Book Review 'Abiding Courage' (Book Review Sample)

Title: BOOK REVIEW OF ABIDING COURAGE: AFRICAN AMERICAN MIGRANT WOMEN AND THEEAST BAY COMMUNITY BY GRETCHEN LEMKE-SANTANGELO
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25th April, 2011
Synopsis
This is a book discussing the migration of African American women from the south to the east bay during the period between 19409 and 1945. The author explains it was a new dawn in the American empire where there was a revolution that was advocating for racial tolerance between the various communities in the country at that time especially between the majority white population and the African Americans (commonly referred to as the black people) who had been greatly oppressed and marginalized since the days of slave trade.
With powerful men like Martin Luther king junior and women like Rosa Parks, the situation was greatly improving for the black community at the time and America was headed into a new era. The migration was caused by the reputation of the region as being more tolerant racially plus there was the growth of the defense industry at the time. The book is based on interviews conducted on 50 migrants but other sources were also used in the writing of this book. The book tackles this situation form the women’s perspective who at the time were having a harder time coping given the situation.
The author shows us how this was a period of transition of the women from the traditional household setting to a more advanced role as a modern woman who works in the industrial world based on the commercialization of the manufacture of weapons. Black women had it rougher than their white counterparts given they had to come with racism also at the time. The author tries to bring out the concept of the emergence of this community and how it sustained itself over time.
Quality of the Book
The book was widely acclaimed by other experts also in the field. This goes to prove that the book is of high quality. The American historical review described the book as a valuable tool in the study of American history in schools. They describe the book an authentic source of information given the events that are described in Lemke-Santangelo's book are mostly narrators values and views to their surrounding hence capture an area that would have been lost from recorded works.
Main Concepts
The main concepts that emerge in this publication are the migration after the Second World War migration mostly from the perspective of the women. By the time the book was written, this area had little in terms of coverage. In a way the author killed two birds with one stone by also examining the second great migration of World War II. When the African American migrated, the radically changed the makeup of the cities at the time bringing with them diversity that was new to the places they went. They were now demanding a larger piece of the national cake and did not fancy so much being regarded as the underdogs in society. This was a great time to be a young bright African American as opportunities were slowly but steadily and the women were not to be left out as it clearly emerges from the 50 interviews that were conducted by Lemke-Santangelo.
Most of what is documented comes from those 50 interviews. The systematic approach used to write this book is quite impressive with the first three chapters focusing mainly on how the black women played the pivotal role in the resettlement of the black people from the south to the east. It details the bittersweet experience they encountered and how they overcame all this challenges to emerge victorious.
The traditional setting they came from was one that had God at the center. They often prayed; both parents were always present and had very good work ethics. This new breed of immigrants was well educated and had shed off the image of some poor farmers who had to depend on casual labor for their upkeep. This new breed that was not afraid to go after what they wanted. Lemke-Santangelo clearly stresses that this people had an experience of living in cities unlike their more docile counterparts form a farming background. Their decision to migrate was deeply rooted in the fact that they were revolutionaries and did not want to conform to the status quo that dominated those times. They were independent thinkers who were not willing to inherit the mediocre trends set up by their mothers and female relatives.
This resilience would come very handy as in the south there were many problems ranging from inadequate housing to favoritism when it came to employment to racist neighbors. Still this resilient new generation did not succumb to their turbulent environment but instead rose above what society expected of them and beyond the recourses they had a to build a thriving society. They covered a lot of ground in terms of pushing for a more equal society and many good things today can be attributes to their efforts. We have seen the first American president of African descent ride to the highest office in the United States thanks to these immigrants. Women like Condoleezza Rice are now raising the bar for young black girls all over the world not in America only.
Strengths and Weaknesses
It emerges than the author did not tackle the issue as a detective would. She was not on a quest to find out the exact occurrences rather to elaborate how this people used the past to build a cohesive community. She vividly points out that this women found similarities between them like religion or casual labor and used them as a basis to come up with a society. Previous authors who had written on the topic like Nicholas Lemann in his book The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America try to point out ...