Young, Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past and Present: 1 (See Yourself in Their Stories)

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This inspiring, illuminating, stylishly accessible anthology invites young readers to discover and celebrate phenomenal forebears and contemporary catalysts, while encouraging them to blaze their own inimitable trails. They also point out that “the books we read and the media we consume deeply influence our understanding of who we are and what we can be - if you can’t see it you can’t be it. They also impact how we understand each other.” Sheffield, Rob (16 August 2018). "Why Nobody Sang the Beatles Like Aretha". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 5 April 2022. A mini biography of each person outlines when and where they lived, their key accomplishments and the impact they had on others. The informative text is elevated by dynamic, vibrant portraits, which bring the figures to life. There is a USA focus to the selection, but there are also many examples from countries across the globe, such as Haiti, Nigeria, Spain and the UK.

The range of personalities covered by this book is terrific, as are the write-ups and illustrations. Coverage is not restricted to Americans. You will get to know George Washington Carver from Missouri as well as Mo Farah, born in Somalia and now a British citizen (even knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017!). Simone Biles, born in 1997, has earned more Olympic and World Championship medals than any other American gymnast. Hansberry died too young to write a straightforward autobiography or memoir so her ex-husband put this book together as well as he could under the circumstances. I certainly would have edited it in a different way but I assume he had his reasons for doing it the way he did. There are pieces here that cannot be found anywhere else, so it's worth reading to find the gems mixed in. Many of the vignettes contain a quote from the individual though some - "Making history is cool." (Simone Biles) - might not be as inspirational as they could be. There is no doubt, however, that the 52 individuals featured are more than worthy of recognition as heroes. And for every entry, it's difficult not to say, "But why didn't you include ____?"Antwaun Sargent, Graham C. Boettcher, Jessica Bell Brown, Connie H. Choi, Anthony Graham, Lauren Haynes, Jamillah James, Thomas J. Lax, Hallie Ringle, Adeze Wilford, Gordon Dearborn Wilkins, and Matt Wycoff, plus an interview with Bernard Lumpkin by Thelma Golden. So far I am very disappointed with this book, it has been introduced into schools but has mostly false statements. a b "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. September 22, 2020 . Retrieved November 24, 2020. Esperanza Spalding taught herself to play violin at age five, performed with the Chamber Music Society of Oregon until she was 15, then won a scholarship to Northwest Academy to study oboe and clarinet. In 2011, she won the Best New Artist Grammy.

Edited with essay by Antwaun Sargent. Text by Graham C. Boettcher, Jessica Bell Brown, Connie H. Choi, Anthony Graham, Lauren Haynes, Jamillah James, Thomas J. Lax, Hallie Ringle, Adeze Wilford, Gordon Dearborn Wilkins, Matt Wycoff. Interview with Bernard Lumpkin by Thelma Golden. This vibrantly colored book pays homage to 52 men and women from around the world who have demonstrated what it is to be not only young, not only gifted, not only dark-skinned, but all three. They are gifted performers, athletes, designers, speakers/orators, writers, leaders, entrepreneurs, scientists and mathematicians. They explore, serve, lead, pioneer. They are men and women we know, men and women new to us. This book is a somewhat odd jumbled compilation of excerpts from Hansberry's plays and excerpts from her speeches and letters and essays, as well as an excellent introduction by James Baldwin. At the end of the book there is a very clever pictorial index, and even a small glossary, the choice of words for which I found quite impressive. Readers will also be happy to find out more about contemporary heroic individuals, such as Ava Duvernay, Serena and Venus Williams, and Simone Biles.British film director Steve McQueen, a gifted artist as a child, struggled to find support for his talent at school. He went on to direct 12 Years a Slave, a historic memoir about a free man who was sold into slavery. It goes on to say at the start of the war he applications to join Florence nightingales nursing team was rejected, like many others who were refused due to their races or class. Mary didn’t even make an application to join, the only way to be a part of the nursing team was to make an application with references. She did however try and influence people into getting her on the team, but it didn’t work.

Has it really been almost fifty-two years since ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ was first produced on the stage? The book was constructed after Lorraine Hansberry’s death, and is comprised of diaries, letters, interviews, and passages from her plays, creating a somewhat unconventional narrative structure. How did it affect your reading experience? Did the construction hinder or enhance your enjoyment of the book?Hansberry writes of her frustrations with the theater, “I begin to think more and more of doing something else with my life while I am still young. I mean almost anything—driving an ambulance in Angola or running a ski lodge in upstate NY—instead of this endless struggle.” Do you ever feel frustrated when you are trying to accomplish a goal? Is it encouraging to know that even the most influential and talented people can struggle and feel dissatisfied with their work? Lauren Haynes is the curator of contemporary art at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. American singer Meshell Ndegeocello included a version on her 2012 tribute album Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone. I suppose that the most heroic expression that I have ever seen was that on the face of a certain tough-looking, brutalized, slum-slaughtered woman at Coney Island. She had her arm around a girl child who looked hardly any less brutalized and slum-slaughtered—’ We is going to have a good time tonight!‘ the look said.” What do you think Hansberry finds heroic about this woman? What is the most heroic expression you have ever seen?

The Langston Hughes poem “A Dream Deferred” begins “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” Why do you think Hansberry chose to title her play A Raisin the Sun after this poem? Like the two books she authored herself, I Love My Hair, and Becoming Me, this book showcases the illustrator’s skill with making text, doodles, and character portraits joyful and engaging. Not all the men and women in this book were young when they became famous. But, it is important to see that there are others who had dreams, before you, who succeeded. Named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, the Art Newspaper, Vogue, GQ, and the Chicago Tribune, among others!This is a great book, that should be in every school and library. It will inspire, and delight. And show what has gone before. It’s important that all children see themselves in books, and also recognise the struggles that have been– and continue to be a part of– daily life for many. Hansberry asserts that in poor neighborhoods, schools and housing were intentionally substandard, designed to cheat people out of an education and proper homes: “To be imprisoned in the ghetto is to be forgotten—or deliberately cheated of one’s birthright—at best.” What do you think about this statement? Does it still hold truth today? A beautifully crafted volume that can serve either as an introduction to these figures or as a supplementary text. We hope that you’re just as encouraged by the artists, activists, doers, makers, healers, and dreamers who bravely paved the way for us to have a brighter future.”