#27: Black History Month Recap
I know we are two weeks in to March and we all probably have larger concerns on our hands with COVID-19 threatening the world, but I wanted to tell you about a simpler time: The month of February. Being Black History Month, I wanted to read books that would broaden my perspective of race relations in the U.S. and help me check my biases. I also wanted to read books about slavery and African American heroes with my kids. Here is how it went!
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Mr. Noah is currently the host of the Daily Show on Comedy Central. He was born and raised in South Africa and was 6 years old when Apartheid ended. One of the laws during Apartheid forbade native (i.e. black) men/women from having "illicit carnal intercourse" with European (i.e. white) women/men. Since Trevor's mother was black and his father white, he was literally born a crime.
The book is a series of stories about his childhood as a colored boy. By not being white or black, young Trevor struggled with belonging. He talks about the architects of Apartheid turning people against each other and creating division using many means including skin color, language, and dialect. Since Trevor could do nothing about his skin color, he used language and dialects as a way to gain acceptance into multiple groups. He even talked his way out of a mugging because he could speak the assailants language!
Many of his stories are funny and I laughed out loud at least 3 times. He makes insightful comments about Apartheid that made me want to read a more historical work. I was mostly dumbfounded how he ended up where he is today because he was a troublemaker! He shop lifted and let his friend take the fall, hustled pirated music, pooped in the house, and burned a house down (accidentally, but still). The most fascinating figure is Trevor's mother Patricia. Thank the Lord for Patricia. Her unshakable faith in Jesus, which Trevor gibes, gave her a solid foundation which he benefited from time and time again.
I wouldn't recommend this to my mom, but if you like Trevor's style of comedy, check this one out.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
I listened to the audiobook and I can't praise Bahni Turpin enough. This story follows Starr Carter, a 16 year old black girl who lives in the fictional town of Garden Heights, a mostly poor black neighborhood. She attends Williamson Prep, a mostly affluent white school. Similarly to Trevor Noah, she has to navigate both worlds, speaking the "language" of each.
This book was so eye opening. In the first 50 pages, you meet Starr and her family and you understand her social situation. Then she witnesses her black friend being gunned down by a white cop and things get crazy. When this first came out I thought it was a true story but in reality it is based on multiple true stories of a white police officer killing an unarmed black man and the lives that are impacted by that action.
If you want to get inside the heads and experiences of black people in America and gain a more personal understanding of the Black Lives Matter movement, give this a read.
Children's Books
Ana and Andrew Summer in Savannah - I really enjoyed this one. Ana and Andrew are two sibling who go to Savannah to visit their grandparents. They go visit the first African Baptist church in Savannah, which was also the first black congregation in North America. They learn it was built by slaves (and pirates!) and observe the beautiful stained glass windows and the holes in the flooring. They discuss what the holes were for and understand that the church was a stop on the underground railroad. Slaves fleeing north would hide in a secret room under the floor of the church and the holes were for ventilation. This helped us understand the concept of the underground railroad as a series of hiding places where slaves would stop on their journey north.
Light in the Darkness: A Story About How Slaves Learned in Secret - I loved this one. A young girl sneaks out at night with her mother to a "Pit School," a hole large enough for a small group to congregate but not deep enough to stand upright. They covered the hole with large branches to avoid discovery and there learned letters and sounds. The teacher used sticks to make the letters and draw in the dirt. They couldn't have much light to avoid discovery. They had close calls and anyone caught learning to read would be whipped 26 times (one for each letter they learned). It hit home to all of us the risk that many slaves took to learn to do something that most of us take for granted.
Stay healthy everyone and wash your hands. Some people are stocking up on toilet paper and disinfectants, but since our library is closed for the next two weeks, we went and stocked up on books and DVDs! Bring on quarantine.
Kyle
P.S. - This newsletter was inspired by my friend Jeremy Anderberg. All his writing is good, but his most recent letter, "No. 113: books as comfort," was especially thoughtful and just what I needed to hear during this tumultuous time. Check it out at www.bookdude.substack.com