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Between You and Me ? Pearl's pearl
Pearl Bailey must have known
thai Between You and Me (Double -
? day, 1989) would be her last book,
While browsing through the store,
her head started to spin. She asked
two clerks for help. They ignored
? ; for it seems to compile her final
: thoughts, ideas and creative pieces.
? It covers her time at the United
-.Nations, her college years at
?^Georgetown, family joys, reflec
tions and VIPs.
Everyone who ever saw Pearl
Bailey or read her books knows that
she was a very warm, loving, spirit
ed being. People were a joy to her.
Her life was spent in making people
smile. In the chapter entitled "Just
Thoughts...," she wrote about an
_ experience in a prominent New
York store that made her "long for a
' lick by my cocker spaniel Charlie."
her. She asked three times before
she got their attention. "Sir, could 1
please have some water? I feel
faint."
They told her water was in the
basement. After she stumbled to the
basement, she again encountered
rude clerks. It was only when she
proceeded to leave the store that
someone recognized her and asked,
'Is something wrong?" Ms. Bailey
was not only angry, she was sad
dened. "When I look back on it, I
don't know what hurt me more:
having to beg for water, or my pain
for these uncaring, uncivilized peor
pie who just didn't give a damn."
It is no surprise that Pearl Bai
ley was hun by this inhumanity, for
she herself was touched by every
one who was ever in need. She wept
for the elderly, the poor, the ill, the
hungry. iX F or Those Who Have
Nothing Left , she bemoaned the
plight of the homeless. As in Hurry
Up, America, and Spit , she attacked
an American system that could
allow people to live on the street
and gather their meals from the left
overs in trash bins. She beckoned
people to get involved. Her concern
was that too many people were
griping or singing songs or doing
charity benefits, but blaming every
one else. "America is slipping away
into darkness," she wrote, "losing
our people in the fast hardening
cement of times."
Ms. Bailey includes among her
altruistic tales, one of "great, gentle,
sad, strong: Africa." One of the
most powerfully written chapters in
the book, this one describes the
heart and soul and strength of a
great people who are yet strong
because of their determination to
, hold on to their faith in God. Pearl
Bailey's prayer was for a free
America. Her final thought was
"Africa, weep no more. God shall
one day dry your tears."
While an advisor to the United
Nations and at times, overwhelmed
by its inhumanity she wrote:
Where is the light at the end of
the tunnel?
Is it out? Is it dim? Did it exist?
Are the keepers of the light
alive? Dead?
I think we'd better go back
from whence we came.
It's dark, that light is gone.
We're trapped in our own dark
ness.
There is light ? so the digging
must begin.
Between You and Me is Pearl
Bailey's final appeal to reach out in
love, rally for peace, seek quality of
life. She makes a dynamic state
ment but is anybody really listen
ing?
H What's in a name? African-American pride
A cursory review of children's picturebooks from the African- American
experience demonstrates an increased pride and acceptance of old-fashioned,
-/'cultural" names. For years supersensitive authors and illustrators, possibly
? remembering the "little Black Sambo" era, have seemed to stray from using
? . "typically" black names, possibly for fear that superconscious "black folk"
would object, reject and maybe even censor the titles. My, haven't we (all of
us in the "super" categories matured!!!
Recent picturebook titles for younger children demonstrate how names
that might be identified with the African-American community are returning
to acceptable status. Jimmy Lee gets away with all kinds of brotherly mischief
and Flossie outsmarts a seemingly clever foxTLiziTLou wins out over the
"yeller belly swamp monster," and Tamika becomes frightened at the change
in her actor-grandfather's facial expressions. Willie has trouble accepting hugs
from well-meaning family members and Jamaica tags along behind her
resentful brother until she experiences her own "tag-along" friend. Two sis
ters, on a train trip to visit Grandmother Lulu, enjoy their first independent
adventure.
Names have always been special in the Black community as evidenced
by the ciirrent imaginative names of children and youth, and often their par
ents. (Even my own name was a special creation of my godmother). Now
more and more, jhese children are feeling more comfortable as they hear
Trendy ideas from our past
For some families the coming
holidays require lots of entertain
ing. Along with this comes the
question of the proper procedure
for gracious entertaining.
Many of the gracious traditions
of the past are being forgotten. Gra
cious entertain
ing is still an
important ele
ment even in
" toda y~'s forma ^
living and "do
your-own
thing" society.
Our young peo
ple should be
exposed to all
forms of enter
taining so that
they might hold
Of> to- so rn^-ot
Falls
the nice traditions of the past and
adapt them to today's living.
Simplicity and economic fac
tors are major concerns in most
entertaining today. Women are con
tinually searching for the easiest
and least expensive refreshments.
In selecting refreshments we must
take care to combine items which
do not compete with one another in
taste and color.
I. Selecting Menu
When two beverages are to be
* offered, plan so that every item of
the menu will be appropriate with
either beverage, inasmuch as you
can never be certain that a guest
would select the items most pleas
' ing with the chosen beverage.
Plan so that there will be dif
ferences in the texture of the items
< offered with some being soft and
others being crisp or chewy.
Plan so that there will be some
color interest in the plates and trays
* of dainties.
Plan so that more than one
tongue taste is evident. The bever
age may introduce bitter, as in cof
fee, sweet, as in punch, or sour, as
in tea served with lemon. The foods
served introduce either salty or
sweet. Plan to introduce a variety
of flavors and ingredients. Unless
reminded of this, one can ^Jan a
menu in which chopped nuts appear
- in every cookie. ?
. II. How To Serve With Ease
Have foods up to the point of
serving when guests arrive. Serve
hot foods hot and cold foods cold.
Use plates ample in size to
accommodate the food you offer.
Provide all tools essential for
comfortable and refined eating.
Whenever you provide a plate
and a cup and saucer, be sure there
is ample space for guests to put one
or the other down while eating.
Do not fill serving dishes to
the brim. It makes the service diffi
cult, and food may be spilled.
Do not crowd small items onto
the serving plates or trays, a guest
without touching another.
III. Finger Food
Do provide a saucer or plate
along with the beverage container.
This underliner of the beverage
container holds the foods and frees
the right hand for eating and the
use of the napkin. Most people
appear both baffled and annoyed'
?when they attempt to manage a cud
of punch, a napkin, and even one
tidbit, except when tidbits are
passed after people are seated and
napkin lays on the lap, or when
they gather around the table on
which tidbits are offered as at cock
tail parties.
Keep food tidbits in scale with
the underliner of the beverage con
tainer. Have them bite-size when
using the saucer or bread-and-but
ter plate but somewhat larger when
using the dessert plate. It is quite
important that the factor of size not
be overlooked, for accidents occur
if the cakes and sandwiches served
are larger than the saucer or plate
can accommodate. If they are too
small, the food looks lost on the
plate.
Use linen or linen-like table
cloths or mats and coordinated nap
kins for formal entertaining. For
family meals, napkins and mats
may be paper.
For family-style meals, the
main dish is set in front of the host;
other dishes are set where table
space permits. The host offers the
main dish to the person on the
right, who helps herself and passes
it on around the table. The hostess
and others pick up serving dishes in
front of them and p&ss them to the
person on their right until everyone
has been served.
For a big crowd or in a small
dining area, a buffet is the best way
to entertain. You can serve buffet
style from a sideboard, the dining
table, a living room table or, for a
casual meal, from the kitchcn
counter.
familiar names in their literature. Of course, we still have Susan and Cassie,
Gemma and Philip, Peter, Julian, Justin and Everett, all names that defy
CHILDREN'S
CORNER
By SATIA M. ORANGE
specifically cultural traditions. Fortunately the story lines in all the above rep
resented titles allow children to experience historical or everyday episodes
from either culturally ethnic or generic themes.
Also more acceptable are more identifiable illustrations, plot develop
ment and characterizations of the African-American experience as included in
many contemporary titles. Children's literature professionals, as well as teach
ers, parents and concerned "others" must continue to insure the availability of
progressive and responsible culturally ethnic representation in books for chil
dren and youth. The next step, of course, is mandating that ALL young people
be exposed to these titles, available at your Forsyth County Public Library or
your neighborhood bookstore:
Jimmy Lee Did It by Pat Cummings (Lothrop, 1985)
Flossie and the Fox by Pat McKissack (Dial, 1986)
Liza Lou & the Yeller Belly Swamp by Mercer Mayer (Four Winds,
1976)
Grandpa's Face by Eloise Greenfield (Philomel, 1988)
Willie's Not tht Hugging Kind by Joyce Durham Barren (Harper, 1989)
Jamaican Tag-Along by Juanita Havill (Houghton Mifflin, 1989)
Train to Lulu's by Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard (Bradbury, 1988)
Benjamin Banneker was a
self-taught mathematician and
inventor. He was born near Bal
timore, Maryland, in 1731; he
was the only child of a free
mulatto mother and African
father, who purchased his own
freedom from slavery. 7
Banneker lived all of his
life on his parent's farm on the
Patapsco River in Baltimore
County. Young Benjamin attend
ed integrated private schools; he
obtained an eighth grade educa
tion by age 15, and excelled in
mathematics. He took over his
parents' farm and became an
excellent farmer.
Josef Levi, a traveling sales
man, showed Banneker a pocket
watch. He became so fascinated
over the watch that Levi gave it
to him. In 1753, using the watch
as a model, Banneker produced
the first wooden clock ever built
in the U.S.A. It was made
entirely of wood, and each gear
was carved by hand. His clock
kept perfect time, striking every
hour, for more than forty years.
People came from all over to see
it, and the genius who made it.
During the revolutionary
war, George Ellicot, a neighbor,
introduced Banneker to astrono
my. His aptitude In mauvemaiics
and astronomy enabled him to
predict the solar eclipse that
took place on April 14, 1789.
In 1792, Banneker began
publishing an almanac that was
widely read and became the ref
erence for farmers in the Mid
Atlantic states. It offered weath
er data, recipes, medical reme
dies, poems and anti-slavery
essays.
This almanac was the first
book that can be called scientif
ic, written by a Black American,
and was published annually for '
more, than a dccadc.
Banneker 's major reputation
stems from his service as a sur
(3
/-* ?
&. ft >
STARWATCH
By EDWARD A. ALLEN
The genius of Banneker
veyor on the six man team
which helped design the
blueprints for Washington,. p.C.
President Washington .had
appointed Banneker, making
him the first Black presidential
appointee in the United Stages.
Banneker helped in selecting the
sites for the U.S. Capitol build
. ing, the U.S. Treasury building,
the White House, and other fed
eral buildings. When the chair
man of the civil engineering
team, Major L' Enfant, abruptly
resigned and returned to France
with the plans, Banneker 's pho
tographic memory enabled him
to reproduce them in' their
entirety. Washington, D.C., with
its grand avenues and buildings,
was completed and stands today
as a monument to Banneker's
genius.
In a twelve-page letter to
Thomas Jefferson, Banneker
refuted the statement that
"Blacks were inferior to
whites." Jefferson changed his
position and, as a testimonial,
sent a copy of Banneker's
almanac to the French Academy
of Sciences in Paris. ARp&er
was used in Britain's of
Commons to support amtftfu
ment for the educatiojv^of
"Blacks. Banneker was.fjrjirg
proof that "the strength of^Shd
is in no way connected wlgi^he
color of the skin." ***?? "
Banneker 's predictions *wre
constantly accurate, except "for
his prediction of his own tfeath.
Living four years longer than he
had predicted, Banneker di$d;bn
October 25, 1806, wrapped^ a
blanket observing the GJfris
through his telescope, >;?
NOTE .... My calculations
give a possible solar eclipse on
the 25th day of April, 1789. The
moon was new about 8^a.m.
( K ST)i The above, statement
does not give the type of fccfipse
or where it was observed fjpm.
#?
1 ?
OVER7QOO
Car(xiniansXmonth
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