should make her a book. When Sarah receives the book, she is so excited and happy to have a book written especially for her. Upon arriving home after delivering the items they gave to the mother and Sarah; James and his mother discover they also received a “Love box” from the congregation. They hurts are filled with joy after receiving from the heart.

 

C.    Critical Analysis including Cultural Markers

The story begins with the father of the family passing away and leaving his wife and son alone. Realizing the man has no suit to be buried in, the mother realizes she doesn’t even have the money to buy a suit to have her husband buried. The mother and son are forced to leave the farm and move into the “bottoms”. The Reverend at the church asks for donations for poor families called “love boxes”. The mother is convinced that she and her sone James Otis must give for others in their church. The young boy, James Otis, is worried since he and his mother have nothing to give. The Reverend says, “What is given from the heart reaches the heart,” which is what the mother holds onto to spur her giving for the love boxes. Culturally, the church is an extremely important place for blacks. It helps them build community, support each other, and organize important events.

D.    Review Excerpts

Coretta Scott King Award for Illustrator

Horn Book: “In this story of giving, James Otis marvels that Mama is contributing to the church's "love box" for a family in need when they have so little themselves. But hearing "what is given from the heart reaches the heart" helps James Otis start thinking differently about what he does have.”

Publishers Weekly: “James Otis and his mother don't have much. Daddy died last April—he didn't even "have a suit to be buried in" —the family farm is gone, and the two of them now live in a "run-down shotgun house" that floods when it rains. But when their pastor asks the congregation to help a family who lost everything in a fire, Mama does her part, sewing an apron made from her cherished white tablecloth, and she expects James to find "a li'l bit of something" for the girl, Sarah.”

E.     Connections

Price, Cathy Z. Mardi Gras Almost Didn’t Come this Year. ISBN 9781534444256

Lloyd-Jones, Sally. Tiny Cedric. ISBN 9781524770723