BlackPast.org Blog: Two books were published in 2015...two icons of the abolitionist movement: Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass

Sojourner Truth c. 1797-1883

Jon Renthrope and his founding crew

Hazel Singer writes:

Hello friends,

A new blog post is up for BlackPast.org Blog. It's about one month late due to computer problems! Please enjoy, explore the links, and share with family and friends.

Thanks,

-Hazel

The Hazel Files
City Fruit
BlackPast.org Blog

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Photos, Books, Food, Drink: Legacies & Sustenance for the Soul

February is a symbolic month for nostalgia, remembrance, celebration, and the teaching/learning of the past in order to inform actions in the present and to prepare the young for the future.                                                                  

Two books were published in 2015 that are remarkable in their presentation of the sophisticated public relations techniques enlisted by two icons of the abolitionist movement: Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass. Both people were very aware of, and concerned about, their public images, how they wished to be perceived, what uses could be made of the photographs taken of them and for what purposes. In September, 2015, a review in the New York Times discusses Enduring Truths: Sojourner's Shadows and Substance by Grimaldo Grigsby and Picturing Frederick Douglass: An Illustrated Biography of the Nineteenth Century's Most Photographed American by Stauffer, Trodd and Bernier. Which photographers they gave their business to, what backdrops were used and how they posed, were all part of how they wished to deliver their messages to the public and posterity.

Another book that attests to the both strengths and perseverance of the human spirit and the scholar who did the research is reviewed by chef Alexander Smalls in the New York Times. This labor of love, The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks by Toni Tipton-Martin, is a tour de force. Ms. Tipton-Martin has surveyed 150 cookbooks by African American women from the time of slavery to the 20th century. She continues the conversation with a blog of the same name. And, for a discussion of the newest wave of young African American chefs, be sure to check out this article.

This post began with photos, books, then food. And now for the drink! This blog has previously covered African American winemakers, of which there are few enough, but there is only one brewery in the US that is owned and operated by African Americans and that is the Cajun Fire Brewing Company in New Orleans. Read an interview here. A toast to these exciting entrepreneurs and artisans.