Extraordinary Ordinary African American Women: The Elders (Paperback)
$14.95
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Ordinary Extraordinary African American Women: The Elders is the first book in a 4-book series celebrating African American women. This first book in the series features African American women who have lived their ordinary lives in an extraordinary way. Often invisible and certainly undervalued, African American women are the backbone of the African American community as mothers, teachers, artists, businesswomen, trailblazers, activists, wives, friends, and confidants. This edition of candid narrative told primarily in their own words focuses on our Elders—ten women over 70 years of age—who share their journeys, reflections, and wisdom derived from a lifetime of challenges, successes, disappointments, and triumphs. Here, we affirm that the stories of Black women are important and must be shared and celebrated.
FITPRO –
FITPRO
Outstanding Collection of Untold Stories of Historical Significance
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2017
A collection of short stories detailing the background, lives, and accomplishments of ten African American women. These women are not the universally known Lena Horne’s, Billie Holiday’s, Mary McLeod Bethune’s, or Beyonce’ Knowles’s about which much has been written. These stories are about ordinary women who are known only in their own communities.
Stephana I. Colbert, a writer and attorney composed these stories using a conversational writing style to detail extraordinary circumstances, lives, accomplishments, and societal impacts of each of these women. This book is well written and equally entertaining and informative from cover to cover.
The ten women profiled in Colbert’s book range in age from 76 to 96 years of age and include Vina Showers, a trailblazer who rose from poverty to becoming the first African American woman appointed as a Senior Executive Service member in the Federal Aviation Administration; Mary Lou Miles who impacted the lives of so many children and the public education system in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from segregation through the implementation of integration; and the life and accomplishments of Norma June Wilson Davis and her role as one of the first Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement. Davis was a student at the prestigious Negro Women’s institution, Spelman University (Atlanta, Georgia). During her tenure at Spelman, Davis and many of her schoolmates experienced incarceration during the Civil Rights movement. Few history books mention the impact of the women of Spelman during the movement.
Colbert has authored a book of historical fact that is appealing across gender, generational, and cultural backgrounds. The book is a unique testimonial compilation. It evokes reverence for human characteristics of will and perseverance toward goal achievement and success. As such, it should be included in personal, school, and public libraries.