Evelyn Coleman

This is a beautiful story about a young girl and her grandma, who struggled with racism. The young girl wants to know can she walk into town by herself. The grandma had told her she's not big enough to walk into town alone. The young girl knew at that point her grandma was going to tell her favorite story about her past. Grandma snuck into town once with two eggs in her pocket. She had on her Sunday dress with black leather shoes and clean white socks. She was walking and singing at the same time feeling all grown up. She was feeling good until she saw the old chicken man sitting on the porch smiling. Grandma told the young girl how the chicken man could heal the sick by laying his hands on them. He made the blind man see by looking deep in his eyes. Everyone would say he would turn anyone into a chicken if they weren't doing anything right. When the egg cracked in her pocket she took it out, then placed it on the hot cement, and the eggs were frying. As she was walking, she was hot and thirsty, so she saw a water fountain that said, "Whites Only." She knew what that meant, so she took off her shoes and stepped up on the stool because she had on white socks. The white man yelled and pushed her to the ground. The young girl doesn't understand why he did that. All the black people gathered around to drink some water out of the fountain. Once the chicken man came, also, the white man gave up. The chicken man gave her a feather and wiped her tears saying, she did all right. The black people surrounded her and took her home. That's when the whites-only sign was gone forever. This is a powerful and great story to read to children about segregation. The children will understand what black people went through. I believe the theme is segregation because this story takes place when blacks couldn't drink from the whites-only water fountain.… (mais)

To Be A Drum has the rhythm of a poem, and a beautiful message of hope. Daddy Wes, our narrator, takes his children to a field one night and has them listen for the heartbeat of the earth. He explains that this drumming was taken away from black people during colonization. So, black Americans found other ways to keep the drums alive: by drumming on their hands, fighting in wars, fighting for civil rights, and making art. I thought the drum metaphor was beautiful, and the ending scene of Daddy Wes and his children listening to the Earth was a great ending.… (mais)