Grace Abounding:
The Core Knowledge Anthology of African-American Literature, Music, and Art.
Robert D. Shepherd, Michael L. Ford, Corey Carter, Amy S. Miller, and Milton
L. Welch, eds. Charlottes-ville, VA: Core Knowledge Foundation, 2006. Pp.
910. $59.95, hardcover. ISBN: 1-933486-02-3. TEL: 800-238-3223 • FAX:
434-977-0021
From the introductory page itself comes word that this book “presents
a story that spans hundreds of generations, crisscrossing continents and oceans,
from roots in ageless proverbial wisdom and ancient rhythms to the expansive
universe of modern poetry and the unbounded, glorious craziness of ‘free
jazz.’ In short, [it] surveys the astonishing contributions that African
Americans have made to American and world culture. Within these pages you
will find history, literature, art, music, and dance—products of unconquerable
creativity, faith, wisdom, and kinship….
“The aim of this book is not to assert a definitive definition of what
African-American art is; nor do the editors and authors of this text seek
to set forth a fixed, conclusive body of works to be separated as an ‘other’
art, to be viewed or interpreted apart from the works from other cultural
traditions. Rather, this book simply presents … scores of American artists
whose works are already recognized as great….
“The book is filled with what one might call ‘household names,’
ones that should be familiar to people all over the world. The Reverend Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., would perhaps be first among these names. Langston
Hughes and Maya Angelou, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman—these
names have been fixed in textbooks for at least forty years, and so they will
remain.
“Others are familiar, as well—bold social movers and great thinkers
like W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington, and Malcolm X…. And there
are many others whose works have already made a profound and permanent impact
on American culture. They are not new ‘discoveries’—their
names are known, but not known well enough by those of us living in the world
they helped to form. Francis Harper, James Whitfield … Paul Laurence
Dunbar … Sterling Brown … Margaret Walker, Derek Walcott …—these
are but a few of the great African Americans whom every American needs to
know.”
One of those names that is “known, but not known well enough”
is Sojourner Truth. Her voice is still riveting across a distance of more
than 150 years. Frances D. Gage, president of the 1851 Akron Convention promoting
women’s rights, describes how Sojourner Truth silenced the raucous and
acrimonious convention.
She says that when she introduced Sojourner Truth: “The tumult subsided
at once, and every eye was fixed on this almost Amazon form, which stood nearly
six feet high, head erect, and eyes piercing the upper air like one in a dream.
At her first word there was a profound hush. She spoke in deep tones, which,
though not loud, reached every ear in the house, and away through the throng
at the doors and windows.”
“’Wall, chilern, whar dar is so much racket dar must be somethin’
out o’ kilter. I tink dat ‘twixt de nig-gers of de Souf and de
womin at de Norf, all talkin’ ‘bout rights, de white men will
be in a fix pretty soon. But what’s all dis here talkin’ bout?
‘Dat man ober dar [an earlier speaker] say dat womin needs to be helped
into carriages, and lifted ober ditches, and to hab de best place everywhar.
Nobody eber helps me into carriage, or ober mud-puddles, or gibs me any best
place!’ And raising herself to her full height, and her voice to a pitch
like rolling thunder, she asked, “And ar’n’t I a woman?
Look at me! Look at my arm! (and she bared her right arm to the shoulder,
showing her tremendous muscular power.) I have ploughed, and planted, and
gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ar’n’t I a
woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man—when I could get
it—andbear de lash as well! And a’n’t I a woman? I have
borne thirteen chil-ern, and seen ‘em most’ all sold off to slavery,
and when I cried out with my mother’s grief, none but Jesus heard me!
And ar’n’t I a woman?’”
This amazing speech deserves to be as well known as the “I Have a Dream”
speech. The crowd that heard it at Akron knew they had witnessed something
wondrous. Gage says that when Sojourner Truth finished: “Amid roars
of applause, she returned to her corner, leaving more than one of us with
streaming eyes and hearts beating with gratitude…. I have never in my
life seen anything like the magical influence that subdues the mobbish spirit
of the day, and turned the sneers and jeers of an excited crowd into notes
of respect and admiration.”
Graphic arts are also richly represented in this big tome. Almost a hundred
pages are devoted to photography and sculpture and painting and woodcuts by
African American artists. This section of the book is marked by dozens of
lush, color prints.
This is a huge (it weighs five pounds), rich cornucopia of a textbook, designed
to be used in grades K-12. In the early grades the book would be a resource
for the teacher to read aloud, rather than a textbook to be distributed to
students. The Grace Abounding website has helpful grade level recommendations
for using various pieces of literature from kindergarten through eighth grade.
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