I have been on something of a reading tear, binging on several novels that I had on my TBR (to be read) list. At the same time, I have been working steadily through Paula Giddings Ida: A Sword Among Lions and David Blight’s Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom. Plus Dreyer’s English for comic relief.
This may be why I’m not much fun at parties.
I am still early in both biographies, but I am filled with gratitude for the effort the authors put into researching and illuminating these lives. I sense that such time-consuming work can feel thankless in a culture that seems to treat it as futile, even for authors as esteemed as Giddings and Blight.
The first few chapters detail the early years of Ida B. Wells and Frederick Douglass, and the experience for me is that of reading the origin stories of superheroes. They are two giants, and I am humbled to learn what they never stop teaching us.
reader. writer. 