Remembering & Reclaiming

 

[horizontal bookstack of 2 hardcover books: Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton and The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center]  

[9 books in a messy horizontal stack next to 4 books arranged vertically: When I Think of You, A Gamble at Sunset, The Prospects, The Takedown, The Fake Out, The Five Year Lie, A Grave Robbery, Winter Lost, Madness..., I Curse You With Joy, Inconceivable, Dear Black Girls: How to Be True to You]   

Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum by Antonia Hylton* non-fiction Legacy Lit, January 2024 
Crownsville State Hospital began as Maryland's Hospital for the Negro Insane. This author's personal family history and academic and professional pursuits led to this detailed, thoughtful investigation into the overlapping layers of racism with access to resources, compassion, and opportunities for healing and advancement. It's an emotional, informative, and essential read in order to honor past suffering and victories, and to improve outcomes for Black and Brown people who are experiencing mental health challenges. 
From the introduction: ... our traumas and illnesses are frequently intertwined with American history and the peculiar reality of being Black. 
A compelling author's note, introduction, five thematic parts, acknowledgments, sources, and a comprehensive index offer readers a mix of historical fact, documents, images, and recollections that engage the heart as much as the mind. 
*Reading experience enhanced by the April 7, 2024 Zoom author chat sponsored by the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Annapolis Chapter, which Gov. Wes Moore was scheduled to attend until the collapse of the Key Bridge forced him to cancel. 

The Swans of Harlem: Five Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History by Karen Valby non-fiction Pantheon Books, April 2024 
Lydia Abarca Gayle Mc-Kinney-Griffith Sheila Rohan Marcia Sells Karlya Shelton-Benjamin 152nd Street Black Ballet Legacy Council 
Why aren't the above individuals and organization common cultural knowledge? The Swans of Harlem answers that question in three acts that examine the ways in which marginalization, dismissal, exclusion, and erasure combine with the application of racist ideas about superiority in the arts. 
From the prologue: Black excellence is not a one-off but a spectacular ongoing fact. 
Before the birth of the incomparable Misty Copeland, many other exquisite Black and Brown ballerinas overcame multiple obstacles to earn the highest acclaim in dance until much of the world forgot or ignored them. This text reintroduces them with deep respect for the complexity of their humanity and the sociopolitical context of their lives and careers.