History At Its Finest: A Review of Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. Du Bois

W.E.B. Du Bois: Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. Du Bois

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While the history of the American Civil War is quite well known by most Americans thanks to some amazing books and documentaries, the decade-long period immediately following it known as Reconstruction is little known and little understood by most. In fact, thanks to ahistorical mythologies like the “Lost Cause” narrative, Reconstruction has been painted as a dark period when corruption was rampant and Southern state governments, run by Freedmen and Northern carpetbaggers, ran roughshod over people’s rights. The historical record shows that this couldn’t be further from the truth, yet this insidious myth persists. Fortunately, there are also plenty of books that have been written to push back against this narrative and establish the true history of Reconstruction. While many such books have been written in recent years, nearly all of them owe an enormous debt of gratitude to this book, one of the very first systematic histories of the period to tell the story truly. What makes this a must-read for anyone interested in Reconstruction is how W.E.B. Du Bois centers Black Americans in this tale. In this book, Mr. Du Bois makes the strongest case for what has been said by others before: that Black Americans, the enslaved as well as the free, were their own greatest liberators and Reconstruction’s greatest reformers.

While W.E.B Du Bois is best known today as the author of such works as The Soul of Black Folk and one of the founders of the NAACP, he was also the first Black men in America to receive a doctorate from Harvard.  Published in 1935, this book is the culmination of some of Du Bois’s scholarly work, which he had been hitting upon at different times in his scholarly and popular articles decades before.  Starting with an examination of the condition of both enslaved Black people and their White enslavers in the Antebellum South, Du Bois takes his reader on a journey through the 20 year period that encompassed both the Civil War and Reconstruction.  At each step, he shows through critical analysis of the sources available to him at the time how Black Americans’ own actions were what drove many of the key changes of this period.  For example, with so many enslaved Black Americans escaping to Union lines and many of them as well as freedmen from the North eager to join the Union Army, their actions put pressure on Pres. Lincoln and the Union to transform their Civil War objectives from solely from preserving the Union to also pursing abolition.  Du Bois also shows how Black lawmakers during Reconstruction were the prime agents in the creation of the South’s public school system for both white and black kids after the war, a reform that would stay in place long after White Southerns had forcefully and violently suppressed political power.

Du Bois also addresses some of the criticism of this period, particularly the corruption that Black lawmakers were accused of partaking.  While not deny that there were cases of bribery and corruption, Du Bois helps to put it in the context of the time, which was an incredibly corrupt period in American history in general, and shows how oftentimes the corrupt actions of white lawmakers was far greater than anything Black lawmakers did.  Not only that, but Du Bois constantly reminds readers that Reconstruction was an extraordinarily violent time with many atrocities committed against Black Americans.  Racial terror and the undermining of America’s first attempt at multiracial democracy was the goal of groups like the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups.  Du Bois makes the argument that the Civil War never really stopped after Appomattox Courthouse, but morphed into a racial war of white supremacists targeting Black Americans.  Indeed, thinking of the racial violence through that lens and using Du Bois’s analysis, Du Bois may not have had the words for it in 1935, but readers who are even casually versed in the history of modern warfare can recognize the resemblance of the Klan’s violent tactics as similar to the Vietcong during the Vietnam War or the Taliban during the war in Afghanistan.  Sadly, as Du Bois shows, the North quickly grew weary of sustaining a military presence in the South and abandoned the project after 1876, a pattern America would follow in Vietnam and Afghanistan using similar arguments (“They got to learn to stand on their own feet eventually”) and having similarly tragic results.  Du Bois analyzes the reasons for the North’s withdrawal in 1876 and shows how it opened the door not just to the end of Reconstruction and Black Americans’s political power for decades, but also how it opens the door to the segregated America that follows soon afterwards.

One weakness of this book though lies in Du Bois’s Marxist background.  By the 1930s, Du Bois was firmly moving in a Marxist direction and he uses Marxist language and thought in his analysis throughout this book.  While this class approach to analyzing the period provides intriguing insights, I do feel as though Du Bois could stretch his Marxist analysis at times.  For example, while an alliance between Black labor and poor White labor in the South could have transformed the history of the period, I have doubts that large numbers of Americans could even conceive of society in such class conscious ways at the time.  Yes, Karl Marx was alive and organizing in Europe at the time and had written The Communist Manifesto in 1848, but his magnum opus, Das Kapital, was published in 1867 and I doubt his ideas had spread quickly enough in America at the time to have any effect.  I could be wrong, but to me Du Bois too often applied a class analysis that Black and White Americans would not have recognized during this period.

Overall, though this book is nearly 90 years old now, Du Bois’s strong analysis and exceptional historical writing provides a gold standard by which all other histories of Reconstruction should be judged.  Library of America has once again done an enormous service to American literary history by publishing this seminal work once again.  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in American history in general and Reconstruction in particular.

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The Whole Truth: A Review of The 1619 Project edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One of my favorite scenes in my favorite Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade, is the moment when Henry Jones, Sr., played by the legendary screen actor Sean Connery, is being slapped around by the Nazi colonel demanding to know where Jones’s Holy Grail Diary is. But when the colonel asks, “What does the diary tell you that it doesn’t tell us?”, Jones grabs the colonel’s hand before he can slap him again and says, “It tells me that goose-stepping morons life yourself should try reading books instead of burning them!” I bring that scene up in the context of this book review because, as of this writing, scores of “parent groups” across the United States are trying to force public schools and libraries to remove books about BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ topics from their shelves. This particular book has been at the center of many of these efforts ever since the first articles of this project were published in The New York Times Magazine in August 2019. Having just finished this book, I have to say that it is one of the best books about American history that I have read in a long time. The authors and editors of this book make the best case for why Black Americans’s 400+ year freedom struggle should be at the center of how we tell the story of America, and, to paraphrase Henry Jones, Sr., people must read this book instead of trying to ban it.

Building upon The New York Times Magazine articles that were first published, this book tells America’s history from the perspective of Black Americans with articles and works of poetry and fiction written by Black authors.  Starting with the first enslaved Africans being brought to the Jamestown colony in 1619, the authors document several different aspects of American life that have been affected by our country’s history of slavery and racial oppression.  In some ways, the concept and overall framework is very similar to another book that came out just a few months earlier than this, Four Hundred Souls edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain.  The key difference is that authors in this book are given an ample amount of space to discuss a particular topic, like medicine, music, or democracy, from the very beginning through the present, whereas in Four Hundred Souls authors a kept to a 5 page limit looking at a specific topic within a 5 year period in American history.  Because of that, the authors in The 1619 Project have the space to fully flesh out their topic and demonstrate how America’s past echoes strongly in our present.  Thus, the approach that this book provides a clearer picture and more impactful thesis in each chapter.

Each chapter of the book is divided into different topics with works of poetry and fiction separating each topic and providing a rough timeline of American history.  In anthology works such as these, I oftentimes find that the quality from work to work can vary wildly.  That is not so in this book.  Each chapter is top notch with excellent writing and research that both proves each author’s point and is incredibly engaging to read.  At no point did I feel bored or unconvinced.  The works of poetry and fiction that separate the chapters may appear superfluous at first glance, but in reality serve a vital function of marking out keep moments in American history, providing an artistic break between each chapter’s often thought-provoking topics, and inserting a creative outlet for what the authors and readers are feeling after each chapter.  

In short, this book is a monumental achievement in popular history writing that the editors and authors should be proud of.  I have nothing but absolute praise for this work and if there is one book on American history that you read this year, you owe it to yourself to read this one.

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Reckoning with Public History: A Review of How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For almost a decade Americans have once again attempted to grapple with its history of slavery, segregation, and racism. Yet current political movements for justice are not the only ways in which Americans can do so. In many of our public historic sites attempts are made to explain this history as well. Sometimes this story is told well, other times it is not. In this combination of history and travelogue, Mr. Smith takes his reader on a journey to several places across America and one place in Africa that have a direct connection to America’s history of slavery to see how that history is presented or, in some cases, obfuscated.

Starting with Thomas Jefferson’s home, Monticello, and ending in one of the many ports where Africans were forcibly removed from their homeland to the slave markets and plantations of America and elsewhere, Mr. Smith does a tremendous job of showing how central these places are to America’s history of slavery and, by extension, how central the history of slavery is to the development of the United States of America as a nation.  Like any book dealing honestly with this subject, this is not an easy read.  The amount of suffering and death that the system of chattel slavery incurred is staggering, disheartening, and quite counter to the story of America many of us learned in our classrooms.  And yet, illustrating this counter narrative is exactly the point of this book.  By showing how many of our public historic sites tell the story of slavery in America, and too often fail to do so, it forces the reader to seriously question the traditional story of America as the land of the free and the home of the brave.  Once that narrative is questioned, it then becomes possible to tell a more complete and honest history of our country and ask what can be done in the present to make this country what we have always been told it was.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  As a poet, Mr. Smith brings his skill with the written word to bear on a difficult topic and thus puts the reader in these places as though they were there themselves.  His interviews with tour guides and average people alike helps to illustrate just how our educational system and our public historic sites have failed to tell a full and honest story about the history of slavery in America.  And at the sites that Mr. Smith visits that obscures that history, whether by design or by accident, he does a tremendous job of setting the record straight.  Though this book is not a comprehensive examination of these public sites, this book can be the starting point for discussing how we do talk about America’s past and what can be done to improve it.  Judging by the number of politicians and “parent groups” that are currently seeking to ban books and textbooks from schools and libraries that try to tell a more honest history of America, a book like this couldn’t be more timely.

Whether you are a lifelong American history buff or new to the subject, whether you have visited all of these historic sites or none of them, this is a great book to start with when examining the full story of America’s slave past.

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October 2021 Readathon

 

Oct. 24, 11:13 a.m.

Now that I've gotten something approaching a full night's sleep, I can look back on this readathon and reflect on how successful I was.  Fortunately, Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon has a closing survey that I can use to assess my readathon: 

1. How would you assess your reading overall?  Honestly, this was one of the better readathons that I have done.  I had two major goals and two minor goals.  My major goals were to finish Dune and Collected Poems, Prose, and Plays by Robert Frost and I accomplished both of those goals.  I also had minor goals of starting to read The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee and Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang and I did start reading those, though I didn't get as far as I thought I would.  I even almost made it the full 24 hours, only bowing out at the end of hour 23.  In short, I read somewhere between 600 and 700 pages during this readathon, which is the most I have read for a readathon in a long time.
2. Did you have a strategy, and if so, did you stick to it?  Since I was reading Dune as an ebook and I didn't want to strain my eyes too much, my strategy was to flip between my books every 50 pages or so.  So, I would read about 50 pages of Dune, then I would read 50 pages of Robert Frost, then back to Dune, and so on.  I did largely stick to this and I think that was part of my success.  Rather than just power through a single book, flipping between books helped me to not get bored with one or the other, instead working towards an achievable goal before moving towards another book.  I also made it a point not to be so doctrinaire about sticking only to reading during the readathon as I went and did a few errands in the afternoon either by myself or with my wife.  This helped me to back off a little bit from time to time, give my eyes a little break, and get me some fresh air every now and then.
3. What was your favorite snack? Definitely the cheese, salami, and wheat crackers plate that I made, although the fruit plate my wife made with strawberries, blueberries, and pineapples was a very close second.
4. Did you add any new books to your TBR/wishlist after seeing what everyone else is reading?  Honestly, I was so focused on my own reading that I didn't engage with anyone else's reading on Dewey's website, or on social media.  Heck, I didn't even engage with my blog as much as I wanted to during the readathon.  I think I will need to rethink how I engage my blog and social media for the next readathon.
5. What was your favorite book or experience from this readathon?  Definitely finishing Dune.  I had just watched the new film adaptation with my wife the day before and I had started the book roughly where the movie ends (the movie out now only covers the first half of the book), so it was like finishing the movie in my head.  I have some mixed feelings about the book that I will have to work out in my review, but it was certainly the best of the reading I did for the readathon.

Oct. 24, 3:41 a.m.

I've now gotten a little reading doe for both The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee and Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang, but my body is beginning to betray me.  Though there is only about an hour left in this readathon, I think I am going to call it a night.  After I get some sleep, I'll write a postmortem for this readathon.  Good night everyone!

Oct. 24, 1:08 a.m.

With all of the distraction I had this afternoon, it took me longer than expected to complete the other major goal I had set out for myself with this readathon.  But, I have finally finished Dune by Frank Herbert.  Absolutely fascinating, but I started this book a little distracted.  I also feel like there is so much that happened between parts 2 and 3 of this book that I wouldn't have minded a little bit more.  No official biography for this book yet, but my preliminary rating is a 3.5 out of 5 stars.  Now, with the few hours I have left, I am going to try to achieve some minor goals I had set for myself at the start of this readathon.

Oct. 23, 11:40 p.m.

I haven't been updating this page as much as I had hoped as I have had to run a few errands that not only distracted me from updating this page, but also distracted me from my reading.  Fortunately, I have completed one of my major reading goals for this readathon.  That goal was to finish reading the collected poems, prose, and plays of Robert Frost from the Library of America (the green book in the picture).  This was tough as the portion I was reading was his prose and, let's be frank, his poetry is WAY more interesting than his plays or prose section.  Still, I can't deny that his poetry is quite beautiful and I can see how it has had a hold on folks for a long time.  So, while I won't have an official review out for awhile, I'm going to give this a preliminary 3.5 out of 5 stars.  Now, on to completing Dune by Frank Herbert and starting The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee.

Oct. 23, 9:51 a.m.

I am nearly five hours into this readathon.  How's it going so far?  Well, I've read about 100 pages of Robert Frost and 10% of Dune.  So, I am going a little slower than expected, but I am making good progress nonetheless.  I think I shall take a sort break to eat some breakfast, but I will continue to read Dune while I am eating.

Oct. 23 5:00 a.m.

It looks like it's time for another 24 Hour Readathon.  This one is being sponsored by Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon.  For this readathon, my goals are rather modest in comparison to previous readathons: finish Dune by Frank Herbert and Colleceted Poems, Prose, and Plays by Robert Frost.  After that, my goal is to try to get started on Vagabonds by Hao Jing Fang and The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee.  Wish me luck!

Hurdling Though Life & Fine Dining: A Review of Notes From a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi with Joshua David Stein

Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to several reality cooking shows, the working world of fine dining has gained quite the reputation as harsh place. Iron Chef and Gordon Ramsay’s shows have all shown just demanding a career being a chef can be. Unfortunately, like many professions, people of color face unique barriers to becoming chefs, not the least of which includes a prejudice that they either can’t be fine dining chefs or a belief that they can only do variations on stereotypical foods. The great benefit of this book is to directly challenge those prejudices and confront the racism that can be just beneath the surface of the fine dining industry. At the same time, Mr. Onwuachi writes a wonderful memoir that reminds the reader that, much like the author himself, it is not always a straight line to our dreams.

The descendant of both Nigerian and Jamaican lineage, Mr. Onwuachi grew up with a mother in the catering business.  Though he has known cooking from his earliest days, as this book shows, it was not straight line from there to celebrity chef.  Indeed, he was sent away to live his grandfather in Nigeria for two years and at one point in his life he was going down a dark path of selling drugs.  And yet, this winding path led him to cooking on fishing boats in the Gulf Coast, being a student at the Culinary Institute of America, and apprenticing and working at some of the finest diners in New York City.  Mr. Onwuachi, with the assistance of co-author Joshua David Stein, writes a deeply personal and reflective memoir.  While he writes in great detail how he busted his butt to get to where he is, he’s also not afraid to reflect on how some lucky breaks came at just the right moments to set him on his path.  As said before, this is a great reminder that our journey’s through life are not always glorious or straightforward.  There can be ups and downs throughout and nothing is guaranteed.  

Another valuable aspect of this book is how it calls out the racism that is just beneath the surface of the fine dining industry.  Sadly, like many industries and professions in America, there is not a great deal of diversity with some of the most famous chefs being primarily white.  Mr. Onwuachi helps reveal why that is by cataloguing each instance of either subtle or outright racist behavior he had to face.  Whether it was a potential investor telling him outright that people can only think of a black chef making fried chicken meals, as though he could not cook anything “serious”, or the abusive behavior from a head chef that was frequently racist in tone and behavior, Mr. Onwuachi directly and indirectly calls out the racism that is prevalent within the system.  While this is not the central focus of the book, it is nonetheless a valuable reminder that so much of a culture de facto segregated, even though we would like to think it is not.

The only complaint I have about this book is that it feels incomplete.  Mr. Onwuachi notes that he is a young chef, 27 by the end of the book, and he only just opened and closed his first restaurant in Washington, D.C.  So, the end of the book finds him at an in-between moment in his life and career.  He is certainly still determined to open a new restaurant in D.C., which, according to my limited internet research, he did not long after this book was published.  Still, it does leave this book at an interesting and, slightly, unsatisfying place.  I do hope there will be a follow up to this book in the future where Mr. Onwuachi writes about his life and career from this point onward.  In spite of that, the transitional ending does not diminish my overall enjoyment of this book too much and should not diminish yours either.

Written with confidence and reflection, Mr. Onwuachi takes the reader on a journey through his life while also revealing the hurdles for young black chefs in the fine dining world.  If you are a fan of food memoirs, but have read too many by older, successful white chefs, I recommend this book to you.

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Another Hidden Gem Worth Picking Up: A Review of the Writings of James Weldon Johnson from the Library of America

James Weldon Johnson: Writings by James Weldon Johnson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have been in love with the Library of America (LOA) for a long time now and there are two main reasons why. First, the uniform book designs are just gorgeous. Put a row of LOA’s books together on your shelf and they are a definite conversation start. On top of that, if you treat them well, these books will last a long time on your shelf long after your other books have yellowed and collected dust. The other reason why I love LOA books is because of their commitment to keeping great works of American literature, both well-known and lesser known, in print in perpetuity. This gives ordinary Americans a chance to discover more obscure, but wonderful, works by authors they may never have heard of, such as Henry Adams’s History of the United States During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and History of the United States During the Administrations of James Madison . This single-volume collection of the writings of James Weldon Johnson is another one of those more obscure gems that LOA has that deserves to better known.

James Weldon Johnson was an African-American polymath at the turn of the century.  He was a writer, an educator, a musical composer, a poet, an early leader of the NAACP, and a diplomat.  Sadly, I knew nothing about him until I picked up this book from LOA not too long ago.  And yet he had an impact on American politics and culture deeper than most people realize.  His novel, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, which is the first work included in this volume, is one of the first works in American literature to deal directly with the issues of colorism and white passing that are now more commonly discussed today.  His musical writing included the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is celebrated even today as the Black national anthem.  As the NAACP’s first executive secretary, he expanded the organizations reach into the South and initiated some of the first lawsuits against the region’s disenfranchisement of Black Americans, though Mr. Johnson would die long before those efforts would come to fruition in Brown v. Board of Education and the major civil rights laws of the 1960s.  And his work as a diplomat enabled him to write with great knowledge and insight on issues such as the U.S. occupation of Haiti (that essay is also included in this volume as well).  In many ways, James Weldon Johnson is a forerunner to both the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement.

This volume of his works is wonderful.  Along with Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is Mr. Johnson’s own memoirs, which gives an intimate view of his life from his perspective.  Mr. Johnson’s essays are some of this books highlights, particularly his essay on the U.S. occupation of Haiti, which should be more widely read today as Haiti once again descends into political chaos and Americans wonder what, if anything, should be done.  The inclusion of several of Mr. Johnson’s poems and lyrics, including the famous “Lift Every Voice”, is also a treat.  The only weak point in this volume is the inclusion of a couple of chapters Mr. Johnson wrote for a book called Black Manhattan about Black Americans in the theater around the turn of the century.  As a writer of Broadway musicals himself, Mr. Johnson was an expert on the theater and it shows in these excerpts.  However, it is also a very esoteric subject.  Only those with a keen interest in the history of American theater, and especially of Black Americans in the theater, are likely to enjoy this section.

Overall, this another hidden gem within the Library of America’s collection.  This book should be read alongside the works of W.E.B Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, and other near contemporary Black authors of the period.  If you have made your way through the works of the Harlem Renaissance, I highly recommend this volume as your next read.

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A Necessary Classic for Our Time: A Review of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder last summer, many Americans have begun to reckon with our country’s racist past. While there are plenty of amazing anti-racist books that have been published recently, there is also a great body of literature from black author’s and thinkers of the past that can also address our current moment. Invisible Man is one of those classic novels and though it was published 70 years ago, its message of how racial oppression erases black and brown people hits you in the gut just as powerfully today as it did back in 1952.

Following the first-person perspective of an unnamed narrator, readers on taken on a journey of oppression from the South and a black college to Harlem in the North and meetings of a communist group.  At each point, the narrator faces some form of oppression that seeks to use him and erase his identity as an individual.  Each moment is gut wrenching and, to be honest, a feel little too much like our own period.

Considering our country’s past struggles with racism, I know I should not be shocked by what Mr. Ellison wrote in these pages, and yet I was.  I was floored by every incident that slowly erased our narrator and brought him to his decrepit situation at the end of the novel.  The fact that it still feels as though our country is dealing with the issues just makes this book all the more tragic.  70 years after publication, this book is just as relevant today to our present discussions of racism as it was back in 1952.

Though this was a gut wrenching book, I was also amazed by its writing craft and structure.  This is just as much as classic American novel as books like The Grapes of Wrath and the novels of James Baldwin.  This book, I believe, should be required reading for all Americans.

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Growing Up in Prison: A Review of A Question of Freedom by Dwayne Betts

A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison by Reginald Dwayne Betts

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There are so many prison memoirs out there that it has easily become its own sub-genre. So, how does one distinguish their prison story from everyone else’s? In this poignant, but uneven, memoir, Mr. Betts takes us into prison as well as into the mind and heart of a teenager whose transition from boy to man happens behind bars.

One of the dirty secrets of the American justice system is how many states can charge juveniles as adults.  According to the Equal Justice Initiative, 13 states have no minimum age for adult prosecution while many states have a minimum age as young as 10, 12, or 13.  This means that a lot of juveniles get charged with adult crimes, receive adult sentences, and even get sent to adult jails.  Though he was a star student at his school, Dwayne Betts became one of these juveniles after a moment teenage madness leads him to carjack an unarmed man with a gun.  He then spends the better part of a decade, from his later teen years to his early adult years, in both juvenile detention and then adult prison. 

 

Through this memoir, Mr. Betts both gives us a window into his development during these critical years and tries to examine what it all meant and whether or not he could come out better on the other side.  Mr. Betts also thinks about whether his father’s previous incarceration had doomed him to prison as well or if this was a mistake solely on how own part.  He also gives us a window into the importance of reading in prison as it became both a means of his escape from the daily reality of prison as well as his gateway into his future career as a writer.

For those who have read any other prison memoirs, much of what is covered in this book should be familiar.  The daily beats of prison life and the internal wrangling are very common for this genre, though the perspective of prison life from a teenager’s point of view is unique and that unique POV helps to distinguish it from others.  However, there is some unusual pacing in this book.  The narrative moves at a plodding, glacial pace for about 90% of the book, with Mr. Betts constantly dwelling on the crime that put him in jail, life in prison, and much else.  Occasionally there is the transfer from one prison to another to break things up, including a transfer to a maximum-security prison after some bogus citations by prison guards.  Time does not seem to matter much in this portion of the book.  But the last 10% of the book suddenly pivots into hyperdrive as Mr. Betts’ release date approaches and he begins to look to the future.  I couldn’t help but feel a great deal of whiplash from the slow of the beginning to the quick pace at the end.

Overall, this is a decent memoir that is very thoughtful, but employs some unusual pacing.  It should make you question our country’s policy of charging minors as adults and can be a great supplement to books such as The Sun Does Shine and Just Mercy.

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City of Blinding Lights: A Review of City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Since J.R.R. Tolkien wrote one of the first modern fantasy series with both The Hobbit, or There and Back Again and The Lord of the Rings, much of the fantasy landscape has been dominated by white, Northern European roadmap mythologies and tropes. However, in recent years a slew of authors have been writing fantasy novels from new perspectives and breaking this mould. Tomi Adeyemi, for example, has published two YA fantasy novels based on African mythology. In this novel, Ms. Chakraborty has written an excellent fantasy novel based on Middle Eastern mythology and folklore that further breaks that old mould.

Set around the time of Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt, this book follows two main characters: Nahri, a Cairo street thief with an unknown pedigree, and Ali, a sensitive and devout prince of Daevabad, the mythic and titular city of brass in this novel.  When Nahri accidentally frees Dara, an ancient Daeva (or Djinn) warrior, from a magical imprisonment, thus endangering her life, they flee across the Middle East to try to find safety in Daevabad.  But their journey to the City of Brass is only the beginning of their travails as the conquest of the city centuries ago has led to oppression and racial tension within the city that threatens to blow up at any point.  Ali, in his desire to do good, walks a precarious line between the supporting the city’s oppressed subjects and remaining loyal to his family.  But Nahri and Dara’s arrival in Daevabad threatens to break all of these tensions wide open.

One of the key features of any new fantasy series is the world-building.  Without quality world-building, a fantasy series can completely collapse.  Thankfully, Ms. Chakraborty has done an incredible job of building up this fantasy world.  It is populated with numerous races and creatures, each one of them with a unique origin and magical powers.  For those of you looking for a dense new fantasy world to jump into, look no further than this novel.  That said, Ms. Chakraborty’s world-building is both a strength and a weakness.  At times, the amount of background and number of different magical races, each with their own particular origin, powers, and grievances felt a little too overwhelming.  I was especially confused by the conflict between Daevabad’s residents that informs much of the novel’s plot and it wasn’t until I had finished the book that it started to click a little.  Ms. Chakraborty does have a few parts in the first half of the book where the world is explained to Nahri and the reader, so I would suggest that new readers slow down at those parts and maybe even reread them to make sure that they understand everything.

Fantasy novels are also known for having a good amount of action in its narrative and this book is no exception.  From Nahri and Dara’s close calls on the road to Daevabad to the climactic battle at the end of the novel, Ms. Chakraborty knows how to write a pulse-pounding action sequence.  I was totally enthralled by the climax as narrative threads and characters smashed up against each other in a glorious mess that makes me eager to find out what happens next.  There is a good amount of political intrigue here to satiate any Game of Thrones fans.  There is also a bit of a love triangle that happens between the three main characters that, on its surface, may seem a little trope-ish and rushed, especially near the middle of the book, but actually feels right for this story.  That said, there is a lot of time jumping that happens in this story.  For example, in one chapter, Nahri and Dara have just entered the city and in the next chapter two weeks have passed.  To be fair, significant time jumping was probably necessary to keep the narrative without unnecessarily slowing down, but I nevertheless felt a little whiplash reading this book at times.

Overall, this is an excellent start to new type of fantasy novels that continues to break the old mould and reinvigorate the genre.  If you are looking for something new and unique in your fantasy books, I would highly recommend this book to you.

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Feminist Literature's Prophet: A Review of Novels & Stories by Zora Neale Hurston (Library of America No. 74)

Zora Neale Hurston : Novels and Stories : Jonah's Gourd Vine / Their Eyes Were Watching God / Moses, Man of the Mountain / Seraph on the Suwanee / Selected Stories by Zora Neale Hurston

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Zora Neale Hurston was an African-American novelist and anthropologist who rose to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance and wrote the classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Sadly, much of Ms. Hurston’s fictional work were not popular with the public at large until well after her death in 1960. This volume from the Library of America gathers four of her fictional novels and a few of her short stories, including Their Eyes Were Watching God and Moses, Man of the Mountain. Through this collection, one can read the full breadth of Ms. Hurston’s fictional talent and all the good and bad elements of it.

Most of this book’s staggering 1000+ page count is used by her four novels, starting with her first novel Jonah’s Gourd Vine and includes: Their Eyes Were Watching God; Moses, Man of the Mountain; and Seraph on the Suwanee.  The last 100 pages or so consist of her short stories.  When talking about her novels, you cannot skip over Their Eyes Were Watching God.  This now classic tale of female empowerment would prefigure and inspire such African-American novelists as Alice Walker, who would do much to rescue Ms. Hurston’s works from obscurity after her death.  But to me, the most interesting novels in this collection are Moses, Man of the Mountain and Seraph on the Suwanee.  The first is the retelling of the Biblical tale of the Exodus, with a bit of Ms. Hurston’s flare from her previous works thrown in for good measure.  It was a throughly entertaining retelling of an otherwise familiar story.  Seraph is interesting because it was a departure for Ms. Hurston.  Whereas Jonah and Their Eyes, and one could rightfully argue Moses, revolved mostly around black characters, Seraph revolved mostly around white characters.  And yet Ms. Hurston’s fascination with marital relations, which is a common theme throughout almost all of her fictional work, is at the very heart of this book.

In terms of her short stories, the ones that stuck out to me were “John Redding Goes to Sea”, “Spunk”, “The Bone of Contention” and “The Fire and the Cloud”.  I especially enjoyed “The Fire and the Cloud” as it is a short story about Moses, written in the same style as Moses, Man of the Mountain, and sees Moses at the end of his life just before the Israelites are about to enter the promised land.  Thus, its a little addendum to Moses that puts a little bow on that novels ending.

While each of the novels and stories has their own highpoints and drawbacks, one of the most persistent drawbacks of this book is Ms. Hurston’s use of dialect for her characters’ dialogue.  In both Jonah and Their Eyes as well as all but one of her short stories, Ms. Hurston uses dialect for all of her characters' dialogue.  As I understand it, dialect as used by Ms. Hurston and other writers is suppose to make the story and the characters more realistic, but I have always found it difficult to enjoy it.  To me, it just adds an unnecessary layer of complexity to the story and slows down my reading pace (it took me twice as long to finish this book than I had originally planned).  It also seems unnecessary to me as in both Moses and Seraph, Ms. Hurston jettisons the dialect, but is still able to convey her character’s realistic accents without it.  So, if you are not fan of dialect, just know that this book may turn into a bit of a slog, especially at the beginning.

Zora Neale Hurston was a pioneer of black feminist literature in America, even if her contemporary audiences didn’t fully appreciate her talents.  This volume is a worthy inclusion in the Library of America and I highly recommend it to fans of African-American literature in general and specifically the literature of the Harlem Renaissance.

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A Final Link to the Past: A Review of Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston

Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

At the dawn of the 20th century, historians, sociologists, and folklorists fanned out across the country to gather up the stories of people across America who had lived through dramatic times, particularly the Civil War. The narratives of formerly enslaved African-Americans were especially prized. In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston, not quite yet the author and oral historian people would remember her to be, interviewed an African by the name of Cudjo Lewis, who at the time was the last surviving African to be captured in Africa, sold into slavery, and shipped across the “Middle Passage” to America. Through these interviews, Ms. Hurston retells Cudjo Lewis’s life to modern readers in this fine, but short book.

The Atlantic Slave Trade was officially abolished in 1808, but that did not stop white enslavers from trying to ship new cargo loads of enslaved Africans to these shores.  The Clotilda was one of the last slave ships to make the journey, carrying over 100 Africans into slavery in America in 1860, on the very eve of the Civil War.  Cudjo Lewis, or Kossula as he was known in Africa, was one of those enslaved Africans and when Ms. Hurston began to interview in the late 1920s, he was the last survivor from that ship.  Mr. Lewis describes his life in Africa, from his tribe to his father’s esteemed position as a royal bodyguard, in idyllic terms.  In contrast, his description of the massacre of his tribe by another African tribe, which led to the beheading of his king right in front of him and his subsequent life in slavery, is horrifying.  Once he is freed by Union soldiers at the end of the Civil War, his life as a free man in the segregated South is just as tragic.  Mr. Lewis relates how nearly all of his children were murdered by white supremacy in one way or another by the dawn of the 20th century.  It is an absolutely heartbreaking story.

That said, the actual narrative of Cudjo Lewis’s life is rather short.  For a story that covers well over 60 years, Ms. Hurston manages to fit his life story into less than 100 pages, with about another 20 or so pages dedicated to some miscellaneous tales Mr. Lewis told.  Though Ms. Hurston may have been restricted by what Mr. Lewis relayed to her, and though Ms. Hurston tried to supplement his recollections with outside sources, this story goes by way too fast.  I would not have minded if Ms. Hurston had lingered on certain parts of Mr. Lewis’s narrative either with her own thoughts or with some supplemental materials.

One other thing that made this book difficult to love was Ms. Hurston’s use of dialect.  This book written early in her career, Ms. Hurston tries to capture exactly what Cudjo Lewis was saying and how he said it through the use dialect.  The idea, from my little bit of research, is that the characters like Cudjo Lewis are suppose to feel more real and alive than if Ms. Huston had tried to translate his dialect into plain language.  But, to me, dialect just makes it more difficult to understand what is being said and, thus, there were a few things I had missed that needed to be pointed out to me in the afterword by this book’s editor, Deborah G. Plant.  Ms. Hurston proved in her later novels, Moses, Man of the Mountain and Serpah on the Suwanee (which I am currently making my way through in the Library of America’s great collection of her novels & short stories) that it is possible to relay the flavor of dialect without actually writing in dialect.  To me, the use of dialect here does not make Cudjo Lewis’s story more real, it just adds an unnecessary layer of complexity.  

I must commend the editor though for including two things in particularly that make this book a little better.  First, her own afterword where she reviews some of the key points of the tale was critical.  For example, I did not fully understand what had happened to Cudjo Lewis’s children while reading his account, so the afterword helped to clear up some confusion that I had.  Second, the inclusion of Alice Walker’s essay “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston” at the back of the book was fascinating.  If you have not read that essay, then you should, even if you have already read and loved Zora Neale Hurston’s works.

Overall, this book is fine, but it is a little short and, due to Ms. Hurston’s use of dialect, difficult to read at times.  But, Cudjo Lewis’s tale is a necessary reading as a reminder of the oppressive systems created in America that enslaved and terrorized Africans and African-Americans for centuries.  This is a book not just for fans of Zora Neale Hurston, but for people who are also interested in the history of both Antebellum and Jim Crow oppression Africans and African-Americans faced during the 19th century.

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Crying Out for Freedom from the Other Side of American History: A Review of An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz

An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

America has a long history of promoting democracy and human rights, but also denying those basic rights to African-Americans and Latinx people. While there are a lot of histories that look at the history of both African-Americans and Latinx people as oppressed groups, nearly all of them treat each group separately. While there is great value in doing so, it does leave out the ways in which both groups supported each other’s fight for freedom and democratic rights and also implicitly perpetuates the false narrative that these two groups’ struggles are distinct from each other. In this incredible examination of American history from the point of view of both groups, Dr. Ortiz links both of their struggles for freedom and shows how America has too often been on the wrong side of history and freedom not just in America, but in its dealings with the Americas too.

As part of Beacon Press’s ReVisioning America series, which also has published such great books as An Indigenous People’s History of the United States and A Queer History of the United States for Young Readers, the goal of this book is to reexamine American history through a different lens.  Too often American history has been filtered through a predominately White POV that emphasizes our country’s many high points while only giving a superficial examination of America’s racist and oppressive past.  Dr. Ortiz tosses that White narrative out the window and focuses instead on the perspective of African-Americans and Latinx people.  The result is not the flattering picture most Americans already know.  African-Americans were enslaved for a good chunk of American history and faced exploitation, legalized segregation, and mass violence after the Civil War.  Latinx people in America, though never enslaved, also were exploited, segregated, and murdered by White Americans too, along with being deported unjustly when labor conditions were poor.  Thus, American history through this perspective is dark, oppressive, and never in keeping with the high ideals we claim to have founded this country on.  

The greatest value of this book though is not in treating African-Americans and Latinx groups as separate, but linking these two groups’ history and showing how each group at their best have supported each other’s struggles for freedom and basic human rights both at home and abroad.  Dr. Ortiz does a fantastic job of cataloging how African-Americans paid attention to and supported the revolutions in the Americas, drawing inspiration from them for their own early freedom struggles.  He also shows how Latinx people abroad supported African-American’s struggles for freedom in Antebellum America.  And once this book moves beyond the Mexican-American War and the Civil War, Dr. Ortiz catalogs the important contributions both groups made to the advancement of civil rights and labor rights in the 20th and 21st centuries.  It is fair to say that without both groups working both separately and together, American history would be tragically different.

Though Dr. Ortiz’s book is great, it is not perfect.  In the first few chapters, the narrative balance between both groups is tilted more towards coverage of African-Americans.  Granted, these chapters deal with pre-Civil War America, so the plight of African-Americans should take center stage at this point.  Also, once we get past the Civil War, Latinx people become a larger part of the narrative and the oppressive system of racial capitalism begins to grind both groups.  Thus, the narrative begins to balance out and Dr. Ortiz’s book starts firing on all cylinders.  Still, I wish he could’ve maintained a better narrative balance from the very beginning.

Too often the voices of African-Americans and Latinx people have been silenced or disbelieved.  The great value of a book like this is that it offers a counter-narrative to the simplistically naive story Americans are used to and acts as a clarion call for America to live up to its highest ideals of liberty and equality for all, as both African-Americans and Latinx people have been demanding from the very beginning.  Americans of all races, colors, and creeds should read this book along with other books in this series, repent, and resolve to justly apply our founding principles to all people in our country and abroad.

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Community Connections: A Review of Still Water Saints by Alex Espinoza

Still Water Saints by Alex Espinoza

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Despite our world being hyper-connected by the internet and social media, it can at times feel as though society is losing touch with the things that connect us to each other as a local community, whether they be certain people, places or beliefs. In this slow, but poignant tale, Alex Espinoza writes about a year in the life of a botaníca shop, its Latina owner, and the lives of the people connected to it, even in just a tangential way.

Perla is the owner of the botaníca shop at the heart of this novel.  She’s a widow who has been running the shop for years that specializes in selling home remedies for people’s ailments whether they be physical, emotional, or spiritual.  During the year catalogued in this novel, Perla befriends a young, undocumented immigrant named Rodrigo whom she comes to care for deeply.  His traumatic past affects Perla deeply and she tries to help him far more than any of the other people who come through her shop.  At the same time, the main plot is broken up by a series of first person narratives of people who are connected to Perla’s shop, even if they just stopped in for a short visit.  While the main plot is quite linear, these sub plots seem to bounce around the timeline a little bit.  

Mr. Espinoza displays a great deal of empathy for his characters throughout this book.  While Perla is the main character, each of the main characters in the sub plots also shine in unique ways.  While some of their connections to Perla and her shop are rather small, they all interact in these ways that are poignant nonetheless.  This helps to drive home one of the books themes about how even the briefest connections we have to each other can still have some of the most profound consequences.

That said, this book is very slow.  While the sub plots are interesting, they do draw some of the narrative attention away from the the main story surrounding Perla and Rodrigo.  Indeed, while Perla and Rodrigo’s story is poignant and even tragic, it’s resolution is a letdown and doesn’t seem to really have a lasting impact on Perla or the community.  Indeed, some of the sub plots have a more satisfying resolution than Perla’s does.  

Overall, while this book is rather touching, the main plot is slow and the sub plots seem more interesting in comparison.  Some of them even get resolved in a more satisfying way than the main plot.  I would recommend this book for people who are looking to slow their reading down a bit and reflect on the important connections in their community, no matter how small they may be.

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Necessary Tales: A Review of James Baldwin's Early Novels & Stories

Early Novels & Stories: Go Tell It on the Mountain / Giovanni’s Room / Another Country / Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

James Baldwin is an author whose star has been on the rise once again in recent years as America continues to grapple with race, the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, and the hypocrisy that can be found within religious communities. In this collection of his earliest novels and short stories, Mr. Baldwin faces all of these issues head on, forcing the reader to grapple with the prejudice of their own country as well as their own.

This collection from the Library of America collects three of Mr. Baldwin’s earliest novels, Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni’s Room, and Another Country.  It also includes Mr. Baldwin’s short story collection Going to Meet the Man.  Each of the novels deals some kind of hypocrisy.  At the heart of Go Tell It on the Mountain is the religious hypocrisy embodied Gabriel, who believes himself to be called to be God’s messengers but commits adultery and physically abuses his family.  Giovanni’s Room tells the story of a man who is engaged to be married to an American woman, but lives a double life in Paris with homosexual partner, Giovanni.  And finally, Another Country deals with infidelity, bisexuality, and interracial relationships.  Nearly all of these topics were incredibly taboo when first published and still have the power to shock even today.  

What I find absolutely fascinating about all of these books is that Mr. Baldwin doesn’t shy away from his subjects.  He looks all of them unflinchingly in the eye and forces the reader to do the same as well.  Everyone of these novels is a gripping read, though Another Country does seem to drag for a little too long, especially at the beginning.  The only exception would be the the short story collection Going to Meet the Man.  Like many short story collections, the stories can vary in quality.  The short story “The Man Child” was particularly head scratching.  The first two short stories “The Rockpile” and “The Outing” are interesting because they include the main characters from Go Tell It On the Mountain, but they don’t expand the themes or characters’ stories much beyond that first novel.  The best short story though is the last one, “Going to Meet the Man”, which shines a bright light on the horrors of lynching.  

These novels and short stories are not for the faint of heart, but they are necessary tales even today.  For anyone who is interested in James Baldwin’s novels, this is a great collection to read through.

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February 2021 24in48 Readathon Live Blog

 

A Photo of Jefferson and my tea taken from my Instagram.

February 6, 2021, 1:08 a.m.

I didn't intend to truly start this readathon until the morning, but because it officially started at 12:01 a.m. EST (9:01 a.m. PST), and because I got to my reading late earlier today, I unintentionally kicked my readathon off at the same time as everyone else.  I started off by reading the first two chapters of Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin out of my Library of America edition of his early novels (see below for some links) and then read 100 pages of Jefferson while enjoying some nice Sleepytime Extra tea.  It took a little longer for me to finish all this reading than I expected, though not as long as I feared.  If I keep this pace up, I do believe I can finish Jefferson, Giovanni's Room, and The Light of the Jedi this weekend.  But will I be able to finish Felix Ever After or Children of Virtue an Vengeance (let alone start it) this weekend?  Doubt is creeping into my head.  Hopefully I can, but I am going to get some rest now and truly dive into this in the morning.

February 5, 2021: The Day Before!

It's been a few months since I have done an honest to goodness readathon and if I am ever hopeful of whittling down my TBR, then readathons are my only hope.  Fortunately, the wonder folks at the 24in48 Readathon have been working hard at organizing a great readathon and I am so happy to be joining them.

What is a readathon you ask?  A readathon is where you try read for as long as you can in a certain time frame without stopping, sort of like running a marathon (read + marathon= readathon).  One online place that is famous for organizing this is Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon.  They famously choose 24 hour period to just read non-stop during that period (their next one is on April 24).  There is also a bunch of social media done on Facebook, Instagram, Twitterm, etc. that folks can participate in as they are reading.  

The 24in48 readathon is similar in that you try to read for 24 hours straight, but they break it up over two days.  That means you can tackle your 24 hours of reading in any combination you like.  Read all day Saturday or all day Sunday?  Go for it!  12 hours on Saturday and 12 hours on Sunday?  Absolutely!  8 on Saturday, 16 on Sunday?  That works too!  Any combination of 24 hours of reading you can think of works for this particular readathon.

One thing they are doing differently this year is that they have chosen two group reads for folks to participate in, one fiction and one non-fiction.  Their non-fiction read is Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender, a YA Romance starring a trans male as the protagonist.  The non-fiction read is White Negroes by Lauren Michele Jackson about cultural appropriation.  I personally plan on reading Felix Ever After myself, but no one is obligated to read these books if they want to read something else.

On top of Felix Ever After, I have a few books I either want to finish or make progress on.  First, I want to finish reading the Library of America collection Thomas Jefferson's writings that I have been working on since January 1.  This has been an interesting read, but at 1600 pages it is huge!  I had planned on finishing by the end of January, but life interceded.  I also plan on making progress on Library of America's collection of James Baldwin's early novels.  I just finished re-reading Go Tell It On the Mountain last night and I hope to have Giovanni's Room finished by the end of this readathon.

Next, I am going to finish reading Star Wars: The High Republic: The Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule.  My reading obsession originated with my love of Star Wars novels (the pre-Disney original Expanded Universe novels that is) back in high school and college, but I haven't really read many Star Wars novels since then.  However, this High Republic series sounds incredibly exciting.  I've been enjoying this book very much and I plan on finishing it this weekend.

Lastly, I plan on at least starting Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi.  This is the second book in her Legacy of Orïsha series, the first one being Children of Blood and Bone.  I read that when it first came out and I loved it!  I'm looking forward to diving back into this amazing YA fantasy world.

Of course, this is just the plan.  I have no idea if I will be able to actually do any of this.  Fortunately, like pervious readathons, I plan on live blogging this one.  Just come back to this page throughout the day tomorrow, February 6, and Sunday, February 7.  I'll be regularly adding updates to this page about my progress.  And while you're at it, be sure to check out any one of these great books or authors I have mentioned.  And if you want to join the 24in48 Readathon, head over to their website and fill out their online form.  Happy reading everyone!

Reckoning with a (Racist) Past: A Review of Stony the Road by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates Jr.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As America continues to grapple with its checkered past in the wake of recent and ongoing Black Lives Matter protests, one period that is seeing a resurgence of interest is the Reconstruction period. Between the end of the Civl War and the Compromise of 1876, America made its first tentative forays into multiracial democracy and equality. Eric Foner’s book Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877 is a critically praised history of that period worth a look. But what Dr. Gates contributes in this book is a cultural history of Reconstruction and the immediate period afterwards known as Redemption. While the racist imagery in this book can be hard to look at at times, Dr. Gates does a great job of showing the violent and propagandistic origins of many of today’s racial issues, but also how important Black artistic movements, particularly the Harlem Renaissance, were to resisting these racist narratives.

The first thing you need to know about this book is that it is not a straight narrative history.  There are not a lot of dates or explanations of key historical events during the Reconstruction and Redemption periods.  Thus the narrative can often go back and forth through time.  One minute Dr. Gates may be talking about something that happened in 1886, then move forward to something in 1903, then back to 1877.  What the reader needs to keep in mind though is that this book is structured thematically, with the first three chapters showing the origin and perpetuation of violent and racist myths about this period in this period, myths that still plague America to this day.  Each chapter also comes with a section of photographs and images from the period, much of which is incredibly difficult to look at.  It includes some of the most racist images I’ve ever seen in a book and it even includes some gruesome photographs of lynched Black Americans.  Anyone who is triggered by violent or racist imagery, be warned.

The best part about this book is how it is all tied up neatly at the end.  The last chapter is about Black Americans’ response to the white supremacy that robbed them of their rights and lives.  As Black Americans struggled to define themselves as a people after the collapse of Reconstruction and the violent rise of white supremacy, it led to incredible instances of artistic expression.  If the Redemption period from 1876 to the early 20th century is the counter-revolution that overturned Black Americans’ gains during Reconstruction and established white supremacy across much of the South, then Dr. Gates makes a great argument for considering the Harlem Renaissance as a cultural counter counter-revolution that sought to overturn the racist imagery and mythology of the Redemption period.  Through the great works of artists and scholars such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Alain Locke, and others, the racist stereotypes of Black Americans perpetuated by white supremacists became much more difficult to uphold, thus paving the way culturally for the Civil Rights Movement of the mid 20th century.

While this may not be the narrative history of Reconstruction I thought it would be, Dr. Gates nevertheless offers a valuable contribution to our understanding of this vital period of American history.  Though the racist and violent imagery may be difficult to see, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about this period in American history that now feels more relevant than ever.

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A Necessary Book: A Review of How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As the Trump era comes to a close and race relations, among many other things in this country, have reached a new low, especially after the summer of Black Lives Matter protests last year, people of goodwill have been looking for ways to break the country and themselves free from America’s white supremacist past and present. One of the newest paradigms shifts in thinking about achieving racial equality in America is antiracism, yet few know what exactly this means. In this wonderful book, Dr. Kendi not only illuminates the deeper meanings and workings of antiracism, but also charts his own personal development into antiracist work.

Like the book So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, Dr. Kendi talks about racism and antiracism both from experience and from deep academic research.  His previous work, Stamped from the Beginning, would be an excellent book to read before this one, along with Ms. Oluo’s.  However, what distinguishes this book from other recent works of antiracism is both the deeper insight’s and definitions Dr. Kendi explores, but this is a book anchored in his own humanity, humility, and self-reflection.  Almost every chapter has some personal anecdote that leads into his antiracist point and many of them are critical of his own faults and failings earlier in his life.  Thus, by reflecting on his own past failings, Dr. Kendi invites his readers to explore their own past failings where they have failed to treat others, particularly BIPOC and LGBTQ+ people, with equal dignity and respect.  As Dr. Kendi explored his own development towards antiracism, I even found myself reflecting on my own failings and resolving to do better in the future.

It can be too easy for people to point out racist ideas, acts, or policies, but it is much more difficult to point to our own racist thoughts and actions and work to improve ourselves.  Dr. Kendi’s excellent, well-though out and deeply reflective work, can help all of us to do so.  There is a reason why this book has been on a lot of antiracism reading lists and I have no criticisms to give this book.  For anyone who has read So You Want To Talk About Race, Stamped from the Beginning, or other antiracism works, you must read this book next.

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America's Prophet: A Review of Fredrick Douglass by David Blight

Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The 19th century in American history is filled with amazing historical figures, but few stand out as much as Fredrick Douglass. In this wonderful biography, Mr. Blight dives to deep into the life of the preeminent American of the 19th century and, by doing so, holds up a mirror to an America once again having to reckon with its dark racial past.

The life of Fredrick Douglass is one that many Americans already know as he wrote three different and highly praised autobiographies at various times in his life. Born into slavery, Douglass taught himself how to read, escaped from slavery, and became one of the greatest abolitionists of the period. He would go on to use his voice and his pen to denounce slavery in the South and racism in the North, recruit black soldiers for the Union effort during the Civil War, and hold the country accountable to the promises it made to former slaves during Reconstruction and long afterwards. Mr. Blight deftly navigates Douglass' career and gives a nuanced picture of the fiery American prophet. At the same time, Mr. Blight also reveals the home life that sustained and frustrated him, particularly in the latter half of his life. All the while, he doesn't look away from Douglass' faults, particularly his prejudicial language towards Native Americans and Catholics, or the compromises he would make later in life as a loyal-to-a-fault member of the Republican party. Thus, this biography gives one of the fullest pictures you are likely to find of Douglass anywhere.

The best part of this biography is how not a word is wasted even in such a large biography. At times Mr. Blight can get a wee bit preachy, but it is always in the context of Douglass' life and it never really feels out of place. Thus, this biography is not just a life of Douglass the man, but a call to America, past and present, to heed Old Man Eloquent's words and live up to its promises of liberty and justice for all as laid down in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and especially the Reconstruction amendments.

Whether this is you are new to the life of Fredrick Douglass or not, this is a necessary biography for our times on one of the most important figures in American history. I highly recommend this book to all interested in American history or in the lives of great Americans.

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Echoes of the Civil Rights Era: A Review of Blues for Mister Charlie

Blues for Mister Charlie: A Play by James Baldwin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I recently read James Baldwin's first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain and loved it. So when I learned that Mr. Baldwin had written a play during the middle of the Civil Rights era, I jumped at the chance to dive into this essential American author once again. And while the play is very much a product of its time, echoes of this play's themes can still be heard today.

Loosely based on the murder of Emmett Till, this play follow the aftermath and trial of young black man who was murdered by a white man in an unnamed Southern town. Through flashbacks and a shared stage setting, the audience sees the present and past events woven together as well as the events happening on both sides of this segregated town. I would imagine this play to be a visually striking one, though I don't know if there will be a revitalization of this play on Broadway any time soon.

One aspect of this play that felt a little off was the character Juanita, a young female black student whom almost every character appears to be romantically attracted to, though she has no intimate relations with any of them except for the murdered man. It seemed a little unnecessary and distracted from the main action, but it may be something that has to be seen on stage in order to understand fully.

Overall, this is a fine work of theater that I would like to see staged near me some time in the near future. This may not be high on the list of famous Baldwin works, but I recommend it nonetheless.

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