Mindful Monday: Women in Black History



I recieved a free electronic copy of this book for the purpose of review. However, all thoughts and opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.


Though marketed as a children's title, this book is a beneficial read for people of all ages.

Within these pages we meet fourteen determined women. These women were not after fame nor fortune, though a few of them did attain one or both. These women lived their lives with conviction, strong moral principles, and deep respect for fellow human beings. 

Even in the face of brutal abuse, discrimination, or violations of their rights, these women sought to educate rather than retaliate. To persuade rather than suppress. To reconcile rather than harbor hate.

Though in many ways their achievements might seem fairly common place to us now, in their lifetimes they were trailblazers, unconventional, cutting-edge, and it was through the efforts, example and courage that slowly but surely brought about further awareness of the need for significant social change.

Each woman's story begins as early in her life as careful research has rendered possible, and this approach helps the reader to really develop a relationship with each character. Also rather than focusing primarily on the single or few events in her life that she is known for, the chronicles follow each woman's full life course, how they lived their whole life, and that this is as much a reason for their significance to history as were their claims to fame.

I learned so much about the few women in this book that I had heard of or read brief accounts about before, and I met through these pages so many others that I now admire and respect.

It's very difficult for me to choose a single one to say was the most impactful to me, they all made me think deeply upon the times in which they lived, the times I live in, and the struggles they and others, black women especially, have faced throughout the history of the U.S. 

It was through this book that I really learned about the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and how through corruption from law enforcement to judges practically gave free licence to any slave owner or bounty hunter to kidnap and enslave any black man or woman they wished without proper and credible means to prove that one was in fact a slave at large. Every black individual, even those born and raised free could be pulled out of their own homes, dragged away in darkness and sold. The only true freedom to be found lay across the boarder, in Canada, where every aspect of slavery altogether had been abolished and made illegal. 

Not a single one of us living in the U.S. today, regardless of race, have been untouched by the accomplishments these courageous women achieved. They shaped events in their lifetimes that opened doors for millions of other humans.

I sincerely hope author Tricia Williams Jackson decides to write a second volume. I'd love to see her wonderful biographies of several more amazing women in black history such as Aviator Bessie Coleman, Writer Ida B. Wells, Billie Holiday, Maya Angelou and so many others I don't even know about yet!!



Get your own copy here!

                                                                    

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