GROUP READING::FINDING OPRAH’S ROOTS, OUR POWER AND AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES, HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

9780307382382My twins are BACK!! I’m pleased and less anxious. Their father, although emotionally unstable by sending them back at angry flare up, has truly ‘helped’ them more than harm them, in my opinion. Of course, they will have lasting scars of anger, betrayal, and emotional confusion about what it is to be a ‘good’ father, but their months in New York with him and his wife shaped their idea of just who their father has become. They no longer scream at me in agony to live with him, in fact, they have apologized for their past adolescent dramas during the last school year. They confessed that they now know and understand. There is resolution for all of us and we can now move forward.

“We had to see for ourselves, Mom” they said holding their heads down to the Earth.

I felt them and their new realization.

“I love reading, Mom! When Jennifer told me I couldn’t read and it was your fault. I told her she was wrong. I love reading now.” Darian confessed as he grabbed the small hardcover book.

And yes, he had mastered the very thing that was holding him down last year and had exceeded expectations in school becoming an honor roll student last quarter.

I am proud of both of my sons for their individual and collective achievements in their academics. They have taken a negative and have become the positive they needed in their lives. They are walking examples that ANY child can transform his or her “failure” into “success” in a short time with discipline, guidance, and internal will power.

Having said this, we have picked up the book, “Finding Oprah’s Roots” last night. Kaya, the youngest, still struggling in her 4th grade class spelled the word ‘fascinated’ yesterday in a contest I created. Any word they dont know or bobble with, they underline and we go through the tenses, definitions, sentence structure, forms, all of the English grammar needed to dissect and prick apart our language. We are learning to ‘control’ and ‘own’ the English language here in our home. I am the Teacher and my son, Eric, proved as well, that I am also his student. The Professor lectured most of the vocab and correctly defined History and Prehistory. It was an amazing pleasure for a mother in love with Philosophy, Education and her beloved children.

I’m excited about the findings we uncover on our journey of “Self-Discovery” in our family lineage. Our roots, like yours, is abundant, mysterious, and waiting to be found, recognized and honored. For this empowerment, I light an amethyst candle, burn sage, and sing a prayer of gratitude for their lives, struggles, and unwavering determination to survive in the world.

READING RESOURCES

BOOK:FINDING OPRAH’S ROOTS: FINDING YOUR OWN, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Buy on Amazon

VIDEO: AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES SERIES, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/

DVD
AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2 is available on DVD through PBS Home Video:

African American Lives 2 DVD

African American Lives 1 & 2 DVD 2PK Combo

African American Lives 1 DVD

African American Lives 1 VHS 2PK

Book
A book by Professor Gates, In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past, will be published by Crown, a division of Random House, in spring 2008 as well. Incorporating the family histories of all the participants from African American Lives, Oprah’s Roots, and AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2, the book presents further discoveries not included in the broadcasts while weaving the narratives together into an unprecedented tapestry of the African-American experience.

—Daria RIA Takharu, 12-02-2008

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African-American Lives 2: Chris Rock