Black Music Month: Daily Songs for June 2023

If we are going to be strictly technical, I have been working on reading for Black Music Month for about a year. I am almost done, but I am finishing up one book and some movies.

I nonetheless just posted the last of the songs.

Toward the end of Queen Sugar, Nova was talking to a class about music, and mentioned Blues artist  John Lee Hooker tracing the path of modern music from the ring shout, a tradition that had just played a role in an earlier episode.

I started envisioning a month where I started with a ring shout and then had other milestones in music. I thought about things like Sister Rosetta Tharpe's influence on rock, and Robert Johnson pulling that boogie-woogie line from piano and playing it on the guitar. I thought about Dizzy Gillespie and Ella Fitzgerald and scat, and DJ Kool Herc and Gil Scott Herron. I had just read an article about Lara Downes and Florence Price, and I was remembering other things like "Rocket 88" and the use of distortion.

I thought there were some pretty cool things to include, though I was worried about whether I would have enough for 31 days. Two things changed my course.

First, I wanted to know more about John Lee Hooker and what he had said about the ring shout.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/110q3b5/john_lee_hooker_and_his_origin_of_the_blues_flow/

He made a flow chart. It was a little more complicated than I was expecting, and not quite as linear. Also, it focused on the blues, but it's not like the blues didn't influence rock or other genres. 

It felt like coming up with good example songs was going to be a lot harder.

Then, in trying to understand the ring shout better, I found a book, The Power of Black Music: Interpreting Its History From Africa to the United States, by Samuel A. Floyd Jr.

Well, that book mentioned everything I was now wondering about, and more, but it also reminded me how much I don't know. I will need to take another crack at it, after I have read more history and more about music. Maybe in about three years.

The month I originally envisioned could still happen at one point. This time, it was just trying, and often feeling like it wasn't good enough, but that trying mattered to me.

I did let myself skip the days I was away from home without any guilt. 

I am going to do more notation on this song list than I ever have before. If they are not all accurate, I tried.

6/1 “Plantation Dance Ring Shout” by Georgia Geechee Gullah Ring Shouters
(This is a ring shout, and I loved it.)
6/2 “Doin' The Shout” by John Lee Hooker
(I just liked the reference here, and getting in John Lee Hooker early.)
6/3 “Stars and Stripes Forever”
(march)
6/4 “The Entertainer”
(ragtime)
6/5 “When the Saints Go Marchin' In” by Rebirth Brass Band
(New Orleans brass band)
6/6 “Tiger Rag” by The Original Dixieland Jazz (“Jass”) Band
(New Orleans jazz)
6/7 “Bourbon Street Parade” by Louie Armstrong and the Dukes of Dixieland
(Dixieland)
~ San Diego ~
6/11 “Jesus Lover Of My Soul” by Isaiah D. Thomas
(hymn)
6/12 “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” by B.B. King
(spiritual)
6/13 “You Are Not Alone” by Mavis Staples
(gospel)
6/14 “Throw Me Anywhere Lord” by Georgia Sea Island Singers
(this was an attempt to get a ring shout plus a "cry")
6/15 “Raggy Levy” by Jake Xerxes Fussell
(work song)
6/16 “East St. Louis Blues” by William Brown
(early blues)
6/17 “Down Hearted Blues” by Bessie Smith
(the blues)
6/18 “I'm a Man” by Bo Diddley
(mainstream)
6/19 “The Virgina Reel” by The Bucket Band
(reels and jigs)
6/20 “Dipper Mouth Blues” by King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band
(vaudeville)
6/21 “Yellow Rose of Texas” by Lane Brody and Johnny Lee
(coon shout)
6/22 “The Crave” by Jelly Roll Morton
(minstrel)
6/23 “Can the Circle Be Unbroken” by The Carter Family
(hillbilly)
6/24 “Waiting for a Train” by Jimmie Rodgers
(hillbilly)

At this point, I thought I was done, though I see I missed dance games and jug band. That's embarrassing. Regardless, perhaps my earlier ideas influenced my choices, but the next connections made sense.

So I went from a hillbilly train to a gospel train, by someone who had a big influence on rock. 

There had been a section in the book on "chariots" turning into cars in songs, and I kept remembering Dizzy Gillespie performing “Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac” on The Muppet Show (though that wasn't the version I used).

Then, with the two different ring shouts, even though I thought it was more "gospel" I started remembering the end of Alvin Ailey's Revelations, and that's why I used a (different) version of "Move Members Move".

There was also quite a bit in Floyd's writing about the often sexual nature of the music, which correlated with African musical traditions. Because of that, I knew I was going to end with Hooker again, and specifically with "Boom Boom",

However, in the time I was reading this, there were two other books. One was The Wrecking Crew by Kent Hartman. While it was not specific to Black music history, it introduced me to "What'd I Say", which clearly fit, and hey, there's some call-and-response.

The book I am still reading is Black Diamond Queens by Maureen Mahon, and Big Mama Thornton had a musical influence, while herself being influenced by the blues tradition. It all fits!

6/25 “This Train” by Rosetta Tharpe
6/26 “Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac” by Dizzy Gillespie
6/27 “Ball and Chain” by Big Mama Thornton
6/28 “Move Members Move” by Rosie Hibler and Family
6/29 “What'd I Say” by Ray Charles
6/30 “Boom Boom” by John Lee Hooker

There is one other thing. While things like minstrel shows and coon shouts did happen and were part of the musical evolution, I did not know if I could find anything I could bear to post that would fit that description. I at least had to look. 

Jelly Roll Morton played in minstrel shows. It was actually fairly common for a lot of musicians of color at the time, often darkening their own faces. That was not the end of his career, and I could live with using one of his songs.

Searching on "coon shouts", there was a hit on "The Yaller Rose of Texas". Okay, I remembered a song where that was "Yellow". I had it in a piano songbook with a lot of different songs. 

I also remember a series of fashion dolls named after songs, including a "Yellow Rose of Texas" doll. She was fair-skinned and blonde, with a yellow dress and hat and a red rose accent. ("Lady of Spain" was dressed in red with black lace.)

So a song that originated with "black face" performers about a "darkie" going to see the mixed-race woman he loved was literally whitewashed, becoming one of the top 100 country songs of all time and the theme for a soap opera starring Cybill Shepherd and David Soul. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yellow_Rose_of_Texas_(song)

That is surprisingly not surprising.

Episode 2555: A new hope

If anyone is wondering how many published posts there are on this blog, there you go.

I have written before about common dream themes I have. The most common have been dreams where I just can't progress.

One way that happens is that there will be things like upside down staircases or blocked passageways. Sometimes, I will work a way around that, and then the passage will get longer or new obstacles arise, which then kind of bleeds into the other type of dream, the ever-expanding task.

I first started having this dream when I was working at McDonald's. As it would be time for me to wake up in the morning -- and I was not ready to wake up -- I would dream that there was a line of cars in the drive-through. I had to serve them all before I could get up, but the line wasn't getting any shorter.

Later this would change to a line of customers at K-Mart or Burlington Coat Factory. Because of how it would happen I always associated it with being too tired and needing more REM sleep. As it has become just things to do, not quite so tied to customer service, I associate it more with just feeling like I am never done. Tiredness remains an issue, but it no longer seems to be as much about keeping me asleep.

Regardless, I don't know if this constitutes a psychological breakthrough, but the other night I was dreaming about going through paperwork, sorting out what could be recycled and what needed to be kept...

AND I MADE PROGRESS!!!

It's not exactly that I got done, but I could see things becoming more organized and there were no new piles appearing.

I still have a ridiculous amount of projects going on, but it is not unreasonable that I might feel like some progress has been made, and that I am actually getting somewhere.

How amazing is that?

I haven't dreamed of my teeth falling out for a while either, or being naked, so I guess I am doing pretty well.

Kaepernick

It turns out I did not finish that thing I thought would be finished. I will write more about that eventually.

While I like grouping similar posts together, I have about 166 books, movies, and plays in the spreadsheet that I can write about; there is no shortage of topics.

You may be thinking, 166 seems kind of specific to use with "about". You are not wrong. There are some things that I did not put in the spreadsheet. I did not think I would want to write about them, or that they would fit my usual categories. Sometimes I am wrong.

In fact, I did not even review I Color Myself Different by Colin Kaepernick, illustrated by Eric Wilkerson, back when I read it.

One of the issues I run into with children's books is that I don't always feel like I have anything useful to say about them. I know some are great, or like different things about them. I find some not great at all, but still something that children might like. Is it worth reviewing some of those where I am more indifferent?

I Color Myself Different is based on a real event in young Colin's life when his class was drawing family pictures, and he used a different color crayon for his skin versus the rest of his family. Then the teacher is really affirming with him and with all of the other students, everyone is unique, the end. I mean, it is affirming but also pretty easy, and I didn't want to make a point of just saying, "It's fine."

With some of my more recent writing about children's books, it has reminded me that there is a need for lots of "fine" books, and I have also been more aware of how more kids might need that affirmation.

(Plus, people will literally go and put one star reviews for his books because he is himself, clearly without ever reading the books. "Fine" may actually have some value.)

On the other hand, I was extremely moved by the graphic novel, Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game. 

It was illustrated by Orlando Caiceido and written with Eve Ewing, whom I love. 

I was always going to want to read it, but it got my attention because of articles about the book and how Kaepernick was accusing his parents of racism.

I was pretty sure that was being interpreted more harshly than he intended, and probably more harshly than his parents received it, but I was curious.

I did know Kaepernick was adopted and raised by a white family. 

I did not know that he could easily have played pro baseball, or that he was raised in Turlock. Turlock was in my mission. I was never assigned there, but I have been there, and some things made a lot of sense.

It covers a time of Kaepernick needing to find his own path while in high school. He is being recruited more for baseball than football, and getting a lot of encouragement in that direction, but it isn't really what he wants.

There are not a lot of students of color at the school, but that is his friend group, and you can see that they need each other.

As he speaks out against casual racism and catches flak, you can see the seeds for his later path, and understand the need to make the choices that he did.

Along the way, his parents are baffled by his desire to grow his hair longer, and get it braided, and irritated with some of his social choices, like taking a Black girl to a dance instead of a nice white girl. They don't say it in those words, but you know in the background there is a sense of frustration with their son acting all Black.

I am sure they didn't even think it in those words, though the admonition to not act like a thug comes up.

Teenagers have a long history of frustrating their parents, even when everyone looks alike. However, when we don't talk about or examine the racism, we are more likely to fall in line with it.

That may hurt people you care about personally, but it does worse damage than that.

So really, both books are important. I liked one a lot better than the other -- the children's book is probably only for children -- but they are both important.

And I added a review.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58563479-i-color-myself-different

7 (or so) calls to get to know my life

Friday was intense. 

The exact number of phone calls was not seven, but some could be combined. That number just kind of goes with the recent theme.

The day started with my cell phone completely dead. I don't think there had been any warnings, except that I occasionally had trouble with my multi-factor authentication, which is the main thing I use the phone for. I use it for my work network, and one web tool. Sometimes I was not getting codes texted for the tool, but it is a tool that acts up a lot, so I was not blaming the phone.

Maybe that was a sign. 

I discovered its death as I was trying to log in to the work network. This started the first sequence of calls, trying to find a workaround for logging in. There were two calls with tech support, and then three calls getting authentication set up on the landline, but I was mostly able to work, a couple of times having coworkers look things up in the tool, because I did not have time to reset that.

Okay, it was Friday, so as long as I could make it through the day, I would have the weekend to try and replace the phone. I just needed to make it through to 5:30 PM. 

At about 4:50, the landline rang. 

We always worry when the phone rings that it might be something with Mom. Usually it's a survey or political ad or sales call that we are not interested in, but this time it was actually about our mother, who had been sluggish all day; did we want them to send her to the hospital?

I was working, and in fact on a call that required looking up and figuring out many things. One sister was fielding that call, but I am generally the one who deals with issues like this. 

I really wanted medical advice. 

Wrapping up my call, I was going to try and get a hold of our mother's primary care provider. I had her number stored in my phone. Rats.

I was able to find the number and get the call in just at 5:01 PM, when they switched to the answering service. I was not feeling very hopeful. While I carefully confirmed all of the information for the service, the landline rang again. It was Mom's provider.

I started to get some clarity here. She'd had a video visit with Mom earlier, and had left instructions for the facility, which included not transporting unless the family wished it. I think around shift change someone decided they should ask if the family wished it. That may not have been clear, because I was not on that call.

The provider had sent me e-mail asking if we could talk, but of course I had not read it because technically I was still working. Even then I had not finished logging the work call.

There was terrible guilt about dereliction of duty, but also, it's my mother; there is always guilt there.

Mom is in the POLST registry. Part of her expressed wishes are no resuscitation. I agree with that. I am glad we went through it when she could still understand the decisions and think clearly about them. What this really brought home is that there a lot of things that are short of resuscitation and may or may not be good ideas.

For example, one possibility was that a small infection was going into sepsis. That sounds horrible, but if that is a part of the body shutting down, that would probably be something to allow.

We decided to wait until Saturday to see how Mom was. They were also going to contact the hospice team to see about checking in, just in case. They were going to call me.

In fact, during this phone call, the other line was ringing in. That was not the hospice team, though; that was still the facility, wanting to know if they should transport. I gave that call back to Julie, and ran back to my desk.

There were still fifteen minutes left on my shift. I finished logging the one call, checked some other things, but was also paying attention to the conversation I could hear out there. 

About 5:29, the phone rang again. This was from hospice. Fortunately, the clock finally flipped over, and I was able to take that call with only parental guilt, no work guilt!

That was also the official start of the weekend. Unless things were dire, they would probably not be able to make it until Monday. I didn't know if it was dire, but we had decided to wait and see. I would call them after checking, and message the primary, and there was nothing else to do that night.

No, there was. I had to tell the other sister. The one who doesn't live with us. That was another phone call.

We have had some pretty busy weekends recently, and I had been looking forward to not having much to do for this one. A lot of errands had built up in spite of that: the phone issue, my new glasses were ready, we had not shopped, but also, I really needed to see Mom.

We were going to go Sunday anyway, but this was just a day earlier, to see.

She was fine. She was talking to a friend. She'd had her breakfast. I took an INR reading, and that is still all over the place. As I left I wished I'd thought to get her temperature, because she had a slight fever the previous day. Regardless, there was no sign that on the previous day she had been sluggish and weak and not wanting to swallow anything.

Inability to swallow is one of the last things that happens in the full progression of Alzheimer's. That made the phone calls more alarming, but this wasn't it.

There was one more round of phone calls, messages, and entering test results. We have groceries again, and I don't have to take off my glasses to read now. 

I have a working phone again. It's the same number, but I need to replace my contacts. At some point I need to set the network authentication back to text, but it hasn't happened yet.

Friday was more stressful than usual, but those biggest stressors -- work (and perfectionism), Mom (and a sense of helplessness), and trying so hard to be responsible -- that's kind of how it always goes, just intensified.

That may explain the chronic tiredness. Probably.

More diverse children's books

Having just finished with Andrea Davis Pinkney's work, and being not quite finished with a different section of children's books (which I will probably write about next Friday), this seemed like a good time to clear out other books that I have been reading over the time period where I could not blog.

I have written before about the value of diverse books and authors, so there are probably no surprises in me seeking them out. However, having read more than usual in a shorter time period, I did want to take a moment to go over potential quality issues.

Some of them are much better than others.

I don't worry about that too much. 

I saw once that you should read 1000 books to your child before kindergarten. There is room for many different books in there, and it is good that there will be variety.

If I were starting now, I imagine that I would start with a small library of board books, and I would keep checking out more books from the library. As I discovered ones that my child responded to more, or that I thought should be repeated, I would purchase those, but I would keep going through lots of different books.

Here are some options:

We Are the Change: Words of Inspiration From Civil Rights Leaders

Various children's books authors and illustrators have selected quotes that inspire them, and created a nice collection for older children.

Goodnight Racism by Ibram X. Kendi, illustrated by Cbabi Bayoc and Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky 

Goodnight Racism is going to work better as a bedtime book, and can be a good way of introducing some issues early and gently. Antiracist Baby is probably more for the parents.

My Fade Is Fresh by Shauntay Grant, illustrated by Kitt Thomas

A celebration of different styles, but also acknowledging that sometimes you just want simple, and can be really happy with that.

Love In The Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrated by Yas Imamura

Based on a true story, I am not sure that young children will relate, but it does give a gentle introduction to internment. Also, there is nothing wrong with adults reading picture books.

The Most Beautiful Thing by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Khoa Le

Really gorgeous and heartfelt. While this is specifically about a family of Hmong refugees, it should be relatable for other families with fewer financial resources.

Robert's Snow by Grace Lin

A very cute Christmas story with wonder, adventure, and a cozy ending.

Once Upon A Book by Grace Lin, illustrated by Kate Messner

Having loved Lin's artwork for Robert's Snow, it is interesting to see her working with someone else. In this case the books is more ambitious, but even though it is about getting absorbed in books, I did not find it as spellbinding.

Ramen for Everyone by Patricia Tanumihardja, illustrated by Shiho Pate

Good lessons on the joy of cooking, learning from mistakes, and individual tastes. There is even a recipe included.

Kookum's Red Shoes by Peter Eyvndson, illustrated by Sheldon Dawson

One of the best written, in terms of carrying a theme and making it resonate, but also one of the most heartbreaking. There is still goodness that comes out of the heartbreak, because of compassion.

7* Television shows to get to know me

I have written about a lot of these before. There are at least seven posts about Queen Sugar, and a whole slew about Jeopardy! from back when my episode aired and when they were having different hosts. So, if some of this seems familiar, well, these shows really are important to me.

The Electric Company (1971-1977)

I did watch Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and Sesame Street, and I appreciate them, but they (especially Mr. Rogers) moved a little slow. The approach of this shortest-lived one worked best for me. We had rock-like music with The Short Circuit, Spiderman, and a guy whose name and personality were both "Crank"... this was the show for me. I can't even tell you how many of the songs I can still sing.

The Muppet Show (1976 -1981)

Even though Jim Henson was more associated with Sesame Street, I could imagine him working well with The Electric Company, and a lot of my reaction to The Muppet Show is the same. One big difference is that at the time I had no idea how many of the songs were from Broadway musicals. It is again a source of vivid memories, and it holds up. If The Electric Company was teaching me phonics, maybe the Muppets were getting me ready for pop culture.

The A-Team (1983-1987)

In retrospect, they stretched plausibility pretty hard on this one, but it was still so fun. That was one of the worst things about the movie (which had a lot to choose from for "worst"); they drained all of the elements of fun away from Hannibal, who loved what he was doing, especially when a plan came together. 

I guess the best thing about the movie is that finally there was something worse than Season 5. 

I also must note, Dirk Benedict was even more charming as Face than as Starbuck.

Jeopardy! (1984 - present)

I started watching a lot of shows that I lost track of in between the start of me working and the invention of DVRs, but this is a show that I actually discovered at work, in the break room at K-Mart, 1989. That started my desire to be on the show, which it only took 22 years to realize. (I did miss many episodes before DVRs.) I miss Alex, and I really wish Mayim Bialik would never, ever host, but I still love the show.

Once Upon A Time (2011-2018)

Two fairy tale shows started around the same time, and I watched both of them. One of them took a turn to where I was almost hate-watching it at the end, and was relieved that it did end. The other took some interesting approaches, but I ultimately kept liking it, and liking that it believed in redemption, and in supporting each other. Enemies could be transformed. Some people hated that about it, but it worked for me.

Queen Sugar (2016-2022)

This show will always hold a special place in my heart.

At the start it was that there was grief and parental loss at the right time, and attempts to protect and take care of things (and avoid having any weaknesses) in some very different characters. That is still important, but as they went through and dealt with different issues -- again, treating each person as important -- it really spoke to my heart.

Emergency! (1972-1979)/ CHiPs (1977-1983)/ Barney Miller (1975-1982)*

This is where the "7" is questionable, but these kind of go together.

Most of those meaningful shows are things that I watched when they were originally airing. With these, well, I saw at least some episodes back then, but it has been rediscovering them decades later that has been a lot of fun. I thought about only mentioning Emergency!, because I have some feelings about copaganda now; my affection for old cop shows is a little embarrassing. Regardless, I have really enjoyed watching these shows years later. I have seen every episode of each of them. Only a few are really terrible.

I will have more to write about Barney Miller soon.

More children's books about Black people

As important a contribution as the Pinkneys make, they are not the only authors and illustrators working on it.

Here are some other recommendations:

For younger readers:

Some of these may work better for your 8-10 year olds than your 5 year olds, but these two should be fine for any ages.

I Am John Lewis by Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos

Of course John Lewis has four graphic novels out, plus one Pinkney book about a young boy he inspired, but this book is probably the easiest introduction, and then they will be glad to find more options.

Bunheads Misty Copeland and Setor Fiadzigbey

This is not just by Misty Copeland, but about her, so can be of special interest to children who love dance.

Speaking of the arts...

Focused on the arts

Exquisite: The Life and Poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks by Suzanne Slade and Cozbi A. Cabrera

Feed Your Mind: A Story of August Wilson by Jenn Bryant 

Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Power of a Protest Song by Gary Golio and Charlotte Riley-Webb 

All three of these artists have some pretty mature content, but children who are interested in poetry or plays or musical performance can be inspired by other figures learning to express themselves, and the ways they developed their craft.

Other historical figures

Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshall by Vanda Micheaux Nelson and R. Gregory Christie

Because Claudette by Tracey Baptiste and Tonya Engel

Two very different people, but both real. Especially in the case of Reeves, reading can challenge the tendency to view history through a white lens.

Harriet Tubman: The Biography from University Press

This is not a picture books, so it is for early chapter readers, but it has a good overview of Tubman's many accomplishments.

For a broader view

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson

This book is one illustrated poem celebrating Black Americans through slavery and segregation. The powerful book won a Caldecott medal, a Newberry honor, and a Coretta Scott King award.

7 Movies to get to know me

Continuing with media that has been important to me -- specifically movies -- there is only one place to start:

Star Wars (1977)

I cannot even begin to explain how much it meant to me as an impressionable five-year old.

It may well have been the first movie I saw in a theater, because we didn't go often, and when we did it was the drive-in. The only movie I am really sure that I had seen before this was a showing of Disney's Robin Hood at my church.

But I remember desperately wanting to see Star Wars, and hardly being able to wait, and how exciting it was that they showed it at school two times, so that I saw the movie three times!

Plus, I was madly in love with Han Solo.

I loved that movie. If I would have been perfectly happy with it as a standalone movie, I can live with most of the additions.

Ball of Fire (1941)

Getting cable was huge for me, and not only for MTV, but also for classic movies on the Disney Channel, and I loved this one. Speaking of fairy tales, this was an updated Snow White story, with the seven dwarfs being seven professors working on an encyclopedia, and one of them was Gary Cooper. It is so light and fun when you consider that the plot kicks off with the arrest of a gangster with the victim of a mob hit in his trunk.

While You Were Sleeping (1995)

Despite my romantic nature, I don't like a lot of romantic comedies, because they often prolong the plot by making people jerks, which I don't really love. This one I adore.

End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (2003)

I liked the Ramones early on, and not long before this came out I realized I loved them, and The Clash, and yet, I didn't think I really was a punk, and had some mixed feelings about that. This film was great in a lot of ways, but one thing it really helped with is reconciling my aversion for the Sex Pistols with my love for punk. I no longer felt a conflict.

(Of course, that all worked out as everyone started dying, but nothing's perfect.)

Pane e tulipani (2000)

I remember requesting this for me, and then my family watched it while I was doing their taxes. A few days later I got to watch it, and I just loved it. So many Italian films are really sad. They are often sad in beautiful ways -- I love Il postino -- but not everything has to reflect despair! But you need your necessities like your bread, and then your beauties like your tulips. Also, it hadn't been too long since I had been in Venice, so there were good memories with it.

Coco (2017)

This movie sure broke me. It destroyed me in the movie theater, and a week later when I saw a different movie and congratulated myself for not falling apart, it triggered a flashback and I was crying over Coco again. 

At the time, I was caring for my mother full-time, and Grandma Coco slipping away cut close to the bone, and still does. However, I love that connection. There is a bit at the end where a you get a family portrait but the dead and the living are together, and I believe in that. Someday Coco will hurt me less, and it will still be a good movie.

Shall We Dansu? (1996)

I love dance movies, though some have been really disappointing, especially since about 2006 on. As easily as I could put Dirty Dancing (1987) or Strictly Ballroom (1992) here, I am going with this one. It is so sweet and charming, and kind towards its people; even the private investigator's assistant is worthy of care. That is the thing that matters most to me now.

Spotlight on Andrea Davis Pinkney

Three times now I have focused on different illustrators, reading as many of their books as possible. 

Generally I have found a wide variety of material, with some that I like much better than others, but it reminds me that a job is a job, even for creative types.

This is the first time I have done it for a writer, and to some extent I have found the same thing.

I came to Andrea Davis Pinkney via two of those illustrators.

I had read one of her books already, because it was illustrated by Sean Qualls in 2019 and 20. Then, when I was going through the works of Ezra Jack Keats, I discovered a book about The Snowy Day by Pinkney. Reading more about her, I saw there were multiple collaborations with her husband, a lot of history which is of personal interest to her (and me), and a lot of Black pride, but also some things that were probably corporate assignments.

One thing I learned is that reading someone's entire oeuvre is practically impossible. Even with an excellent library system and inter-library loan, you will see references to work that just can't be found. Over the fifteen months I was working on this, her Goodreads listings kept changing. 

For example, one work that suddenly disappeared was an untitled Frederick Douglass biography. It disappeared just after I had read Dear Mr. President: Abraham Lincoln Letters From A Slave Girl, which had supplementary historical information. It occurred to me that it had probably been something like that, a feature in a book rather than a book in itself.

That was part of a series, like the two She Persisted titles and Peace Warriors. Also disappearing were several Cheetah Girls titles and a book by Ossie Davis, Just Like Martin, that I can only assume she edited. (Still there is a specific edition of Misty of Chincoteague, which I have read, but not the one she worked on.)

Those were things that I found interesting about the process, though the important thing is really the books. For that, I found the range interesting.

I have not previously read many board books, but I can see the value of repeating those positive messages while a child is young, and letting them see something other than white faces in books, so they are growing up seeing themselves. Representation matters.

Then you see that continuing, with stories of lives in different eras, and different levels of fame, and facing different situations. There is a lot of variety, and that makes sense for books released over thirty years.

I was initially surprised by the length of some of the books. In between the picture books and the chapter books, there are some that are more like historical reference. One of these ended up being my favorite, Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip Through the Motown Sound.

My least favorite ended up being Teen Business Blasts Off!, a profile of several contenders in a contest for teen entrepreneurs. I suspect that was the most corporate, and yet I can imagine teens who would find it very valuable, and inspiring. Even more, if taking those jobs means that not only are you working regularly, but that you regularly get to collaborate on projects that are very meaningful to you, that has its own worth.

It is also easy to get a strong sense of family and community. In author's notes, Pinkney often refers to her parents and extended family, and one can also imagine some of the inspiration being driven by her children, especially on the work that collaborates with her husband.

Right now I am wrapping up something else with children's literature, but after I will see how many of the works of Brian Pinkney I can find. After all, I have a head start now, already have read about a third of his listed books.

Then I think I will move on to Brian's father, Caldecott Medal winner Jerry Pinkney, and Jerry's wife, Gloria Jean Pinkney, because it seems to be an interesting and talented family. And then, I will probably also be reading some more Patricia C McKissack, based on some collaborations with Brian.

Works by Andrea Davis Pinkney (with Brian Pinkney unless otherwise specified)

Board Books

(Bright Brown Baby)
Count to Love (2021)
Bright Brown Baby (2022)
Peek-a-You (2022)
Hello, Beautiful You (2022)
Baby Boy You Are A Star (2023)

(Family Celebration)
Shake, Shake, Shake (1997)
I Smell Honey (1997)
Watch Me Dance (1997)
Pretty Brown Face (1997)

Picture Books

Seven Candles For Kwanzaa (1993)
Mim's Christmas Jam (2001)
Fishing Day (2003)
Sleeping Cutie (2004)
Peggony-Po a Whale of a Tale (2006)
Our Special Sweet Potato Pie (2007, with Cathy Ann Johnson)

Picture Books about Black History

Alvin Ailey (1993)
Dear Benjamin Banneker (1994)
Bill Picket: Rodeo Ridin' Cowboy (1996)
Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and his Orchestra (1998)
Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuoso (2002)
Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation (2008)
Meet the Obamas: America's First Family (2009, not illustrated, lots of photos)
Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride (2009)
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down (2010)
Martin & Mahalia: His Words, Her Song (2011)
Because of You, John Lewis: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship (2022, with Keith Henry Brown)

Longer History Books

Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters (2000, with Steven Alcorn)
Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America (2012)
Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip Through the Motown Sound (2015, not illustrated, lots of photos)
Peace Warriors (Biography Profile Series #6) (2016, not illustrated)
A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of The Snowy Day (2016, with Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson)
Martin Rising: Requiem for a King (2018)
She Persisted: Harriet Tubman (2021, with Gillian Flint)
She Persisted: Ella Fitzgerald (2023, with Gillian Flint)

Short Chapter Books

Hold Fast to Dreams (1995, not illustrated)
Solo Girl (1997, with Nneka Bennett)
Raven in a Dove House (1998, not illustrated)
Silent Thunder (1999)
Dear Mr. President: Abraham Lincoln Letters From A Slave Girl (2001)
Teen Business Blasts Off! (2010, not illustrated, lots of photos)
With the Might of Angels: The Diary of Dawnie Mae Johnson, Hadley, Virginia, 1954 (2011, not illustrated)
Bird in a Box (2011, with Sean Qualls)
The Red Pencil (2014, with Shane Evans)
Loretta Little Looks Back: Three Voices Go Tell It (2020)

Anthologies

Be Careful What You Wish For: Ten Stories About Wishes (2007)
The Creativity Project: An Awesometastic Story Collection (2018)