{"id":43109,"date":"2024-03-09T22:11:03","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T03:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=43109"},"modified":"2024-03-09T22:11:03","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T03:11:03","slug":"review-of-those-who-saw-the-sun-by-jaha-nailah-avery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=43109","title":{"rendered":"Review of Those Who Saw the Sun, by Jaha Nailah Avery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Those Who Saw the Sun<\/p>\n

African American Oral Histories from the Jim Crow South<\/em><\/p>\n

By Jaha Nailah Avery<\/p>\n

Levine Querido, 2023. 277 pages.
\nReview written October 30, 2023, from a copy sent to me by the publisher.<\/p>\n

Those Who Saw the Sun<\/em> is a collection of interviews with African American elders, most of whom were born during the 1940s and 1950s, and all of whom were kids in the Jim Crow era.<\/p>\n

The book feels important \u2013 hearing the voices of people who lived through those times. It harnesses their wisdom and we get insights on the things they saw during their long lives.<\/p>\n

I was very interested that none of the interviewees were big fans of integration. Although segregation had been harmful and unjust, they had also been part of vibrant Black communities. Outstanding Black teachers taught in their schools, even though many also mentioned they always used school books passed on after white schools had used them. Once integration happened, some Black businesses failed, and some Black teachers lost their jobs.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also true that most of the elders heard about lynchings when they were kids and other racist acts of violence. So their stories were filled with progress and hope as they witnessed great changes.<\/p>\n

Although I think this is an important book, I wish some more helpful content was added to make it more accessible to teens and, well, to me. I would have liked a timeline for each person interviewed. Each interview started by asking where they were born, but I would have also liked to know when they were born. In an oral history, folks skip around in time, so I would have liked a scaffold to fit their remarks onto.<\/p>\n

Some of the subjects also rambled a bit and repeated themselves. Though that does communicate their personalities, a little more editing might have increased readability. After finishing the book, I don\u2019t really remember which person said which thing, so some commentary explaining why the order was chosen or something about the subjects in the present day \u2013 with present day pictures \u2013 might have helped it all stick in my head. It was certainly fascinating while I was reading it, though!<\/p>\n

All the interviewees were asked, \u201cDo you believe Dr. King\u2019s dream is possible in this country?\u201d Eleanor Boswell-Raine\u2019s answer catches the spirit of what most of them said:<\/p>\n

I think anything is possible. I like his method better than the let\u2019s-shoot-and-kill-everybody mentality. I am definitely a nonviolent person. I really thought, though, given my age and everything, that we would almost be there by now. And so I\u2019m deeply disappointed in terms of . . . of where we are in this country. So I want to say yes, I believe it\u2019s possible. But I would also have to say that I doubt seriously that it will be in my lifetime.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

levinequerido.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Teen_Nonfiction\/those_who_saw_the_sun.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

What did you think of this book?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those Who Saw the Sun African American Oral Histories from the Jim Crow South By Jaha Nailah Avery Levine Querido, 2023. 277 pages. Review written October 30, 2023, from a copy sent to me by the publisher. Those Who Saw the Sun is a collection of interviews with African American elders, most of whom were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,404],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-teen-nonfiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43109"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43437,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43109\/revisions\/43437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}