Hodge-Podge Books

A story of twins born in a bi-racial marriage. Kiera is born black like her mother; Minerva (Minni) white like her father. Through the intercession of their maternal grandmother Johnson the girls are entered in the Miss Black Pearl Princess of America Program. The girls spend ten days in the south participating in the program activities.

Carole Weatherford has built a free verse poem quoting from the Beatitudes to delineate the highlights of the struggle African American faced from slavery up to modern times ending dramatically with these words: “Even now I am with the downtrodden and with those who seek uplift. I am holy water in the stream of humanity, Drink, bathe, and be free.”

Ben, a slave in Charleston, taught himself to read. At one point his master was a tailor who sent Ben on errands around the city. By politely asking white men if he was in the correct spot he learned his way about at the same time he was learning to read street and other signs. As the Civil War neared Charleston, Ben’s master fled but not before he put Ben in a prison to await sale after things settled down.