Logos
Bookstore’s Recommendations
Besides
being the month for Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Mardi Gras/Carnival
and the beginning of Lent, February has also been designated as
African-American History Month for the last several years. It
seems, though, that many people are not aware to the full extent
of the participation of this ethnic group in the history of the
United States, especially from the requests I have received over
the years at Logos: slave girls who become free, Malcolm X, Martin
Luther King.
Famous
Firsts Of Black Americans by Sybil Hancock, illustrations
by Shelton Miles, a very readable book for all ages is a very
good place to start to learn that African-American History started
before the 19th century. In this book the reader will
learn about Estevanico Dorantez who with some Indians scouted
out lands to the north of Mexico City where they discovered Indian
pueblos four stories high. These lands were the territories that
became New Mexico and Arizona. Crispus Attucks was killed leading
the colonists against the British in the Boston Massacre. Benjamin
Banneker at the age of thirty invented the first striking clock
in America. Years later, in 1791, President George Washington
appointed Banneker to help with the planning of the city of Washington
after Pierre L’Enfant walked off the job taking the city plans
with him. Banneker knew the plans by memory, drew them up again,
and completed the planning of Washington D.C.
Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable built a trading post in an unsettled
area the Indians called Chikagou in 1772. He built a large house
for his family, the first home in a new settlement that came to
be called Chicago. The now well-known poet, Phillis Wheatley lived
in the 18th century. Famous Firsts Of Black Americans
entries for the 19th and 20th centuries
are also quite informative with chapters on: York, who was part
of the Lewis and Clark expeditions, George Washington Carver,
who found many uses for the peanut and the sweet potato, Matthew
Henson, who accompanied Robert Peary on his discovery of the North
Pole and Marian Anderson, the opera singer.
In the 21st century, African-Americans continue to
make substantial contributions to American society and culture.
Photographer Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe’s the african flower,
a moving black and white photographic meditation on life draws
one into the daily events of life and focuses one on the contemplation
of these events through the stillness, serenity and peace–like
atmosphere of its photographs.
Transit: #4 #5 OR #6 Lexington Avenue Subway to 86th
St., M15 Bus (First & Second Aves.), M86 Bus (86th
St.), M79 Bus (79th St,), M31 Bus (York Ave.).
Upcoming
Events At Logos
Wednesday,
February 6, 2002, 7 P.M., KYTV Reading Group will discuss The
Wasteland by T.S. Eliot.
Wednesday, March 6, 2002, 7 P.M., KYTV Reading Group will discuss
Les Miserables
by
Victor Hugo.
Children’s Story time every Monday at 3:30 P.M.
Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001. Tel:
(212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919. Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of
the publisher. © 2001.
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