Growing Up Black: From Slave Days to the Present: 25 African-Americans Reveal the Trials and Triumphs of Their Childhoods

by Jay David

Book Overview

A classic work on the African-American experience is revised for the nineties with essays reflecting the concerns of black children from the last three decades and commentary from today's sports stars, politicians, and inner-city gang members.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380766329
• ISBN13: 9780380766321
• Release Date: February 1992
• Publisher: PerfectBound
• Length: 292 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

AFRICA'S GIFT TO AMERICA

Of all of the so-called minority groups in the United States, African Americans occupy a special place. They were brought over to America as slaves and attempts were made to deny their humanity, strip them of their culture and rob them of their souls. It didn't work. Not only did the Africans survive but they thrived and gifted America with its own unique culture. Growing Up Black is the story of the childhoods of those African progeny who survived the sordid racial hatred of America. Unlike other books in this series, this text is exclusively non-fiction and culls the works from the authors' autobiographical memoirs. The young people represented (now old) are a diverse group from the 19th and 20th centuries. Learn about what it feels like to be called a "nigger" as a child and going home to get an explanation from your parents. Walk through a mob to attempt to integrate a school which would deny you your education. Experience being a light skin Black who can melt into the white majority culture. These are the varied experiences of these young people who show courage, great tenacity and creativity in growing up in a land which would deny them their humanity. Read about these young people for they point to hope for our future.

A Must-Have for Some.

Far too often, the thoughts of Black youth are presented to us through well meaning, but biased sociologists or historians. It's refreshing to catch a glimpse of childhood memories from memoirs and autobiographies, rather than from the pages of yet another treatise on the plight of Black America. One section incudes the memoirs of William Holtzclaw, founder of the Utica Normal and Industrial Institute. It includes a description of an arrangement between Holtzclaw's uneducated father and the landowner for whom they all sharecropped. The father had an agreement to keep one quarter of the crops the family grew, but at the end of each season the landowner would calmly explain that Holtzclaw's family "ate" their share of the cotton harvest during the year. This young child's introduction to political powerlessness, interest rates and creative bookkeeping has far more impact than anything that you're likely to find in every financial self-help book ever published. The book also contains the childhood memories of Malcolm X., Angela Davis, Booker T. Washington, Maya Angelou and more. But it is merely a series of excerpts and it lacks the editorial voice that could connect these stories. That's either good or bad, depending upon what you're looking for. If you're looking for a comprehennsive understanding of Black youth, this isn't it. But if you're looking to connect with the stories of a culture that you already know, this book is a must have.