Difference between revisions of "Remember: The Journey to School Integration"

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[[File:Remember Book Cover.jpg|thumb|Remember Book Cover]]
 
[[File:Remember Book Cover.jpg|thumb|Remember Book Cover]]
Remember: The Journey to School Integration is a fictional story with historic background and photographs depicting students during the period of integration written by By Toni Morrison. This book awarded Coretta Scott King Award. <ref>[https://historyexplorer.si.edu/books/book/remember-journey-school-integration Remember: A Journey to School Integration]. History Explorer. Retrieved February 1 2021.</ref> Toni Morrison is a master storyteller. Her groundbreaking novel Beloved won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in fiction. In 1993 she became the first black woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature. Toni Morrison is currently the Robert F. Goheen Professor of Humanities at Princeton University. Remember is her first historical work for young people. <ref>[http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/readers_guides/morrison_remember.shtml Remember by Toni Morrison]. Houghton Mifflin Books. Retrieved February 1 2021.</ref>
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Remember: The Journey to School Integration is a fictional story with historic background and photographs depicting students during the period of integration written by By Toni Morrison. This book awarded Coretta Scott King Award. <ref>[https://historyexplorer.si.edu/books/book/remember-journey-school-integration Remember: A Journey to School Integration]. History Explorer. Retrieved February 1 2021.</ref> Toni Morrison is a master storyteller. Her momentous novel Beloved won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in fiction. She became the first black woman who received the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature in 1993. She is currently the Robert F. Goheen Professor of Humanities at Princeton University. This book is her first historical work for children. <ref>[http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/readers_guides/morrison_remember.shtml Remember by Toni Morrison]. Houghton Mifflin Books. Retrieved February 1 2021.</ref>
  
 
== Plot ==
 
== Plot ==
Toni Morrison’s look at school desegregation in the 1950s and the civil rights movement that followed is all about people: those who put themselves on the line to correct unfairness, to challenge accepted values, and to change the way things were, as well as all of us who benefit from those changes today. The photographs and spare text invite us to put ourselves into this era of change and understand how it felt. <ref>[http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/readers_guides/morrison_remember.shtml Remember by Toni Morrison]. Houghton Mifflin Books. Retrieved February 1 2021.</ref>
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Toni Morrison’s look at school desegregation in the 1950s and the civil rights movement that followed is all about people: those who put themselves on the line to correct injustice, to change the way things were, and to challenge accepted values, as well as everyone who benefits from those changes right now. The photo and extra content welcome us to place ourselves into this period of progress and see how it felt. <ref>[http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/readers_guides/morrison_remember.shtml Remember by Toni Morrison]. Houghton Mifflin Books. Retrieved February 1 2021.</ref>
Assembling more than 50 photographs depicting segregation, school scenes, and events prior to and following the 1954 Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education, Morrison (Who's Got Game? ) writes that "because remembering is the mind's first step toward understanding," her book is designed to take readers "on a journey through a time in American life when there was as much hate as there was love." <ref>[https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-618-39740-2 REMEMBER: The Journey to School Integration]. Publisher Weekly. Retrieved February 1 2021.</ref>
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Assembling in excess of 50 photos portraying segregation, school scenes, and occasions preceding and following the 1954 Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education, Morrison, writes that "because remembering is the mind's first step toward understanding," her book is intended to take readers "on a journey through a time in American life when there was as much hate as there was love." <ref>[https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-618-39740-2 REMEMBER: The Journey to School Integration]. Publisher Weekly. Retrieved February 1 2021.</ref>
  
 
== Controversy ==
 
== Controversy ==
Morrison is careful to provide younger readers background on what happened during the Civil Rights struggle. Each of the three sections begins with information providing context for the pictures.
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Morrison is careful to provide younger readers background on what happened during the Civil Rights struggle. Every one of the three segments starts with data giving setting to the photos.
The first section—“The Narrow Gate”– opens with a picture of black children in a segregated school and one little girl standing and reading out loud. The text next to the photo reads “The law says I can’t go to school with white children. Are they afraid of my socks, my braids? I am seven years old. Why are they afraid of me?” Most of the other images in this section show assorted segregated classrooms. It concludes with a photo of two girls walking along a railroad track to school in Topeka, Kansas.  
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The first segment—“The Narrow Gate”– opens with an image of black children in a segregated school and another little girl standing and reading out loud. The content close to the photograph says,“The law says I can’t go to school with white children. Are they afraid of my socks, my braids? I am seven years old. Why are they afraid of me?” Most of the other images in this section show assorted segregated classrooms. It finishes up with a photograph of two girls strolling along a railroad track to class in Topeka, Kansas.  
This picture is followed by the book’s second section, called “The Open Gate,” which deals directly with attempts at integration. There is first a picture of the New York Times’ front page announcing the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. On the facing page is a photo of the Supreme Court.  
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This image is followed by the book’s second section, called “The Open Gate,” which has a topic about attempts at integration. There is first a picture of the New York Times’ first page reporting the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. On the facing page is a picture of the Supreme Court.  
A number of the pictures are disturbing. A little white boy in a Klan outfit leaning out a car window. Three white men chasing a black man down a street. White crowds haranguing black students. Two students fighting on a sidewalk. A white restaurant owner, his cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, throwing water on protesters.  
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Some of the pictures are disturbing. Three white men chasing a black man down a street. A little white boy in a Klan outfit inclining out a vehicle window. Two students fighting on a sidewalk. A white restaurant owner, his cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, throwing water on protesters.  White crowds haranguing black students.
The book’s third section, “The Open Gate,” also features photos of acts of protest and white counterprotest that were part of the Civil Rights movement, but an increasingly hopeful note emerges as we move towards the book’s conclusion. This is the section that includes photos of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. <ref>[https://www.buckeyemuse.com/toni-morrisons-remember-the-journey-to-school-integration/ Toni Morrison’s “Remember: The Journey To School Integration.”]. Buckeymuse. Retrieved 1 February 2021.</ref>
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The book’s third segment, “The Open Gate,” also includes pictures of demonstrations of dissent and white counterprotest that were important for the Civil Rights movement, however an undeniably cheerful note arises as we move towards the book's conclusion. This is the section that includes photos of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. <ref>[https://www.buckeyemuse.com/toni-morrisons-remember-the-journey-to-school-integration/ Toni Morrison’s “Remember: The Journey To School Integration.”]. Buckeymuse. Retrieved 1 February 2021.</ref>
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
[[Category:Black Racism in Fiction Novels]]
 
[[Category:Black Racism in Fiction Novels]]

Revision as of 14:52, 8 March 2021

Remember Book Cover

Remember: The Journey to School Integration is a fictional story with historic background and photographs depicting students during the period of integration written by By Toni Morrison. This book awarded Coretta Scott King Award. [1] Toni Morrison is a master storyteller. Her momentous novel Beloved won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in fiction. She became the first black woman who received the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature in 1993. She is currently the Robert F. Goheen Professor of Humanities at Princeton University. This book is her first historical work for children. [2]

Plot

Toni Morrison’s look at school desegregation in the 1950s and the civil rights movement that followed is all about people: those who put themselves on the line to correct injustice, to change the way things were, and to challenge accepted values, as well as everyone who benefits from those changes right now. The photo and extra content welcome us to place ourselves into this period of progress and see how it felt. [3] Assembling in excess of 50 photos portraying segregation, school scenes, and occasions preceding and following the 1954 Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education, Morrison, writes that "because remembering is the mind's first step toward understanding," her book is intended to take readers "on a journey through a time in American life when there was as much hate as there was love." [4]

Controversy

Morrison is careful to provide younger readers background on what happened during the Civil Rights struggle. Every one of the three segments starts with data giving setting to the photos. The first segment—“The Narrow Gate”– opens with an image of black children in a segregated school and another little girl standing and reading out loud. The content close to the photograph says,“The law says I can’t go to school with white children. Are they afraid of my socks, my braids? I am seven years old. Why are they afraid of me?” Most of the other images in this section show assorted segregated classrooms. It finishes up with a photograph of two girls strolling along a railroad track to class in Topeka, Kansas. This image is followed by the book’s second section, called “The Open Gate,” which has a topic about attempts at integration. There is first a picture of the New York Times’ first page reporting the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. On the facing page is a picture of the Supreme Court. Some of the pictures are disturbing. Three white men chasing a black man down a street. A little white boy in a Klan outfit inclining out a vehicle window. Two students fighting on a sidewalk. A white restaurant owner, his cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, throwing water on protesters. White crowds haranguing black students. The book’s third segment, “The Open Gate,” also includes pictures of demonstrations of dissent and white counterprotest that were important for the Civil Rights movement, however an undeniably cheerful note arises as we move towards the book's conclusion. This is the section that includes photos of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. [5]

References

  1. Remember: A Journey to School Integration. History Explorer. Retrieved February 1 2021.
  2. Remember by Toni Morrison. Houghton Mifflin Books. Retrieved February 1 2021.
  3. Remember by Toni Morrison. Houghton Mifflin Books. Retrieved February 1 2021.
  4. REMEMBER: The Journey to School Integration. Publisher Weekly. Retrieved February 1 2021.
  5. Toni Morrison’s “Remember: The Journey To School Integration.”. Buckeymuse. Retrieved 1 February 2021.