WEEKS OF FEBRUARY 6 - 19
Jump start your reading in celebration of Black History Month! Start by parctipating in the Twentieth National African-American Read-In. This event celebrates African-American literacy during the entire month of February, while encouraging involvement from schools, churches, organzations and people nationwide.
An African-American Read-In was held Saturday, February 7, at the North Carolina state capital in Raleigh, North Carolina. The program was cosponsored by the state capital and the Richard B. Harrison Library, a branch of the Wake County Public Libraries. Children’s librarian Terry W. Warner of Richard B. Harrison Library shares his read-in experience.
“Twenty-four people read for 5 to 15 minutes, a passage from their favorite author; and it is estimated that 100 people cycled through the senate chambers to hear the readings,” said Warner. “Making the read-in even more spectacular was that many readers shared excerpts from great works that they authored.”
“Children’s authors Eleanora E. Tate, Kelly Starling Lyons and Johnny Ray Moore read from their celebrated books,” Warner continued. “Two very young brothers, William Rabun and Miles Rabun read from their picture book, “My Grandma’s Backyard.”
Other storytellers included Beverly Burnette, E.J. Stewart and Willa Brigham. According to Warner, the most riveting performance was delivered by inspirational speaker and author Cornelia McDonald who read passages from her autobiography “I Wanna Tell You My Story.”
Civil rights history doesn’t end here. For additional reading or comprehensive reference material for students, teachers and historians, check out ”Free At Last: The U.S. Civil Rights Movement,” a free, online book that can be downloaded at http://www.america.gov/publications/books-content/free-at-last.html.
You can access the entire printable version at http://www.america.gov/media/pdf/books/free-at-last.pdf#poppup.
“The Week’s Most Talked About Books” Recommended Reading List:
Coretta Scott by Ntozake Shange, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, HarperCollins Publishers, January 2009
Barack Obama: Our 44th President by Beatrice Gormley, Simon & Schuster, December 2008
Lincoln and Douglass: An American Friendship by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier, Henry Holt and Company, September 2008
Stitchin’ and Pullin’: A Gee’s Bend Quilt by Patricia McKissack, illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera, Random House, October 2008
Students on Strike: Jim Crow, Civil Rights, Brown, and Me by John A Stokes with Lois Wolfe and Herman Viola, National Geographic, December 2007
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson and Cecil Murphey., Zondervan, December 1996
They Had a Dream: The Civil Rights Struggle from Frederick Douglass to Marcus Garvey to Martin Luther King Jr., to Malcolm X by Jules Archer, Penguin Young Readers Group, February 1996
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Bantam Books, May 1983
King’s Dream by Eric Sundquist, Yale University Press, January 2009
Something Like Beautiful: A Single Mother’s Story by Asha Bandele, HarperCollins Publishers, January 2009
The Black Girl Next Door: A Memoir by Jennifer Baszile, Simon & Schuster, January 2009
The Soloist: A Lost Dream, An Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music by Steve Lopez, Penguin Group, USA, April 2008
My American Journey by Colin Powell with Joseph Persico, Random House Publishing Group, January 1996
Race Matters by Dr. Cornel West, Knopf Publishing Group, January 1994
Black Boy by Richard Wright, HarperCollins Publishers, February 1993