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Thulani Davis

Autor(a) de 1959

10+ Works 322 Membros 5 Críticas 1 Favorited

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Includes the name: Thulani N. Davis

Obras por Thulani Davis

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This book consists chiefly of photographs of the US political activist Malcolm X, chiefly taken during the years he was in the public eye. Malcolm X (1925- 1965) was a powerful and influential civil rights activist in the US during the 1950s and 1960s, a time of great political ferment. He was a fiery speaker and effective writer, and a minister and prominent leader in the “black Muslim” movement. During his political evolution, his focus expanded from civil rights to human rights. Having become disillusioned with the Nation of Islam movement and its leader Elijah Muhammad, he broke with the movement, disavowed both racism and black separatism, and following a visit to Mecca, came to see Islam as a way to transcend racial problems. Following increasing rancor and criticism between Malcolm and leaders of the National of Islam, he was assassinated in 1965 by three Nation of Islam members. His written legacy includes the book The Autobiography of Malcolm X, co-written with journalist Alex Haley.

The photographs in this book focus mainly on the last 5 years of his life, at the height of his political activism. Over 100 photographs are included. All are rendered in gray scale, and many take up a full page or two-page spread in this large- format book. Most were taken by journalists, and for many, Malcolm carefully posed in order to create certain images for the press.

Among the early photographs is one of him (as Malcolm Little) at age 14, another being his mug shot taken at age 18) upon his arrest for larceny (an arrest that led to a suspended sentence). Other photos show him giving speeches and meeting with political leaders and people from black communities around the nation. Still others showed black - owned and Muslim – owned businesses (set up to help people achieve economic independence); political protests, some being met with police brutality; rallies in Times Square and Harlem; and his visit to Egypt and to Kenya. The concluding photographs show his house in Elmhurst after it was firebombed; the last known photo of his life; and photos taken at his assassination and funeral. The book also includes a 10 page biography by Thulani Davis, plus a 7 page chronology of his life, and an index.
… (mais)
1 vote
Assinalado
danielx | Jul 2, 2017 |
African American author Thulani Davis explores the family of her white great-grandfather, William Campbell, in My Confederate Kinfolk. Davis states that “this text is not a history nor a genealogy but built from my own great interests: how we define being American, how we deal with race, and human character.” Most of the book focuses on William Campbell and his immediate family – mother, siblings, and niece - during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The Campbell family had extensive land holdings and business interests in Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Texas. The Campbells were cotton planters, slave owners, and loyal Confederates. Davis thoroughly researched the Campbell family and discovered some interesting facts and connections to prominent American families like the Polks and the Danforths. However, the writing has a stilted, impersonal feel, and I was never quite comfortable while reading it. I think the author's conflicted feelings about her relationship to this family comes across in her writing. It was difficult for me to maintain an interest in people the author clearly seemed to dislike.

I was curious about the relationship between William Campbell and Davis's African American great-grandmother, a former slave. Was their relationship consensual or coerced? Were they married? I didn't learn the answers to these questions until about three quarters of the way through. What did her grandmother feel and experience as a biracial child in Mississippi and Alabama? Davis's grandmother, Georgia, left an unpublished memoir, and Davis knew her grandmother, yet her grandmother is a peripheral figure in this story. The book has quite a few grammatical errors that should have been caught before publication. I checked more than once to make sure I wasn't reading an uncorrected proof copy. While the author doesn't claim to be a genealogist, she does use the types of records and repositories that genealogists use. However, the bibliographical references, particularly those for census and vital records, are not detailed enough for other researchers to follow her trail.

The book was worth reading just for the first chapter, where Davis reflects on her research, American history (both white and African American), and how her discoveries affected her. I've read a lot about the Civil War, but not much about Reconstruction, and I learned quite a bit about that era from this book. A few months ago, I read a novel about the Battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas, so the references to that battle in Davis's book captured my attention. Davis read widely as she prepared to write this book, following recommendations from subject experts. I added a few items from her bibliography to my reading list.

Readers with a connection to the Campbell family will find much to interest them in this book, but other readers may struggle to maintain their interest all the way to the end.
… (mais)
½
4 vote
Assinalado
cbl_tn | 1 outra crítica | Feb 18, 2011 |
Thulani Davis was familiar with the history of her father's side of the family, but not of her mother's who died young. Starting out with remembrances from her grandmother, and her grandmother's written ac count of her own mother's trip from Arkansas to Mississippi, she went in search of her history. The whole was complicated by the fact that her grandmother was the child of a white landowner, Will Campbell, and his Black housekeeper, Chloe Curry. Nothing is simple in the story, and it reflects the complexities and contradictions of US history. Will and Chloe's story is not a simple case of the sexual exploitation of black women: the relationship was lifelong, Will doted on their daughter, and left his estate to Chloe. Neither was it a simple love story: Chloe was already married and ended up divorcing her freedman husband to stay with Will. But her lack of wifely fidelity is balanced by her fierce loyalty to her family: she used her inheritance to provide land and education for her own children and the children of her siblings. Again, family relations aren't simple. Four of Will's brothers fought for the Confederacy, and one of them joined in the vicious struggle to overturn Black gains during the Reconstruction, and even had a lynching on his property. Davis goes beyond the direct story of her relatives to tell the history of their times. In the end, her story is a microcosm of the complexities of history that every American must deal with.… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
PuddinTame | 1 outra crítica | Dec 3, 2008 |
When the Civil War ended, William Walker gathered his family from the different nearby plantations and creates Turner, Virginia. While their dreams of equality are crushed by unfair laws and practices, the family retained their land. In 1959, twelve-year-old Willie Tarrant is on the cusp of womanhood. Talk of true integration has become serious, and the local college students are stirring the pot. When Martin Luther King comes to visit Turner, Willie is assigned to act as a tour guide. Amdist boycotts, protests, and demonstrations, Willie copes with her mother's death and reconnects with her father. Davis does an excellent job of providing a teenaged view of an adult world and evokes strong emotions with her language. She deftly weaves history and geography to enhance the story and uses strong, interesting secondary characters to bring the town of Turner to life.

1959.doc
… (mais)
1 vote
Assinalado
ktoonen | 1 outra crítica | May 5, 2008 |

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Obras
10
Also by
4
Membros
322
Popularidade
#73,505
Avaliação
3.8
Críticas
5
ISBN
19
Marcado como favorito
1

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