Matthew McElroy > Recent Status Updates

Here's some shocking news that stops being shocking after 30 seconds: the people who benefited the most from the War for Independence fought the least. Middle class and wealthy Americans show up for the shooting parts of the war, but not the freezing winters.
The people who fought the most were Africans in America and Irish and German immigrants.

Nadia and Luke are going in very different directions. Aubrey has disappeared. I know there will be a resolution between everyone. It feels like Bennett's gift is telegraphing the obvious, but keeping you fascinated the whole way.

A nuanced discussion of a delicate topic.
Bennett is incredibly talented. It's hard to believe this is her first book.

Aubrey finally becomes more of a character. I thought she would just be... a contrast with Nadia. But she has her own story, which seems to be similarly tragic.

😥 chapter four contains some of the most emotionally devastating writing I've ever crossed.

Yup.
Brit Bennett is as good as I remember.

Here's some shocking news that stops being shocking after 30 seconds: the people who benefited the most from the War for Independence fought the least. Middle class and wealthy Americans show up for the shooting parts of the war, but not the freezing winters.
The people who fought the most were Africans in America and Irish and German immigrants.

William Butler, among other soldiers, will receive the Croix de Guerre. In fact, many of these African-Americans will receive awards from the French.
Lots of honors from the French.

From the French.😑

The New York 15th lands in France. They start off as manual laborers, definitively NOT why the VOLUNTEERED to join the army.
But things are heating up. Most of us of a certain age have heard the story of Alvin York. And for some reason 🙄 we have never heard of the heroics of Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts.
Of all the stories Black people have told, our service to the country has been often overlooked.

It's definitely good. I don't know if it is great. I feel the same about Watchmen and V for Vendetta.

I am not a historian or a literary critic. This is an open question: "Is the impact of graphic novels more relevant to their time than other stories?"

Reading "Their Eyes Were Watching God" or "Ball Four" I have an honest idea of how radically they would have changed their respective genres.

Thank goodness for James Weldon Johnson. His writing more than 100 years ago holds up perfectly today. (Paraphrasing from the direct quote, if that is a thing)
"The writer has held that the Negro must perform all duties of citizenship. [This] does not mean he should be led by silly sentimentality. It does not mean that he should forget causes for complaint."

The author, Stephen Harris clearly did some research to tell this story. There are times when his use of quotes veers from the informative into the over-reliant.
Perhaps this story is so under-told, that getting the information into the public is more important.

The first person to enlist in the Negro National Guard of New York was examined and admitted by the grandson of Robert E. Lee.
(To their credit, they have been pretty unequivocal about denouncing their treasonous ancestor.)
The 1910s equivalent of LeBron James and Jamie Foxx are enlisting in this unit, if you are wondering if this is a big deal.

I thought I had a good grasp on the history of the Civil Rights Movement.
But Adam Clayton Powell just showed up to lobby on behalf of the Black National Guard in 1916.
Is there a senior- junior situation?
Was he older than I realized in the 50s?
I didn't realize he was a contemporary of W.E.B
DuBois.
To be continued.

There is more political intrigue than you would expect. Black men want to form a National Guard Regiment in New York State.
But the government says they can't. A governor named William... Sulzer? will help them form the regiment.
These are better men than I am.

For a brief moment there, Logan shows evidence of human emotion.

Don't worry, it won't last.