The Day I Saw The Hummingbird - Presented by Paulette Mahurin

As the coolness started to disappear from the morning air, we knew it was time to get ready for work. I felt for Mama; she had had no sleep for two nights. When she lit a candle and began making breakfast, I could see her wrinkled face and bloodshot eyes. Everything about her was tired-looking. She appeared much older than her young thirty years. Oh, how I wished she could stay back in the cabin and rest. But no, she had no time for that. No time for anything other than grabbing a quick meal, feeding me, changing out of her putrid dress, and dragging her exhausted body to work. 

It was an especially warm mid-May day. The hummingbirds had already arrived earlier that year. They usually welcomed in a new year, migrating to Louisiana around the end of January. Mama and I were working near the edge of the sugarcane crop close to some flowers when I saw a tiny bird dipping its long, slender bill into an orange bell-shaped flower. It was a rare treat when I spotted a hummingbird with its vibrant colors. Something about those birds made me feel more alive. I once tried to count the times one flapped its wings. I couldn’t do it; it’s near impossible to see the space between the movements. And oh, how that little beauty invigorated me. I thought the day had started off on a good foot, seeing that beautiful creature covered in the brightest turquoise blue I ever did see. The pretty little thing had splashes of orange on it, too—just like the color of the flower it fed on. I could surely fly off and spend the rest of my life living among such grand appeal. Mama was right when she would say, “It God’s work in nature. You wanna find peace, my boy, God done filled the whole world with it. Just gotta look past all the folk who fuss and fume. God’s creations, they is simple and fine.” She’d smile and shake her head in amazement. “Proves to me,” she’d sing, “there surely be a Lord creating all this.”

But what went wrong when that same Lord who created such magnificence also created men with bitter hatred in their hearts? I never got my answer to that question. And if ever there was a time I needed one, it would be the day I saw the hummingbird...

The Day I Saw

  The Hummingbird

By Paulette Mahurin

Slavery is the next thing to hell.  
--Harriet Tubman

He had been born into slavery and as soon as he was old enough would also be called upon to work the fields, cutting the cane or carrying...his Mama would be teaching him how to do it, for she had carried him, screamed in her birthing and then took him into the fields as she was forced to go back to work... There was no other option. They were bought and paid for, becoming the property of the plantation owner.

But the one they all hated most was the overseer, who carried a whip or used anything else to hurt them, including coming into their shanties late at night...He had been there the night he came to Mama. She had scooted him out to go sleep with his friend... Even then he was old enough to know what happened to the women when he came...With his father gone, there was no way to protect his Mama... 

And the hate and anger within him grew deeper and deeper, cutting his heart and soul until he could not contain his outbursts...

I couldn’t shake the distrust that lived in my body. 

All the kindness and compassion I’d experienced

from those who helped to free me

never replaced the sour taste left from the torture

and injustice at the hands of the mean foreman

that defined my childhood. 

Lower your head Oscar, I could still hear my Mama

scream. Don’t be looking where your eyes don’t belong.

Later at night when away from the sugarcane field,

my mama, Catherine Mercer,

her big brown eyes wide as the moon and

her nostrils flaring, would whisper in my ear. 

Your curiosity is gonna get us killed.

~~~

Sometimes they had half-days off on Sunday. Oscar and his friend would spend time at the creek throwing rocks to count the times it would jump...Simple fun that took them away from all that was wrong with their world...

Oscar is the main character of Paulette Mahurin's latest novel. I met her with her debut book, The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap  and The Seven Year Dress. Mahurin has a real gift in creating books that are historically significant, but, even more importantly, readers become so involved in her books that we begin to feel as if we were right there within the book, maybe even as one of the characters....

While the story is built around Harriet Tubman's work with The Underground Railroad, she personally is only mentioned in this book as the person who started it...

Oscar was not even ten when, on his mother's death bed, she indicated that it was now time for him to go for freedom. There had been a small group who talked about and planned for an escape, but, in the end, it was only Oscar and his best friend, Sammy who, at the age of 10, sat with Oscar while she went back to work... She had no choice now, they had already killed her husband and she had to ensure her boy was safe...

Now, Sammy and Oscar had to leave on their own, never to see anybody again who was left behind. They had learned the routes to follow and had been given a small map but neither had ever been anywhere outside of the plantation... Fear alone walked with them...

Oscar was an intelligent young boy and had some basic learning of the alphabet and reading, even though it was forbidden for them to learn how to read. His mother had taught him much about God and life, about nature's beauty and how to survive. 
But two other women he met along the way continued to teach Oscar... It is in the sacrifices of those who provided support to those who escaped that we learn not only more about Oscar, but also about how those who provided shelter felt as if they were compelled to help!

Be prepared for the danger and death as Oscar ran, first losing Sammy and then meeting others who took him under their wings to provide for him. Months and years went by and Oscar celebrated his 10th birthday while he was still running... What was in the future and would he ever be free from running. Did freedom even exist?

For during his trip, the Civil War had begun and soldiers were fighting, sometimes forcing them to take a different trail. And as the Railroad became better known, their masters began to put rewards on their heads to bring them back...

A possibly well known story to many...and yet, so startlingly different. Seeing everything through Oscar's eyes as he, first, grew up enslaved and afraid, only to be forced to leave his Mama's grave and his few friends and run into the unknown...

Readers are faced with the tension, that ongoing fear, the hatred faced by drunken men who delighted in hurting he and others for no reason...and, worse, to see those he loved die horrible deaths...one...by...one... 

It's time to remember. It's time to consider how Blacks did not immigrate like, perhaps, you and I came to America through our ancestors. Blacks came as prisoners, chained and sold to the highest bidder... You might even think about the recent activity of the KKK and other hate groups and come to see that we still, today, need to ensure that individuals who hate are not permitted to once again require protection from those haters...

My recommendation for this latest book, by Paulette Mahurin, is to consider it a must-read...It's an important contribution to Mahurin's own library and I encourage you to consider this as well as her other troubling, powerfully-written stories...


GABixlerReviews

Paulette Mahurin lives with her husband Terry and two dogs, Max and Bella, in Ventura County, California. She grew up in West Los Angeles and attended UCLA, where she received a Master’s Degree in Science. While in college, she won awards and was published for her short-story writing. One of these stories, Something Wonderful, was based on the couple presented in His Name Was Ben, which she expanded into a fictionalized novel in 2014. Her first novel, The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap, made it to Amazon bestseller lists and won awards, including best historical fiction of the year 2012 in Turning the Pages Magazine. Her third novel, To Live Out Loud, won international critical acclaim and made it to multiple sites as favorite read book of 2015. Her fourth book, The Seven Year Dress, made it to the top ten best seller lists on Amazon U.S., Amazon U.K., and Amazon Australia. Semi-retired, she continues to work part-time as a Nurse Practitioner in Ventura County. When she’s not writing, she does pro-bono consultation work with women with cancer, works in the Westminster Free Clinic as a volunteer provider, volunteers as a mediator in the Ventura County Courthouse for small claims cases, and involves herself, along with her husband, in dog rescue. Profits from her books go to help rescue dogs from kill shelters. 

Donald Trump: The Reverse Obama - Amazon Hacked By Russians???

Well, I had another strange experience regarding one of my reviews this week... This time on Amazon...

I am reblogging my review again to allow my message now online to occur...unless it, too, is deleted...

First, my review was being refused...and refused...and refused. I had cut out most of what I really wanted to include...and then nothing...no posting...no message that it was once again refused... 

Sent a notice to Customer Service...Totally unresponsive email, which I then reported...

So then I wondered if this message could go through...One that really shouldn't have, if the review staff are paying "any" attention. If it's still up today, why not go out and leave a comment... In the meantime, below is my full review.

Maybe the key word is Donald Trump and the Russians are hacking anything about him? You think??? Why not hurry out and get the book right now...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R1Y664763L67KS?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl

Customer Review

Excellent Analysis..., July 27, 2016 By  Glenda Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Donald Trump: The Reverse Obama (Kindle Edition) I have written a review on this book that was mishandled...I reported it to Amazon customer service... Please see my blog, Book Readers  Heaven for my review of this important book. Why no voting buttons? We don't let customers vote on their own reviews, so the voting buttons appear only when you look at reviews submitted by others. Permalink I've never been much interested in politics...Along with others,  I've grown to lack trust...especially of politicians. Oh, sure,  some are bound to be good, but...  Anyway, maybe it's because  of all the books I've been able to read since I've retired...or  maybe it's because I've felt an extreme lack of faith in both of  the candidates, which I've not felt before. Frankly Trump scares me, but I don't think Clinton will have the follow-through America needs at this point...Just my personal opinion of  course... Take into consideration that the voting rate in the last United  States Presidential election was under sixty percent. Republicans lost the last two Presidential elections and although they took control of  both houses of the United States Congress, the mid-term voting rate was less than thirty-seven percent. The prior voting rates means that over forty and sixty percent of the voting eligible population of the United States stayed on the sidelines while others elected the leaders of the nation. That meant that millions of eligible voters basically  decided it did not matter who or which political party was in charge of  leading the nation forward because they felt there was not a significant difference between either major party. Years of political gridlock,  infighting and talking points without tangible results that rewarded all of the conservative fervor and energy expended over the past several years dating back to before President Barack Obamawas elected  in 2008 took its toll... The title of this book intrigued me, I must admit... Donald  Trump - The Reverse Obama. I immediately wondered what  this Black man had to say. I'd already read his book, Black  Phobia and Blue Phobia and found I supported all he had said. Now how would this Black man feel about Trump? Actually, once again, Pollard did an excellent presentation and analysis of his topic. He writes well, with no hint of bias in his work, and is easily followed through his thought processes. His points are clear and, when appropriated, cites his research,  such as the past "Operation Wetback". Only at the end does he share a little personally--much less than me! LOL! But what about this statement about Obama??? ...while Barack Obama was selling hopes and dreams. As crazy as it sounds Donald Trump is metaphorically the reversed engineered Barack Obama of the 2016 Republican Presidential  contest, but he is selling a decidedly different set of hopes and dreams to a much different audience.. And I understood exactly what he was saying...and I understood...   Pollard uses his personal history to great effect in this book,  talking about when he was young and trying to understand his place in the larger world. For me, I could actually see the  parallels he was drawing...and I had to agree... If only a part of his analysis is true--and I felt his narrative along with research proved credible--then you as a voting citizen might find this a must-read. If it comes down to choosing, and now that has been made final...Trump versus  Clinton... what will happen? I believe Pollard has presented an effective, easy-to-read analysis to help evaluate what your future decisions may mean. This book is also free now on Amazon...Get it! GABixlerReviews

D. T. Pollard Provides Analysis of Two Hot Subjects Directly From Top News Stories!

ESSENCE ® bestselling author D.T. Pollard lives in the Dallas/ Fort Worth, TX area. He is married and has one son.

He earned an academic scholarship to the School of Business and Industry at Florida A & M University and stopped writing during his second year in college.

D T was at the top of his class in Marketing and graduated Summa Cum Laude and won the Most-Outstanding-Performance-in-Marketing award for the graduating class of 1981.

While working in sales for giants of the high-technology world for over 28 years, his desire to write returned after losing several siblings from various causes. D T Pollard is the author of many works including Rooftop Diva, Fools' Heaven, Vulture Capitalism and Ratchet Woman. Rooftop Diva, a fictional account about a Hurricane Katrina survivor became an Essence Magazine bestseller and is featured in libraries nationwide and abroad in hardcopy and audio formats.

I'm a product of Affirmative Action--when Affirmative Action was implemented. At that time I was one of the few women who made out of clerical ranks into technical and then administrative ranks at a major university. As an administrator, I then often was involved in affirmative action hiring and am fully knowledgeable about how the process was done. During those years, I had several African American men working in my office and became friends with one female Black Dean with whom I greatly enjoyed working.  

Then I watched as Affirmative Action no longer required hirings based upon that principle. New leaders came in and women in administration were slowly eliminated. Hiring no longer required a specific process... I watched as my friend, Ruth, left her job. And we shared a number of discussions of what we were seeing...

For me that is when I started watching it happen... the slow deterioration of what earlier lawmakers had done to try to make amends for what you might simply call "Male White Supremacy..." Believe me, you would never include women of any race as part of the good ole boy system of hiring...

Since that day, I've had an affinity for those in the Black Race. I knew exactly what happened...they couldn't get hired unless laws created for that purpose was followed. To cut my own opinion off quickly, let me just conclude with my personal opinion that was when it began and, now, we are seeing the results of that loss of effort...that change by the government to stop trying to help the hiring decisions of the past...to stop "caring" about people, employees included...

The title of Pollard's book, Black Phobia; Blue Phobia tells you exactly what the book is about. America has reached the point where there is NO trust. In particular, Pollard speaks to the ongoing and now major problem of total mistrust of the Police.

Pollard provides the necessary research of cases of violence, but he does not stop with just those attacks on Blacks. He talks about all that has happened in America... Then specifically discusses the unanswered questions about lack of punishment of the offender, if it happens to be a police officer.

But this is not a one-sided diatribe. It is a well-written review and analysis of the topic...Both sides have developed a real phobia--a fear, or in some a hatred of those on each side.

Given the previous losses it would truly be an opportunity wasted to fail to achieve a breakthrough in bridging the racial divide in America. We may be at a tipping point and on the edge of a potential racial explosion if there is not meaningful acknowledgement that there are issues that must be solved in how some police officers react to African Americans. Seemingly deadly escalations of tensions from some police officers when dealing with African Americans compared to White citizens...

Pollard discusses how the advances of electronics has provided the means by which individual actions are no longer just known locally--they are broadcasted nationally. 

Let’s not be naïve, what we are witnessing between law enforcement and the Black community is not new, it is just being captured on camera and played back for everyone to witness.

From a police leadership standpoint, this has allowed them to see the scope and wide-spread actions that have occurred and are increasing!

When a police officer is dispatched and encounters a dangerous individual who refuses to comply with instructions and takes potentially life threatening actions against the cop, the result may be the death of that person regardless of their race. We can’t deny the existence of dangerous individuals in the Black community as evidenced by the level of Black on Black crime...

It should not take those that fear the lack of police support to solve this major problem! But more and more we find individual citizens such as Pollard speaking out because of what is happening. The reality exists; justice must be swift and strong. It should not lead to further fear and/or, worse, hopelessness.

That's what got America to where it is today...

For me, every individual has to take a position of action. We need to speak out intelligently, proactively, and be able to see and discuss both sides of this issue. This book is an excellent review of what has occurred, along with the beginning of conceptual thoughts on the problem. I consider it a must-read for all who see, acknowledge, and want towork to move constructively ahead toward solution. 

This book is free for now...Get it like I did and share it like I did...Let's get people talking! All lives DO Matter!


GABixlerReviews

I've never been much interested in politics...Along with others, I've grown to lack trust...especially of politicians. Oh, sure, some are bound to be good, but...  Anyway, maybe it's because of all the books I've been able to read since I've retired...or maybe it's because I've felt an extreme lack of faith in both of the candidates, which I've not felt before. Frankly Trump scares me, but I don't think Clinton will have the follow-through America needs at this point... Just my personal opinion of course...

Take into consideration that the voting rate in the last United States Presidential election was under sixty percent. Republicans lost the last two Presidential elections and although they took control of both houses of the United States Congress, the mid-term voting rate was less than thirty-seven percent. The prior voting rates means that over forty and sixty percent of the voting eligible population of the United States stayed on the sidelines while others elected the leaders of the nation. That meant that millions of eligible voters basically decided it did not matter who or which political party was in charge of leading the nation forward because they felt there was not a significant difference between either major party. Years of political gridlock, infighting and talking points without tangible results that rewarded all of the conservative fervor and energy expended over the past several years dating back to before President Barack Obama was elected in 2008 took its toll...

The title of this book intrigued me, I must admit... Donald Trump - The Reverse Obama. I immediately wondered what this Black man had to say. I'd already read his book, Black Phobia and Blue Phobia and found I supported all he had said. Now how would this Black man feel about Trump?

Actually, once again, Pollard did an excellent presentation and analysis of his topic. He writes well, with no hint of bias in his work, and is easily followed through his thought processes. His points are clear and, when appropriated, cites his research, such as the past "Operation Wetback". Only at the end does he share a little personally--much less than me! LOL!

But what about this statement about Obama???

...while Barack Obama was selling hopes and dreams. As crazy as it sounds Donald Trump is metaphorically the reversed engineered Barack Obama of the 2016 Republican Presidential contest, but he is selling a decidedly different set of hopes and dreams to a much different audience...

And I understood exactly what he was saying...and I understood...  

Pollard uses his personal history to great effect in this book, talking about when he was young and trying to understand his place in the larger world. For me, I could actually see the parallels he was drawing...and I had to agree...

If only a part of his analysis is true--and I felt his narrative along with research proved credible--then you as a voting citizen might find this a must-read. If it comes down to choosing, and now that has been made final...Trump versus Clinton... what will happen? I believe Pollard has presented an effective, easy-to-read analysis to help evaluate what your future decisions may mean.

This book is also free now on Amazon...Get it!


GABixlerReviews

Check out First Excerpts from Justice in the Round by Spotlighted Author, Harold Michael Harvey!

The legal system can force open doors and sometimes even knock down walls. But it cannot build bridges. That job belongs to you and me."

--Justice Thurgood Marshall United State Supreme Court

Note: In order to give you the total flavor of the book of essays,  I'm dividing the Essays into three days of excerpts, giving the title, some of the beginning and/or points of particular interest...

Opening Statement

Before throwing down the race card, get through the essay where the prospective juror in one of my trials asked a courthouse deputy: "What do you think about that Nigger lawyer from Atlanta?"

Additionally, as you read these essays, if the proverbial racist shoes do not fit, then do not attempt to wear them. If they fit your neighbors, why not have a frank and honest discussion with them. After all, we are trying to get to a better place.

Now that the issue of race is out front and center, we begin these essays on the american jury system with one titled "They always get away."

For the purposes of this essay we are paraphrasing what George Zimmerman told the 911 dispatch operator when the dispatcher told him not to follow Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman actually said: "Those a--holes always get away..."

At long last, this solemn volume owes no duty to political correctness. Its fidelity is to the truth as witnessed by the writer. Let us hope that out of the seemingly unjust verdicts in the Zimmerman and Dunn trials, there comes a new sense of justice for all.--March 15, 2014

~~~

"The only thing that white people have that black people should need or want is power and no oone holds power forever." --James Baldwin, "The Fire Next Time"

"They always get away"

A lot has happened in four years. The first African American elected President of the United States was sworn into office. Immediately, it became an act of racism for anyone to disclose they had voted for him. Those bold enough to do so were met with the refrain, "You only voted for him because he was black," the politics of the reverse race card was now being played by many white Americans. Non of whom bothered to think that in the age before Obama, black voters voted in mass for white presidential contenders simply because only white men were ever nominated for the office. Black people have never had a problem with voting for white candidates. In fact, more black people have voted for white candidates than there are white people who have voted for a black candidate.

Almost as soon as President Barack Obama commenced his service, he was rejected, vilified and blocked at every turn to carry out the duties of his office, by a group, which cannot in all honesty be described as the loyal opposition...

I am not so sure that today's black people have a clear manifestation of their destiny. I am almost certain, that blacks have lost their identity. The melting pot continues to blend colors as it always has. Yet the game has changed, or at least the rules governing the games are changing.

The far right political spjere jas turned the rules of engagement on their head by adopting the language of dissent from the civil right movement. They have made it appear that there is an assault on the rights and privileges of the majority; just as the majority is quickly becoming the minority...

"Fiat justitia ruat caelum - Let justice be done though the heavens falls." --Seneca, "Piso's justice"

Zimmerman Not Guilty

George Zimmerman, the 29-year-old neighborhood watch coordinator who killed unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, has been found not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter by a jury of six women...

The gunshot played over and over for the jury at the Zimmerman trial muted the cries for help of either Zimmerman or Martin. Witnesses battled over whose voice they heard crying out. The jury verdict settled that issue. It was George Zimmerman.

There was not a peep out of the jury for the first 13 hours after retiring to deliberate the fate of Zimmerman. Then, Judge Debra Nelson received a note from the jury asking for more clarification on the jury instruction on manslaughter. Judge Nelson wrote back that if they had a specific question she would answer it, but that the law prohibited her from responding to questions about the instructions in general...

~~~

Meet Michael as he talks about his first book!

Harold Michael Harvey is the author of the legal thriller Paper Puzzle. He writes on legal and political issues at haroldmichaelharvey.com. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in political science from Tuskegee University and a Juris Doctorate from Atlanta Law School. He is winner of the "Outstanding Work in Newspaper Journalism Award" from the National Newspaper Publishers Association and has won two semi-monthly Political Pundits Prizes from Allvoices.com. A former practicing lawyer, Harvey now spends his days reading and writing. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia and writes wherever the muse takes him.

Mark Your Schedule for First Week of June - Book Readers Heaven is Spotlight Harold Michael Harvey, Author of Justice in the Round!

Harold Michael Harvey is one of the few people online who I consider a friend...when I've been down, I've even asked him to pray for me... Normally, when you ask for prayers, you don't expect them to do it between you and that individual, at least not online... But, almost immediately, I get a message, with a thoughtful prayer that truly blessed me... You know why I consider Harold a friend? Because I trust him... His online persona is just like his books. I can tell that because of the correlation between his activities as well as his books.

I don't know about you, but nearly everyday when you catch the news on television, somebody is getting murdered... Some of them are being murdered by those who supposedly uphold the law and "keep us safe" But who hasn't seen the videos that are thankfully available these days when one individual is being attacked by one or more law officers. It sickens me to see such violence. But, it turns much worse when it is a black man or woman who is being beaten by white police officers...

Harvey's latest book is a collection of essays on the American jury system. When a lawyer who has been in the courts and has had to deal with the realities of it, an important opportunity is presented. I'm taking that opportunity by spotlighting Justice in the Round during the first week of June. If everything goes right, the first three days will be selected excerpts from the book. Thursday will be my review and Friday will be a one-of-one author interview.

I noticed a picture of B. B. King on Harold's timeline and realized just how much many of us have come to love the music of our Great Black singers, musicians and other artists... We will miss B. B. King, but his music will be with us forever...
Or the many sports stars! 

We can bypass race issues for those individuals...so why oh  why do we still have such hate and violence in America between blacks and whites? Maybe sharing from this book and talking about it will help in some small way to answer that question...

My first question will be:

How can American negotiate relationships between the United States and other countries, but refuses to negotiate a discussion within our own country about race relations? We all know something needs to be done. Why aren't  those in the right positions in government doing something!??! What needs to be done?

Please feel free during any of those days to add comments or questions to be discussed on Friday, June 5th! 

Black Dad--White Dad: The James Womack Story "Where Is it?" is What I Want to Know!

Separate "white" and "colored" entrances
 to a cafe in Durham, North Carolina, 1940

The origin of the phrase "Jim Crow"
 has often been attributed to "Jump Jim Crow",
a song-and-dance caricature of blacks
 performed by white actor Thomas D. Rice
 in blackface, which first surfaced in 1832
 and was used to satirize Andrew Jackson's
 populist policies. As a result of Rice's fame,
 "Jim Crow" had become a pejorative expression
 meaning "Negro" by 1838. When southern
 legislatures passed laws of racial segregation
 – directed against blacks – at the end of the
 19th century, these became
known as Jim Crow laws.
~~~

The Jim Crow laws were racial segregation laws enacted between 1876 and 1965 in the United States at the state and local level. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities in Southern states of the former Confederacy, with, starting in 1890, a "separate but equal" status for African Americans. The separation in practice led to conditions for African Americans that tended to be inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematizing a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages. De jure segregation mainly applied to the Southern United States. While Northern segregation was generally de facto, there were patterns of segregation in housing enforced by covenants, bank lending practices, and job discrimination, including discriminatory union practices for decades.

Some examples of Jim Crow laws are the segregation of public schools, public places, and public transportation, and the segregation of restrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains for whites and blacks. The U.S. military was also segregated.

These Jim Crow Laws followed the 1800–1866 Black Codes, which had previously restricted the civil rights and civil liberties of African Americans with no pretense of equality. State-sponsored school segregation was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1954 in Brown v. Board of Education. Generally, the remaining Jim Crow laws were overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

 



Black Dad--White Dad...
The James Womack Story
  Co-author Anna Allen

I finished the last page of "The James Womack Story" and sat there, angry... Where is it? Where is the anger that this man deserves to have? And, if I am a Christian like him, why do I feel so angry on his behalf? Writers should probably realize by now that sometimes I get emotional about some books... So I apologize to James, though not for what I want to say. 

James and I grew up about the same time! What a difference, however... Could I have gone through what he has and still be faithful? I don't think so... I even wondered if, in getting somebody to work with him, Anna Allen, that he needed somebody who could be the unemotional writer--to tell his story, without the negative feelings... Perhaps? I don't know, because all of it sounds so true...  except the parts where you omitted the anger, frustration--the inability to continue to accept what the world has done, no matter what? I wanted it there--I wanted to share it with you... I felt you left out a very important part of the book... Is your faith so much stronger than mine? Of course, it must be. How else can you have survived?

Why aren't you as mad as I am, James? When your beautiful wife was left on the ground that day, why didn't you curse, shout out and...break...why wasn't that the final straw that broke your back? Of course not, because now your love for her keeps you going, taking care of her... I admire you, James Womack...  May your story help many others find the inner strength exhibited in your story.

When I came into the world, the midwife handed
Dad a new baby boy with light brown skin, blue eyes
and a head full of long, straight, black hair.
Because Dad did not understand the miracle by
which God mixes chromosomes and DNA, he took
one glimpse at my blue eyes and straight black hair
and disowned me. I was born, accepted, and
rejected all within the time span of one
minute. Dad handed me straight back to the
midwife. That was the first and last time I felt
the tenderness of his touch. He never touched
me again except to beat my buttocks. The
beatings began when I was around six years old,
which was about the time when I had the
intellectual awareness that he was hurting
Mom. I irritated the hell out of Dad by screaming
when he beat her. He always aimed for her head
with any object he could find...
Dad died without ever giving me a hug, a smile,
a kind word of encouragement or validation of
my existence. His repudiation had a profound
effect on my self-esteem...
~~~ 

Mr. Samson* was a mysteriously diabolical man with many faces and personalities. He was a frugal landowner and businessman by day with a large area of farmland and thirty to forty sharecroppers he directed. When the sun set, his character became more sinister as he quickly transitioned to one of the hooded night riders surrounded by flaming crosses that terrorized sharecroppers who ventured to step out of line. I remember all of that as if it were yesterday.

1922

His voice was unpleasant. We heard it on
the first Friday of every month when he
delivered a five-gallon jug of white
lightning, a colorless brew of homemade
whiskey, to my father. His appearance was
a signal that Dad had to vacate his home
immediately. Mr. Samson had a habit of
bellowing out orders from about three
hundred feet from our home....He never
came close enough for anyone to see his
face, except for Mom.
~~~

The amazing thing about James' story was that the actions of the KKK were not the worst part of what Mr. Samson did to the Womack family. He would
provide whiskey to his Dad, who was then forced to leave his home, while Mr. Samson visited...
When the children were older, they were sent away also...but didn't realize...

...My father's actions, and my lack of understanding
left me with deep emotional scars. To endure these
scars required a strong faith. There is an old adage
that you do not find atheists in foxholes. Well, I was
incarcerated in the pit of a  deep, dark insidious
foxhole the day I was born. Emotionally and
intellectually, I dwelled therein for thirty-seven
years.
To get through, I emulated Mom's faith...I learned
from her to sing a joyful song regardless of the
circumstances, but especially when frustrated.
~~~

His mother's favorite song was Precious Lord...

At the same time, his father rejected him, his mother was such a woman of faith, that her strength and love obviously became the stronger of the emotions from his parents... It is her faith, accepted by James as true, that undoubtedly has brought him through his life, albeit while facing tremendous odds.

I thought it was ironic that his one fortunate circumstance of falling in love at first sight, also had a negative response...His wife was white and they thus received all of the negative aspects of being an "interracial couple"!

Promises made from recruiting officers, though not fulfilled, resulted in James ultimately becoming a lifer in the military. Then went into Federal Government jobs-- both with discriminatory acts or lies affecting his career. He even had a firm basis, in my opinion, for an anti-discrimination case, having a young white female hired instead of him... but then, I can say that because I know the rules and regulations that existed at that time for Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunities. I know that much was not clear and many used the laws to do what they wanted to do...

His time in Vietnam has been shared more deeply than others that I've read, for which I was grateful, even as it was hard to read... I am sure the comments he shared when he got home was thought, but possibly never spoken: Veterans will appreciate hearing his words.

I did not understand how the American public could
think so little of the soldiers who were doing their duty, and who were defending themselves and their comrades. I felt like I did not understand anything anymore. How could people be so violent toward one another? How could we treat our fellow humans with such total disrespect? How could we not reach out and support each other in such difficult times instead of
criticizing and condemning one another? I could not answer these questions. I could not understand this world of war and I pray that I never do.

~~~

There was so much in this book with which I related. James Womack's story has touched me in so many ways. His book ends with his personal testimony of God's place in his life...

It speaks so much of his faith... and triumphant victory...

And yet, he closes, sharing even more, his one regret...

James, I do believe that you will indeed dance with your father...as well as your Heavenly father one day!

Even so, each time I hear Luther Vandross's "Dance with My Father," my eyes swell up with tears. The lyrics jog my memory of my earthly treasure embezzled from me through ignorance. If only I could have had one dance with my father. My faith ensures me that I will dance with him in heaven..."

Reading this book has been like attending an old-fashioned revival. If you've been praying for a revival in your spirit, or if you've never known somebody who is indeed victorious in this world we live it... Get this book. 

GABixlerReviews