By Linda Goings
As a former teacher I’ve read thousands of books and I have several favorite African American authors.
The books I selected were Happy to be Nappy. I liked the title of that book. This book is about the many hairstyles we as African American women sport and to wear your hairstyle proudly.
Skin Again tells us that skin is just a covering. It doesn’t tell you what type of person is inside the skin. If you want to know what’s inside the skin you need to know the person. Both of these books were written by bell hooks.
Them by Nathan McCall. This book is about the neighborhood that Dr. King’s birth home is in. He talks about the people in the neighborhood and how it is changing because of the neighbors moving in the area.
Seen It all and Done the Rest by Pearl Cleage. Pearl Cleage writes about the area of Atlanta known as the West End. She is writing about the people in her neighborhood and their daily activities as seen from her living room window.
McCall and Cleage are writing about areas in Atlanta that were predominately Black years ago and where Black businesses were flourishing and successful.
The Color of Water by James McBride. Mr. McBride will be in Lansing, Monday, April 20th at the Lansing Center. I think that because he is coming to the area I will probably attend this event and I think I should read at least one of his books before that date which is why I am reading The Color of Water and Song yet Sung. The Color of Water is about his early years and how he found out more about his mother’s life after he became an adult and how difficult her life was growing up and raising twelve children.
You can find books by bell hooks, Nathan McCall, Pearl Cleage and James McBride at the Capital Area District Library.
