June 19, 2020
Hello ,
My heartfelt thanks to all of you who wrote after last Friday's newsletter. Your support means so much to me. My story about the 1921 terror in Tulsa and how history is relevant today earned a complaint and unsubscribe from one reader. I'll wear that like a badge!
Thanks, too, for those who wrote recommending books. I've listed some of them for you below, as well as a plea to buy your books at IndieBound.org. Better yet, order from these black-owned independent bookstores!
Unfortunately, this week got away from me. To celebrate Juneteenth I'm directing you to a story I wrote several years ago about the extraordinary courage of a nine-year-old. Not surprisingly, this is one of the most popular posts on my blogs.
Courage on the Face of a 3rd-Grader
On Thursday morning, May 2, 1963, nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks woke up with freedom on her mind. But, before she could be free, there was something important she had to do. "I want to go to jail," Audrey had told her mother.
Since Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks thought that was a good idea, they helped her get ready. Her father had even bought her a new game she'd been eyeing. Audrey imagined that it would entertain her if she got bored during her week on a cell block.
That morning, her mother took her to Center Street Elementary so she could tell her third-grade teacher why she'd be absent. Mrs. Wills cried. Audrey knew she was proud of her.
She also hugged all four grandparents goodbye. One of her grandmothers assured her, "You'll be fine."
Then Audrey's parents drove her to the church to get arrested.
Cynthia graciously agreed to share something of what she learned about courage in the process of writing the book. Read the full story here... Thank you, Cynthia! And now to those book recommendations, which are very timely considering current events.
The book is a painful but necessary reframing of our history in order to better understand the legacy of Indigenous peoples' resistance, resilience, and continued struggle against imperialism. Going beyond the story of America as a country "discovered" by a few brave men in the "New World," indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler-colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity.
Great book. Painfully eye-opening for me, but well-worth the challenge.
The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez, A Border Story by Aaron Bobrow Strain, was winner of the 2020 Pacific Northwest Book Award, named a 2019 Southwest Book of the Year and Shortlisted for the 2019 Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize.
Subscriber Kay says, It's "a difficult book to read in these times, but I highly recommend it to you and your readers."
When Aida Hernandez was born in 1987 in Agua Prieta, Mexico, the nearby U.S. border was little more than a worn-down fence. Eight years later, Aida’s mother took her and her siblings to live in Douglas, Arizona. By then, the border had become one of the most heavily policed sites in America.
Undocumented, Aida fought to make her way. She learned English, watched Friends, and, after having a baby at sixteen, dreamed of teaching dance and moving with her son to New York City. But life had other plans. Following a misstep that led to her deportation, Aida found herself in a Mexican city marked by violence, in a country that was not her
Another recommendation from Bob, [a different Bob than the one mentioned above].
Bob says "I was given a recommendation for a really great read and it is outstanding! The title is Destined for War: Can America and China escape Thucydides’s Trap? As you might expect it is non-fiction but I have a copy on order. The copy I am reading is
from the local library.
It’s a little different from our normal fare but extremely well reasoned and points to, if not exactly, some future pitfalls we need to be aware of as the planet enters a new age."
And from a third Bob, "I am reading Our Man in Charleston: Britain's Secret Agent in the Civil War South, by Christopher Dickey. It is the story of the British Ambassador in South Carolina, who was very much against slavery.
Fascinating."
You'll notice all the links I've given you for books go to IndieBound.org, which is a site that carries all books available just like Amazon. Yes, they will be a bit more expensive, and there's no "Prime" but you'll be helping assure
that authors get a fair price for the work they do. Just put in your zip code to order from your nearest independent bookstore, or choose a black-owned bookstore.
Why shop Indie?
When you shop at an independently owned business, your entire community benefits:
The Economy
- Spend $100 at a local-owned business and $52 of that stays in your community.
- Spend $50 at a national chain and keep $6.50 in the local community.
- Spend $50 online with a remote vendor with no sales tax collected and keep not one penny in your local community.
- Local businesses create higher-paying jobs for our neighbors.
- More of your taxes are reinvested in your community--where they belong.
The Environment
- Buying local means less packaging, less transportation, and a smaller carbon footprint.
- Shopping in a local business district means less infrastructure, less maintenance, and more money to beautify your community.
The Community
- Local retailers are your friends and neighbors—support them and they’ll support you.
- Local businesses donate to charities at more than twice the rate of national chains.
- More independents means more choice, more diversity, and a truly unique community.
Now is the time to stand up and join your fellow individuals in the IndieBound mission supporting local businesses and celebrating independents.
I'll leave you with photos from my garden. Though it happens every spring, a seed sprouting and growing a plant, a flower, a fruit--it has the power to amaze me. Makes me feel humble and grounds me to what's real. Carrots, beets & begonia! Have a great week!
Read a great book? Have a burning question? Let me know. If you know someone who might enjoy my newsletter or books, please forward this e-mail. I will never spam you or sell your email address, you can unsubscribe anytime at the link
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To find out more about my books, how I help students, teachers, librarians and writers visit my website at www.MaryCronkFarrell.com.
Contact me at MaryCronkFarrell@gmail.com. Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. |
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