I am so grateful for Dipo Faloyin’s book Africa is not a country: Notes on a bright continent, written in a way that felt as if I could hear the author’s voice telling me stories, charming me and helping me feel connected to people and places far from my home, even as he had toContinue reading “Reading Notes: Dipo Faloyin’s Africa is not a country”
Category Archives: history
My Goodreads Review of the novel 2020
As a starting point, it was impossible to suspend disbelief when I discovered this book centers on a character two parts buffoon and one part dictator who believes he owns our country thanks to a few backroom deals with various autocrats around the world (plus a special thank you to Deutsche Bank and Facebook). ItContinue reading “My Goodreads Review of the novel 2020”
Listening Notes: 1619 podcast, Episode 5, Part 2
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/11/podcasts/1619-slavery-farm-loan-discrimination.html “The Land of Fathers, Part 2” is the last episode of the 1619 podcast series. Phew. This podcast picks up where it left off by highlighting the weight of the grief and loss experienced by a family of African American sugar cane farmers. They compare the way this family was treated by a bankContinue reading “Listening Notes: 1619 podcast, Episode 5, Part 2”
Listening Notes: 1619 Episode 5
I hope I don’t sound as impatient as I felt, but the New York Times *finally* issued another episode of the 1619 series, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1619/id1476928106?i=1000452394193 This one was called Episode 5: The Land of Our Fathers, Part 1. Yet again, this episode is well worth a listen as it expands on issues raised in one of the 1619Continue reading “Listening Notes: 1619 Episode 5”
1619 Project: Final articles
With this post, I bring to a close my endeavor to read, reflect, and spotlight the articles of the 1619 Project. There are several final essays worth reading: One of the final essays, “Their Ancestors Were enslaved by Law. Now They’re Lawyers,” is a photo essay that focuses on several graduates of Howard University’s LawContinue reading “1619 Project: Final articles”
1619 Project: Elliott & Hughes
In another post, I spotlight Nikita Stewart’s concern that our schools are not teaching the history of slavery adequately or appropriately. One resource that might help is provided by Mary Elliott and Jazmine Hughes, entitled: “Four hundred years after enslaved Africans were first brought to Virginia, most Americans still don’t know the full story ofContinue reading “1619 Project: Elliott & Hughes”
1619 Project: Stewart
For some reason, I had difficulty finding this article the first few times I tried. I think perhaps I kept clicking on another worthy article, that I will discuss in my next post. So feel free to use the link below in case you have trouble reaching it, too. Nikita Stewart’s article is entitled “‘WeContinue reading “1619 Project: Stewart”
1619 Project: Lee
In one of the final essays in the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, Trymaine Lee writes that “A vast wealth gap, driven by segregation, redlining, evictions and exclusion, separates black and white America.” Again I want to highlight a few quotes that struck me. The period that followed the Civil War was one ofContinue reading “1619 Project: Lee”
1619 Project: Muhammad
Khalil Gibran Muhammad’s essay is titled “The sugar that saturates the American diet has a barbaric history as the ‘white gold’ that fueled slavery.” As always, my goal is to highlight these articles rather than summarize, assuming that you will read the original works. This line in particular stood out for me: In Europe atContinue reading “1619 Project: Muhammad”
1619 Project: Stevenson
I continue to read, reflect, and shine a spotlight on the essays in the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project. Author of Just Mercy (and to my mind, a saint walking amongst us) Bryan Stevenson wrote an article titled, ”Slavery gave America a fear of black people and a taste for violent punishment. Both stillContinue reading “1619 Project: Stevenson”
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