Sugar of the Crop: My Journey to Find the Children of Slaves

( 2 )

Want to read this on your NOOK? Request as NOOK Book from the publisher

Thank you for requesting this book as a NOOK book from the publisher.

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Book

Overview
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
Meet the Author
Read an Excerpt
Table of Contents
Recipe

Advertising

Overview

Sugar of the Crop tells the story of an unprecedented quest to find the last surviving children of slaves. In a revealing journey that takes her from Los Angeles to Louisiana, from a Harlem church to a Virginia nursing home, Sana Butler paints a fascinating picture of freed slaves as husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, and tells the story of how they raised children after the Civil War.
Drawing on a decade of interviews with centenarians whose parents were slaves, Butler reveals how African Americans emerged from slavery with a powerful drive to put the past behind and a deep commitment to make the most of their opportunities, large and small. Like immigrants, freed slaves faced a new America with hopes and dreams for their children and the nation’s future. Impelled by a generation that exercised political power at a rate never again seen in this country, the sons and daughters were raised to be independent and often fearless thinkers, laying the groundwork for what would later become the Civil Rights Movement.
Through one of the most important new explorations of African American history in recent memory, Butler tells a profound story of our past and present from a perspective never seen before. Not since the Works Progress Administration gathered slave narratives during the Great Depression has a journalist conducted such in-depth primary interviews into this epic period in America’s history. Underlying the story of her bittersweet devotion to finding a generation everyone told her was long dead is Butler’s even more personal story—that of her father struggling with a rare cancer, holding on just long enough to watch his daughters grow up.Collecting priceless oral histories and seeking answers to questions about her own family tree, Butler offers a penetrating and controversial new perspective on the seemingly well known and documented story of slavery and its slaves. In so doing, she turns history as we know it upside down.

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

What a fascinating—even tantalizing—subject for study! Who would have imagined that any offspring of freed slaves might still be alive? Butler (special correspondent, Newsweek International) did and in 1997 began a decadelong quest to seek them out to gain insight into the everyday lives of African Americans in light of the closeness of slavery. Her interviewees—in their nineties and hundreds, many frail, and some very near death—share valuable reminiscences of family, home, work, education, and how they became, for instance, the first black man in town to own a Cadillac or the second black attorney in Beverly Hills. Unfortunately, Butler interjects mundane details about her project (including anecdotes about seat-of-the-pants interview preparation and other work practices that betray her as a rather inconsistent researcher), and reflections on her own family to such an extent that the "My Journey" part of her subtitle overshadows the "Children of Slaves" part. VERDICT This is an illuminating, affecting compilation of voices—when Butler allows her subjects' voices to dominate. No future author will be able to add to this topic, and the book should be read for this reason alone.—Janet Ingraham Dwyer, Worthington Libs., OH

—Janet Ingraham Dwyer

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781599213750
Publisher: Lyons Press, The
Publication date: 1/13/2009
Edition description: First
Pages: 256
Sales rank: 728,502
Product dimensions: 6.20 (w) x 9.10 (h) x 1.10 (d)

Meet the Author

Sana Butler is a special correspondent at Newsweek International. She started her journalism career as a news assistant at the Wall Street Journal, where she learned how to be a reporter, and she previously worked as a writer at CNBC and as associate producer of Person of the Week at World News with Peter Jennings. She lives in New York City. This is her first book.

Read an Excerpt

An Excerpt from Sugar of the Crop

Everyone I interviewed for this book is now dead. Most died within a year of the interview. Left behind are weeks of tape-recorded conversations that have completely redefined my perspective on American history.

Before these talks, I had my own ideas of how the children of slaves grew up. I thought they might have trouble building strong bonds with their children or handing down anything other than the fear and hatred that remained from being considered someone else’s property.

After our talks, all those ideas changed. They have been replaced with something more inspirational that has opened the door to an entirely new understanding of human behavior in the face of oppression and the unyielding strength that comes from unconditional love.

Preface: Curiosity Kills the Cat vii

1 New York: Pen and Paper 1

2 California: Sipping on Dom Perignon 7

3 Virginia: One Life to Live 37

4 Kentucky: Master in the Family 64

5 Indiana: Black Man's Protection 76

6 Kentucky: "I Found Ray Charles" 92

7 Kentucky: Pit Stops 113

8 Tennessee: Interracial Adoption 120

9 Mississippi: Deaf in One Ear 137

10 Alabama: Lessons from the Grave 143

11 California: The Rental Market 154

12 North Carolina: Driving While Black 175

13 South Africa: Reconciliation Hearings 189

14 Connecticut: "...And Grace Will Lead Me Home" 194

15 South Carolina: A Meeting at Piggly Wiggly 205

Acknowledgments 223

Notes 224

Recipe

Sugar of the Crop tells the story of an unprecedented quest to find the last surviving children of slaves. In a revealing journey that takes her from Los Angeles to Louisiana, from a Harlem church to a Virginia nursing home, Sana Butler paints a fascinating picture of freed slaves as husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, and tells the story of how they raised children after the Civil War.

Drawing on a decade of interviews with centenarians whose parents were slaves, Butler reveals how African Americans emerged from slavery with a powerful drive to put the past behind and a deep commitment to make the most of their opportunities, large and small. Like immigrants, freed slaves faced a new America with hopes and dreams for their children and the nation’s future. Impelled by a generation that exercised political power at a rate never again seen in this country, the sons and daughters were raised to be independent and often fearless thinkers, laying the groundwork for what would later become the Civil Rights Movement.

Through one of the most important new explorations of African American history in recent memory, Butler tells a profound story of our past and present from a perspective never seen before. Not since the Works Progress Administration gathered slave narratives during the Great Depression has a journalist conducted such in-depth primary interviews into this epic period in America’s history. Underlying the story of her bittersweet devotion to finding a generation everyone told her was long dead is Butler’s even more personal story—that of her father struggling with a rare cancer, holding on just long enough to watch his daughtersgrow up. Collecting priceless oral histories and seeking answers to questions about her own family tree, Butler offers a penetrating and controversial new perspective on the seemingly well known and documented story of slavery and its slaves. In so doing, she turns history as we know it upside down.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3

( 2 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(1)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(1)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines

Tell the world what you think of this product.

Add Recommendations

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or Leave Anonymously

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

- HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
- Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
- Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
- Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
- Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
- Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
- Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
- See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.

Anonymous

Posted October 8, 2009

No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous

Posted June 26, 2010

No text was provided for this review.

If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble

Sugar of the Crop: My Journey to Find the Children of Slaves

Overview

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Book

Overview

Related Subjects

Editorial Reviews

Library Journal

Product Details

Meet the Author

Read an Excerpt

Table of Contents

Recipe

Customer Reviews

Rating Distribution

5 Star

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

What to exclude from your review:

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

Reminder:

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!