Here's my offering of the day - words and art that will lead to a better understanding.
Online Media:
- History and Politics Online is a compilation of audio and text of memory worthy speeches and historical moments. Here is the Martin Luther King, Jr. section. My favorites are Drum Major for Justice and I Have a Dream. If you need mpg format you can get I Have a Dream from here.
- An interesting recounting of the Bus Strike in Birmingham, AL by Maya Angelou of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings fame.
- The art of Faith Ringgold.
- Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is an emotional powerhouse of a novel with mind blowing imagery and unbelievable rhythm. You can feel the fear and rage.
- Black Boy: An Autobiography by Richard Wright is a straightforward accounting of a journey from the challenges of segregated Mississippi to a self education in Chicago and beyond.
- Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is another autobiographical account, this time of a girl.
- Beloved by Toni Morrison is another truly memorable book with a view into the emotional and physical baggage of ex-slaves.
- There Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is another rich look into the lives of poor, Southern black people.
- Selected Poems by Langston Hughes
- Annie Allen or any other poetry by Gwendolyn Brooks. By the way, I got to meet Ms. Brooks and listen to her read her poetry.
But for those who want more, try these narratives, free.
4 comments:
Of course you have the right, and a lot of special knowledge, which you've just demonstrated. Your reading lists always amaze me. As far as I'm concerned, you can read Sandra Hill on the beach, or wherever you happen to be when your mind needs a break :-)
It's been a very quiet MLK Day here, with a fresh, thick blanket of snow.
Being from Mississippi, I feel the need to preface anything I might say about race relations. The past still looms large in the South. We live only a few miles from where the civil rights workers were killed and hidden and where Edgar Ray Killen was just convicted in 2005, only 41 years after the fact. We are not all like that.
I've read a few books. I'm hoping to skip down to the beach next month for a week or so. If I can find a new Mary Kaye Andrews book, I will read it. I'm glad you don't think I am wasting my brain. Your opinion is important.
I would love some snow. I'm jealous. We have daffodils blooming.
Jove, I will check on that book. I'm not a huge sci-fi fan but you are correct, exploration can sometimes be simpler without the baggage of earth interactions.
Wisteria, thanks for the recommendations. How did you meet Gwendolyn Brooks? How great that is!
I had a fellowship in multi-cultural literacy (before children and moving back to Mississippi). It was organized so all the fellows met, discussed, and ate a lovely boxed lunch once a month. Gwendolyn Brooks was one of the regular (once a year) speakers/readers. Yes, it was great!!
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