In this book, edited by the tag team duo of Manning Marable and Leith Mullings takes the reader back to a writing dated 1789, "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano" by Olaudah Equiano. This narrative was very influential in the abolitionist movement and enduring thirty-six editions. It is a memoir, if you will of a young eleven year old boy from the African village of Essaka, which is now Eastern Nigeria. Equiano was sold to a Navy Lieutenant and after being sold again was able to purchase his own freedom.
This is a "fore-father". This narrative and others like it should be required reading in public schools. How many high school graduates will ever know of Equiano? Knowledge of the Federalist Papers, John Hancock and Boston Tea Party are a part of a "must learn and revere" curriculm.
Let Nobody Turn Us Around is a text introducing readers to African American legends and fighters. Equiped with a thumbnail sketch of the given authors, it presents essential writings of the black viewpoint.
Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson an author once married to Paul Lawrence Dunbar is an accomplished writer in her own right. Recently noticed Zora Neil Hurston is the well known writer of the Harlem Rennaisance and of the 1920s. This is yet another example of an African American whose works have gone unnoticed by the majority.
The Negro Woman and the Ballot by Dunbar-Nelson is included in the anthology. Some may remember her diary which was published in 1984 by Gloria t. Hull.
Although my job here is to keep you informed on African American Literature, in this article I am not trying to sell the book, Let Nobody Turn Us Around to you. I just highly reccommend it. My purpose is to sell an idea, to sell knowledge, to sell you the reader a hunger for what is yours to begin with. I offer you Black History.
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