It's OK to Leave the Plantation : The New Underground Railroad

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Sensational!!!!!!!

FREEDOM TEACHING

The Untainted Truth!

A book for anyone and not only the black people.

Martin Luther King would be Proud

It's OK to Leave the Plantation : The New Underground Railroad
Clarence Mason Weaver
Manufacturer: Reeder Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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The Ten Things You Can't Say In America, Revised Edition

ASIN: 0965521818

Book Description

This book discusses the "plantation mentality" that is causing Americans to become co-dependent. It is historical however does look at the authors personal journey from a Berekely militant to a conservative businessman.

Customer Reviews:

Sensational!!!!!!!.......2006-09-05

He hit's the real points of why Black America dosen't try to succeed and the growing problems of our attitudes that hold us back.

FREEDOM TEACHING.......2005-09-20

This book is a must for those who truly want to know about what freedom is. Without listing them, Weaver explains the value of political, economic, and spiritual freedom. If there were more people like him, we would not have a society that so readily accepts mediocracy.
His book confirms what many people are and have been sensing for a while..... the watering down of our history and a dombing down of our children (and adults, black, white, or whatever) so we will not know how to battle the obstacles of the future.

The Untainted Truth!.......2005-08-01

What a great book! It clarifies major problems in American society in a manner that does not taint facts with emotions. Weaver is a true man making his own way in America despite being surrounded with "Can't do" attitudes. A great read for anyone! This book will change your perspective on life!

A book for anyone and not only the black people........2003-10-17

These it's not only for black americans, but to latin people too, we have too much to think from here.

We in history instead of being a "slave" working in the plantations, were servants in a ranch, and being said that, the rest it's the same in our countries, the ones that feel "I deserve this, so you the goverment must give it to me", and the ones that "earn it".

I'm from Mexico and I found this book a must read for everyone that wants to leave the plantation, you don't need the goverment to take care of you, you just have to try it and take care of you by yourself.

I wish this book were translated to spanish, so a lot of hispanic people could read it, I think we have a lot in common with this book.

Martin Luther King would be Proud.......2002-01-03

Many observers across the political spectrum--from Harry Stein to Jeff Jacoby--have remarked on the courage of black conservatives. Such valor is on bold display throughout C. Mason Weaver's short treatise.

Mr. Weaver's story is not all that uncommon: young liberal comes face-to-face with reality as he matures and suddenly realizes he is a conservative after all. However, such tergiversations are not permitted within the Black community--or at least not among self-appointed Black spokesmen nor the entrenched bureaucracies that survive on keeping racial hostility simmering. It is precisely this perpetual anger that Mr. Weaver defines as one of the most damaging detriments affecting the liberal Black "leaders." He unabashedly proclaims that "we should celebrate the victory instead of nagging about the need for the war."

There seems to be no taboo fact that he is unwilling to state. A proud and thoughtful Republican, he does not see the appellation "Party of the Rich" as a pejorative. He bluntly offers, "the Democrats were always taking from those mean `rich' people to help the poor...(while) the Republicans wanted as many of us wealthy as possible." He dismisses the fabricated Kwanzaa as "a make believe story full of errors and falsehoods,' but strongly advocates celebrating legitimate historical days of importance to the Black Community like Martin Luther King's Day. Such valid occasions are important to ALL Americans. He is unafraid about bringing up the true racism of certain liberal icons. Like the equally brilliant Reverend Jesse Lee Petersen, he openly discusses the prejudice of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger whose opinions earned her accolades in Nazi Germany. Demonstrating both in-your face honesty and enviable wit, he titles one of his sub-chapters, "The War on Poverty is Over--and Poverty Won." His denunciation of misguided welfare programs further exhibits his striking intellect.

As the title intimates, Mr. Weaver skillfully employs the semantics of slavery throughout his work. He sees the monolithic Black viewpoint demanded from the modern day so-called civil rights establishment as a present-day version of the plantation. Those who dare to think outside the accepted box are the heirs of those courageous souls who bolted their "masters'" cotton farms for freedom. Both sets of rebels were courageous and tenacious, and each group persevered through diligence and hard work which the author rightly argues is the only option that yields success.

Book Description

Harriet Tubman is born a slave on a Maryland plantation in the 1800s. She trusts in God, but her faith is tested at every turn. Should she obey her masters or listen to her conscience? This story from Harriet's childhood is a record of courage. Even more, it's the story of God's faithfulness as He prepares her for her adult calling to lead more than 300 people out of slavery through the Underground Railroad.

Customer Reviews:

Courage to Run.......2007-05-07

This was an excellent book. I found it most fascinating about Harriet Tubman. She was truly a great woman, far above her age and time. Great reading for anyone who is learning more about the underground railroad!!

Harriet Tubman from a different perspective.......2003-08-29

I don't remember seeing or reading a book on Harriet Tubman as a child. Wendy Lawton's account of Harriet Tubman's childhood life was very realistic to me. I could visualize the deplorable conditions of the slave quarters as well as the less than nice slave owners. The book is easy reading and peeked my interest right from the start. Well worth the reading.

More than another childrens book.......2003-08-16

This is a wonderful piece of children's prose, by dynamic author and sculptor Wendy Lawton. As a teacher, it would be advantageous to include this as supplementary reading for your students, but also as an avid bibliophile, it is a great read like for everyone. Lawton has captured the reader in an engrossing and mesmerizing tale. Well written, superbly detailed, factual without being compromising, engaging to the child yet still approachable, this work truly is paramount. I cannot express in words just how much children can learn and will be edified by this book. It sparks lively class discussion, piques childrens curiosity and is a great introduction to adolescent literature. I compare this prose to Anne of Green Gables and also Little Women. I highly recommend it without reservation for all! Destined to be a classic! Great work Wendy Lawton!

A real page turner! Exceptional writing........2003-04-28

This is a very engrossing book and one I could not put down until I finished it.

I normally do not like to read any book written in dialect. In fact, I will quite often go out of my way NOT to read them. I find they tend to slow down the read for me because I mentally try to sound out the dialect as I read. Very distracting.

But Wendy has done a superb job with Minty, and she managed to pull me in right at the start.

I think Harriet Tubman has been an inspiration to nearly everyone, regardless of race, because of her courageous actions once she decided "this is what I have to do!" and I am no exception. To see her story through the eyes of her youth is very enlightening...and heart-breaking.

Well written and well researched. A great read.

Unforgettable.......2003-04-01

Lawton does an outstanding job of putting the reader right in the "Quarter" house for slaves on a plantation in Maryland with the young Harriet Tubman, her family and close friends.

The reader anguishes with Harriet every time her master whips her. We pull for her to return to her family every time she is "hired out" to other slave owners. We rejoice with her when God answers her simple yet profound prayers. And we are challenged when a young girl asks God for the courage it takes to run for freedom.

Book Description

The history of Brown County has been shaped largely by the Ohio River. It has allowed farmers and industries to transport their products and provided recreation, entertainment, and travel opportunities to the residents of the community. Even though flooding of the river brought destruction many times, it also enabled freedom for thousands of slaves. Under abolitionist leaders like John Rankin and John Parker, parts of Brown County became known as the "Grand Central Station" of the Underground Railroad. Interesting and notable Brown County natives include Ulysses S. Grant, who grew up to command one of the largest armies ever assembled and later became president of the United States; Col. Charles Young, the third African American to graduate from West Point and a military attache to Liberia; Rosie Riles, better known as "Aunt Jemima"; and Joe Smith, who inadvertently helped Louis Armstrong's career, also hailed from this great county.

Life on the Underground Railroad (Way People Live)

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Life on the Underground Railroad (Way People Live)
Stuart A. Kallen
Manufacturer: Greenhaven Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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Nicely written romance novel
Vividly written, movingly original, and powerfully told

Serpentina
Kathleen Legeia Davis
Manufacturer: Barnhardt & Ashe Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Water for Elephants: A Novel

ASIN: 0971540217

Book Description

A fictitious novel about slavery, love, adventure, and murder. Based on historical facts, the novel begins on a Louisiana Plantation in 1842 and ends in Canada as the Civil War begins in the United States in 1861.

Customer Reviews:

Nicely written romance novel.......2006-11-06

Reviewed by Deb Shunamon for Reader Views (10/06)

"Serpentina" is a well-written book about the movement of six slaves along the Underground Railroad to their freedom in Canada. Historical characters and events of the late-1800s are incorporated into this fictional story giving it an authentic feel, and it was because of this story and its main female character that I chose to review the novel. However, what I didn't know was that well over half of the book would be devoted to musing, agonizing, describing, and conversing about love. The novel is actually a very long romance story and not my cup of tea at all.

I found that I enjoyed the book whenever the actual journey was being written about, as the author was good at bringing its perils and joys to life. I looked forward to learning the details of how this group secretly travelled, and thought that the diversity of people they meet along the way was handled very realistically. However, I would have preferred more reasons to feel connected to the two main characters beyond the empathy any human should feel toward another abused person. It was clear that all the escapees had experienced tragic lives or they wouldn't have been running away, but it's the waif-like Serpentina that we're expected to feel a special affinity towards. I found myself, instead, skipping pages as I became very bored with this helpless heroine's naive nature, need for coddling, resistance to the desire of multiple men, and her consistent crying - all of which were a part of the numerous romance portions which I felt interrupted an otherwise good story. Also, having the strong, handsome, and generally intelligent Jayson repeatedly trying to convince himself that he didn't, he couldn't, or he shouldn't love her, was just too silly for me.

This book is set during a hateful time of U.S. history which I enjoyed reading about, and is a story of the love between Serpentina and Jayson, which I did not enjoy at all. It often reminded me of a soap opera, where there is lots of talking but not much happening, only it went far beyond what I had the patience for. Given the popularity of soap operas, however, I'm sure there are a lot of readers who would really like this book. If a romance novel with a fragile heroine, lengthy passages about love, respectfully written sex and sexual tension portions, and a historically accurate, adventure setting are what you enjoy reading about, then "Serpentina" would be a nicely written choice for you.

Vividly written, movingly original, and powerfully told.......2003-09-21

Set in America just before and during the Civil War, Serpentina is a novel by Kathleen Legeia Davis about Serpentina, a slave woman's daughter who seeks escape and freedom in Canada. Pursued by slave catchers, rapists, and murderers, Serpentina travels a hard road beset with good and evil, and finds love and a new life even as a war erupts that will forever change the future of America. Serpentina is enthusiastically commended as a vividly written, movingly original, and powerfully told story.

Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman (The Black Heritage Library Collection)

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Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman (The Black Heritage Library Collection)
Sarah H. Bradford
Manufacturer: Beaufort Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Life on the Underground Railroad (Picture the Past)

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Life on the Underground Railroad (Picture the Past)
Sally Senzell Isaacs
Manufacturer: Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1588104184

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Passionate, Poignant, and Powerful!
Across the Wide River
Across the Wide River

Across the Wide River
Stephanie Reed
Manufacturer: Kregel Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Fiction | Science, Nature & How It Works | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0825435765

Book Description

The red brick home of Rev. John Rankin was a beacon--the first stop on the Underground Railroad in the North. Across the Wide River tells the true story of the sacrifices one family made to help runaway slaves.

Customer Reviews:

Passionate, Poignant, and Powerful!.......2006-07-30

This is a novel for all ages, and once I began reading it, I couldn't put it down. The story, set in the early 1800s, is based on a real family and real events. It is the era of slavery, slave traders, and the beginning of the Abolitionist Movement and Underground Railroad. It is more than a story about the struggle between northern and southern beliefs, it is a story of human cruelty and also a story of human compassion and courage. I will never forget the main character, young Lowry Rankin, whose internal struggles with personal insecurity and his beliefs are just as powerful and poignant as his external struggles against slavery and discrimination. The moral principles depicted are timeless, and it is an era in our country's history that should never be forgotten. Highly Recommended!

Across the Wide River .......2006-07-15

Across the Wide River is a work of fiction, but based on a real family, the Rankin Family, living in a time of slavery and abolition. The story, with its rich descriptions, draws you into the struggle for freedom so much so that you feel the anquish and intense longing of those desiring freedom and those who work so valiantly to secure that goal.

Stephanie Reed introduces us to Lowry Rankin, nothing but a boy in the beginning of the book, who must face constant danger and moral dilemmas when confronted with the reality of the 'family business.' Will he become a preacher and abolitionist like his father? Or will his shyness overtake his desire to help the slaves and preach the Word of God?

This is a story of courage and compassion with even a pinch of romance, but most of all - a story that won't be forgotten. Join Lowry in his adventures, and journey Across the Wide River.

Across the Wide River.......2004-11-05

The awe-inspiring story of country-boy, Lowry Rankin, an ordinary youth intent on taking a stand against slavery. With the Bible as his guide, and a preacher for a father, Lowry learns early on, the value of human life no matter what the color of one's skin. Follow Lowry from his awkward grade school days to his action-packed adolescent years as he transports slaves to the next safe house en route to freedom. Throughout the story, Lowry continually questions whether he's really making a difference...the clandestine transportation of slaves under the cover of nightfall is one thing, but will he be able to publicly speak out against slavery?

Across the Wide River is a must-read for young and old alike. The selfless, servant-attitude and godly character found in Lowry Rankin is truly refreshing. The storyline flows logically and the sense of adventure makes it hard to put down! The descriptive adjectives peppered throughout the book make for very interesting reading. Hopefully, a sequel will follow!

Average customer rating:

Great historical fiction!

Our Kansas Home
Deborah Hopkinson
Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0689843534

Book Description

Danger Close To Home

Papa is in danger for helping to rescue a free-state settler who was unjustly arrested by Kansas's proslavery sheriff. He has gone into hiding, and Momma and the Keller children are alone in their remote cabin while marauding border ruffians are roaming the countryside, looking for livestock to steal.

But there's a lot more at stake at the Keller homestead than their chickens and cows. Charlie has come upon Lizzie, a runaway slave girl trying to make her way to freedom in Canada, and the Kellers are hiding her at their cabin. With the violence in Kansas Territory escalating, the Underground Railroad isn't running. Can Charlie and his family keep Lizzie safe until she can escape from Kansas?

Customer Reviews:

Great historical fiction!.......2003-05-18

My kids love this series! The story is suspenseful and easy to read at the same time. I'm always looking for good books that will keep my son's attention. As a reluctant reader, my son needs stories with a tight plot and lots of action, and it's sometimes hard to find books he will like. But he really loves the Prairie Skies series. And I know it will help both my kids understand this period of history a lot better.

Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories (Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography)

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As close to an "autobiography" as we can get!
What a great way to learn U.S. history!
Harriet Tubman's memory and legacy are cherished

Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories (Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography)
Jean M. Humez
Manufacturer: University of Wisconsin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Slavery & Emancipation | World | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0299191206

Book Description

Harriet Tubman’s name is known world-wide and her exploits as a self-liberated Underground Railroad heroine are celebrated in children’s literature, film, and history books, yet no major biography of Tubman has appeared since 1943. Jean M. Humez’s comprehensive Harriet Tubman is both an important biographical overview based on extensive new research and a complete collection of the stories Tubman told about her life—a virtual autobiography culled by Humez from rare early publications and manuscript sources. This book will become a landmark resource for scholars, historians, and general readers interested in slavery, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, and African American women.
Born in slavery in Maryland in or around 1820, Tubman drew upon deep spiritual resources and covert antislavery networks when she escaped to the north in 1849. Vowing to liberate her entire family, she made repeated trips south during the 1850s and successfully guided dozens of fugitives to freedom. During the Civil War she was recruited to act as spy and scout with the Union Army. After the war she settled in Auburn, New York, where she worked to support an extended family and in her later years founded a home for the indigent aged. Celebrated by her primarily white antislavery associates in a variety of private and public documents from the 1850s through the 1870s, she was rediscovered as a race heroine by woman suffragists and the African American women’s club movement in the early twentieth century. Her story was used as a key symbolic resource in education, institutional fundraising, and debates about the meaning of "race" throughout the twentieth century.
Humez includes an extended discussion of Tubman’s work as a public performer of her own life history during the nearly sixty years she lived in the north. Drawing upon historiographical and literary discussion of the complex hybrid authorship of slave narrative literature, Humez analyzes the interactive dynamic between Tubman and her interviewers. Humez illustrates how Tubman, though unable to write, made major unrecognized contributions to the shaping of her own heroic myth by early biographers like Sarah Bradford. Selections of key documents illustrate how Tubman appeared to her contemporaries, and a comprehensive list of primary sources represents an important resource for scholars.

Customer Reviews:

As close to an "autobiography" as we can get!.......2004-02-13

Several years back I was watching a documentary on Harriet Tubman in which one of her relatives was interviewed. I suddenly realized I had never thought of Tubman as a real person, with actual living relatives! Her legend looms so much larger than life that she hovers somewhere in the realm of Paul Bunyan.

This book begins with a traditional biography, presenting the bare bones of Tubman's life. The section called "Stories and Sayings" puts meat on those bones, breathing life into someone who has nearly been lost to us in legend. It's a fascinating concept, and I think it works.

Equally amazing is the Documents section, reflecting 10 years of research and which will be required reading for any future Tubman scholars because, as Humez herself says, "...my retelling of her life story cannot be definitive." Highly recommended.

Curator, AfroAmericanHeritage dot com

What a great way to learn U.S. history!.......2004-02-12

Harriet Tubman: The Life and the Life Stories, by Jean M. Humez

This book is a treasure. Eminently readable, impossible to put down, totally absorbing, this book will satisfy meticulous scholars and the general public. What a great way to learn U.S. history! Great quotes, critical appraisal of the work of earlier historians, new documentation, wonderfully illuminating photographs. A feast for the curious mind and eye.
I have always wanted to know more about Harriet Tubman and as soon as I heard this book was out I dived into it. Harriet Tubman's life has been the subject of several biographers in the past, but in this work Humez convincingly argues that Harriet Tubman, who could not read or write, was able to produce a "self-authored life story" by carefully choosing the writers she collaborated with and exercising control about what stories to tell and how to tell them. This results in a fascinating and kaleidoscopic interpretation of Harriet Tubman's life, as seen through different authors and through Harriet Tubman herself.
In the first section, "The Life," I learned about the salient facts of Harriet Tubman's life: her years as a slave in Maryland, seeing two of her sisters sold and carried away in a chain-gang, her successful escape from slavery in 1849, when she was probably 29 years old, her contacts with the anti-slavery movement in the North, the mutual admiration of Harriet Tubman and John Brown who referred to her using the masculine pronoum ("Harriet Tubman hooked on his whole team at once. He is the most of a man, naturally, that I ever met with"). It is also about the clandestine trips she made to Maryland to rescue her extended family and others, her military and nursing work during the civil war and her settling in Auburn, New York, in poverty, taking care of old and sick people of color and children-- the John Brown Hall project, as she called it.
Interesting quotes from her dictated letters reveal details that throw light on her views on other issues, such as women's rights. For instance, in telling about the successful Combahee River raid in South Carolina, in which she worked with Col. James Montgomery and a band of 300 black soldiers, she states after her dress was shred that "...I made up my mind then I would never wear a long dress on another expedition of the kind, but would have a bloomer as soon as I could get it..."
It is in the second part, "The Life Stories," that Humez makes the case that Harriet Tubman's gifts as a story-teller, singer, and performer and her reputation as an African-American celebrity ensured that her experiences as a slave and her deep spirituality would be preserved. Here, through a discussion on the politics of research, the dynamics between a researcher and her/his subject, and the cultural and social context that influences much of those dynamics, I felt Harriet Tubman's presence and resourcefulness vividly, towering above those who tried to capture her complex story and interpret her life according to their values and the racial views of their culture.
The third part, "Stories and Sayings," offers a hypothetical version of Tubman's "autobiography" culled from every individual life history story Humez was able to locate from the earlier works. While all the stories and sayings are revealing and offer significant insights my favorite part was the "Stories of Clever Exploits and Tricks," probably because I always wondered how she actually carried out her rescue missions. In this section the intelligence, courage, and humor of Harriet Tubman shines through, like in the story "Avoiding Capture by Pretending to Read." It says: " At another time when she heard men talking about her, she pretended to read a book which she carried. One man remarked. `This can't be the woman. The one we want can't read or write.' Harriet devoutly hoped this book was right side up" (Tatlock, 1939a).
The final section, "Documents" is a gift of primary source materials for future researchers and anybody interested in pursuing an in-depth study of Harriet Tubman's life.
Read this book. See for yourself how illuminating the past and looking at history with a fresh eye can instill hope. This book is yes, about Harriet Tubman, but more fundamentally, it is a book about courage, dignity, persistence, and solidarity in incredibly harsh circumstances. What a gift for us all in these troubled times.

Harriet Tubman's memory and legacy are cherished.......2004-02-09

Harriet Tubman: The Life And The Life Stories by Jean M. Humez is an exhaustive biography of this celebrated and heroic woman. Grounded in exhaustive research as well as the complete texts of stories Harriet Tubman told about her life. Harriet Tubman: The Life And The Life Stories follows Tubman, who was born a slave in the American South, as she escaped to freedom in the North, and vowed to liberate her entire family. Her work to guide dozens of slaves to freedom, as well as her service as a spy and a scout for the Union Army, are also described in historical detail. After the Civil War Tubman settled in New York and founded a home for the indigent aged. an absolutely essential addition to academic library Black History and African-American Biography reading lists, Harriet Tubman's memory and legacy are cherished in this profound and all-encompassing chronicle.

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