Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

by Sarah L. Delany, A. Elizabeth Delany, Amy Hill Hearth | Biographies & Memoirs | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0440220424 Global Overview for this book
Registered by tranq1 of Tampa, Florida USA on 11/6/2006
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Bol.com
This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by tranq1 from Tampa, Florida USA on Monday, November 6, 2006
Amazon.com
"I never thought I'd see the day that the world would want to hear what two old Negro women have to say," says Bessie Delany. But Bessie and her sister, Sadie, born in 1893 and 1891, saw plenty, by eating a low-fat, high-vegetable diet and outliving the "old Rebby [rebel] boys" who once almost lynched Sadie. This remarkable memoir was a long-running bestseller, spawning a Broadway play and adding to their list of seasoned acquaintances (Marian Anderson, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Cab Calloway) such spring chickens as Hillary Clinton. Born to a former slave whose owners broke the law by teaching him to read, the sisters got a solid education. North Carolina was paradise--despite the Rebbies--until Jim Crow reared its hideous head. The girls had loved to ride in the front of the trolley because the wind in their hair made them feel free, but one day the conductor sadly ordered them to the back. The family moved to New York, where Bessie became the town's second black woman dentist and Sadie the first black woman home-ec teacher. They befriended everyone who was anyone in the Harlem Renaissance (their brother won the 1925 Congressional primary there), pursued careers instead of husbands, and lived peacefully together, despite their differences. Sadie was more peaceable, like Booker T. Washington, while Bessie was a W.E.B. Du Bois-style militant.

They're funny: Bessie notes that blacks must be sharp to get ahead, "But if you're average and white, honey, you can go far. Just look at Dan Quayle. If that boy was colored he'd be washing dishes somewhere." And they are wise: Sadie says, "Life is short, and it's up to you to make it sweet."

Journal Entry 2 by tranq1 at Bookrelay in bookrelay, bookrelay member -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Released 17 yrs ago (11/14/2006 UTC) at Bookrelay in bookrelay, bookrelay member -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to KarenZero for the "International Reverse
Wishlist Relay" on bookrelay.

Journal Entry 3 by KarenZero from Maplewood, New Jersey USA on Sunday, November 26, 2006
Received safely. Thanks for sharing it!

Journal Entry 4 by KarenZero at Ozzie's Coffee, 5th Ave in Brooklyn, New York USA on Monday, May 11, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (5/11/2009 UTC) at Ozzie's Coffee, 5th Ave in Brooklyn, New York USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Left on the free book shelf.


Hello and congratulations! You have not only found yourself a good book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BookCrossing --maybe even make a journal entry on this book. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (it's free!). Feel free to read and keep this book, or to pass it on to a friend or even set it free "in the wild" for someone else to find as you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels - you'll be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your email address), free, and spam-free. Happy reading!

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.