Hat season is upon us. These books play tribute to the hat.
Book 1: Crowns Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats by Michael Cunningham & Craig Marberry
Book 2: Aunt Flossie Hats (and Crab Cakes Later by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard; illustrated by James Ransome
Book 3: Tiara’s Hat Parade by Kelly Starling Lyons; illustrated by Nicole Tadgell
Book 4: Mae Makes a Way
These books are written by poet, musician, and more Gil Scott-Heron.
Book 1: The Vulture by Gil Scott-Heron. Gil Scott-Heron’s first novel that he wrote at the age of 20.
Book 2: Now and Then by Gil Scott-Heron. His song lyrics/poems
Book 3: The Last Holiday A Memoir by Gil Scott-Heron
I love college basketball men’s and women’s! Today starts the college basketball season. It is only fitting that I feature just a few books on basketball. Biographies of basketball players will be posted later.
Book 1: The Boys of Dunbar by Alejandro Danois
Book 2: More Than Just a Game by Madison Moore
Book 3: Hoops Heroes: The Untold Story of Black Basketball by Elliott Smith
Book 4: I Came as a Shadow by John Thompson
I attended a booksigning at Detroit Public Library featuring Abby Phillip, author of A Dream Deferred. Ms. Phillip shared so much insight and information about this trailblazer. A must read!
Today’s books feature/highlight courageous/brave African Americans.
Book 1: The classic. Black Profiles in Courage by Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and Alan Steinberg.
Book 2: Brave. Black. First. by Cheryl Willis Hudson
Book 3: The Black Knight by Clifford Worthy.
Today’s books focus on either a person’s entire life or a segment of a person’s life.
Book 1: Finding Me by Viola Davis. A powerful must read!
Book 2: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. https://justmercy.eji.org/
Book 3: The Movement Made Us by David Dennis, Jr. and David Dennis, Sr.
Friday is a good day for dancing! I will feature three books that are about dancing.
Book 1: Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen; illustrated by Kadir Nelson. A story about a long-legged girl who is determined to prove she can be a dancer.
Book 2: Brothers of the Knight by Debbie Allen; illustrated by Kadir Nelson. A delightful story about 12 brothers who can dance their shoes off!
Book 3: Life in Motion Young Reader’s Edition by Misty Copeland. This memoir chronicles Misty’s journey to become the first African American female principal ballet dancer at the American Ballet Theatre.
Today will feature historical books.
Book 1: Jarena Lee, first African American woman preacher:
Book 2: William Wells Brown, Clotel or The President’s Daughter
Book 3: Harriet Wilson, Our Nig, or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black
For Throwback Thursday, I chose Incidents in the Life of Slave Girl, written by Harriet Jacobs (or Linda Brent). Initially classified as fiction, a few historians finally acknowledged that this book is an authentic autobiography. In this book, Harriet Jacobs shares her pain and burden of being an enslaved girl, including being sexually harassed by her master. This book may be one of the first books that writes about sexual harassment. Although enslaved African Americans were considered property and masters had the power and control over them, Harriet Jacobs was one slave who refused to submit to her master’s sexual advances. How she manages to do this is worth reading and finding out for yourself.
Born on this date in 1865 was Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., religious leader at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, after becoming the pastor in 1908. More information about him:
Black Past Remembered: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/powell-sr-adam-clayton-1865-1953
African American Registry: https://aaregistry.org/story/spiritual-charisma-adam-clayton-powell-sr/
Scholastic: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/meet-reverend-adam-clayton-powell-sr/
The CamaraIfe Maktaba 