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Summary. Only the highlights!!!. By Diana Mehl. Summary. Parallel Story-tellingRuth and JamesHow Past Reflects FutureParents influence children's livesIdentity and Race/ Ethnicity RelationsBlack/ White vs. Jewish/ChristianTribute to his mother's accomplishmentsEvery child (12) went to college.
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1. Courtesy of ReadingGroupGuides.com
2. Summary Only the highlights!!!
3. Summary Parallel Story-telling
Ruth and James
How Past Reflects Future
Parents influence children’s lives
Identity and Race/ Ethnicity Relations
Black/ White vs. Jewish/Christian
Tribute to his mother’s accomplishments
Every child (12) went to college
4. Summary Ruth (Rachel Shilsky) McBride- Jordan
Jewish Orthodox
Living in rural Virginia
Ran away to Harlem
Married African American Man
Disowned from family
Became Christian
Mother of twelve children James McBride
Biracial Man
One of twelve Children
Feared for mother’s life
Red Hook projects in Brooklyn
Became journalist
Discovered truth about mother
Discovered truth about himself
5. James McBride (Condensed) Biography
6. Parents Mother
Ruchel Dwarja Zylska (Ruth Jordan McBride)- Polish, Jewish, White
Father
Reverend Andrew McBride- Baptist, Black
Step-Father
Hunter Jordan- Baptist, Black
7. Education Bachelor’s in music composition from Oberlin College in Ohio
Master’s in journalism from Columbia University in New York
8. Literary Career: Author and Journalist Books
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother
Miracle at St. Anna
Employers
The Boston Globe
The Washington Post
People Magazine
Rolling Stone
9. Musical Career Written songs for: Gary Burton, Anita Baker, Grover Washington Jr., and Everett Harp
Toured with: Michel Jackson and jazz artist Little Jimmy Scott.
Wrote a jazz, hip-hop musical entitled “Bobos”
Directed “Lady Day” a musical about Billie Holiday
Wrote scores for “All Roads Lead Home and “Harlem Kids Symphony.”
Written several children’s songs, including some for the television series “Barney.”
10. Awards (Partial List) Alton B. Jones Foundation Grant for “Bobos”
American Arts and Letters Richard Rogers Awards (1996)
Stephen Sondheim Award (1993)
Anisfield Wolf Book Award (1997)
11. Review My perspective on The Color of Water
12. Review “Engaging and inspirational, James McBride creates an emotional, autobiographical piece highlighting the transcendence of racial and religious issues through a journey of self-discovery. With sequential chapter juxtapositions of James’ voice along side the echoes of his mother; McBride creates a parallel that mirrors the histories of both mother and son. It is through these seemingly contrasting experiences that James is able to uncover their shared pains and rise above his personal trials through his mother’s strong example.
13. Review cont. Through the trinity of family love, education, and Christianity voiced daily by his mother, James is able to embrace her doctrine that race is subsidiary to the ideals that make an individual righteous. Through this eloquent work of truth and discovery, James McBride exposes a reflection between mother and son, a reflection between family and faith and a belief of why God is the color of water.”
14. History Understanding the context
15. HISTORY The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was one of the leading organizations advocating Black Power. (Source: J.C. Albert and S.E. Albert, eds., The Sixties Papers [Praeger, 1984], 105)
Malcolm X
Harlem
Black Power Movement
16. HISTORY The Great Depression
Jewish Immigration
Jewish African-Americans
Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother,"
17. Supplementary Materials for James McBride’s The Color of Water
Be Prepared for Gallons and Gallons of Useful Information
18. Novels for Students Zack by William Bell
A high school senior takes a road trip to find out about his African-American identity from his mother’s side of the family.
Jubilee Journey by Carolyn Meyer
A multiracial teen discovers more about her African-American heritage when she visits her great-grandmother in Texas.
I Have Lived A Thousand Years: Growing Up In the Holocaust by Livita Bittion-Jackson
Story of a thirteen-year-old girl who grew up during the Holocaust and was sent to a concentration camp.
What Are You?: Voices of Mixed Race Young People by Pearl Fayo Gaglens
Book with interviews, essays, and poetry from over 40 young adults depicting their experiences with multiracial identities
19. More Reading for Your Students(This is an English class isn’t it?) Motiba’s Tattoos: A Granddaughter’s Journey into her India Family Past by Mira Kamdar
Another Way Home: The Tangled Roots of Race in One Chicago Family by Ronne Hartfield
Depiction of author’s life growing in multiracial Chicago home
The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson
Story of a thirteen-year-old daughter of an interracial couple
20. Novels/Books for Teachers Trevor’s Story: Growing up Biracial (Meeting the Challenge) by Bethany Kandel and Carol Halebian
Black, Jewish, and Interracial: It’s Not the Color of Your Skin, but then Race of Your Kin, and Other Myths of Identity by Katya Gibel Azoulay
Half and Half: Writers on Growing up Biracial and Bicultural by Claudine C. O’Hearn
Everything You Need to Know About Being a Biracial/Biethnic Teen by Nash, Renea D.
21. More Novels/Books for Teachers(The More You Know) Of Many Colors: Portraits of Multiracial Families by Gigi Kaeser- depicts the lives of multiracial families…like a scrapbook
Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
Life on the Color Line by Gregory Howard Williams
Jefferson’s Children: The Story of One American Family by Shannon Lanier and Jane Feldman-historical materials, interviews, and photographs of both families
22. It’s Showtime: Movies Mixing Nia-light hearted tale of a biracial woman grappling with identity issues.
Secrets and Lies-story of an adopted upper-class black Londoner who seeks out her white mother.
23. Now It’s Time for the FEATURE PRESENTATION
24. Memorable Scenes(Be Prepared I Cried….Yes I Cried) Chapter 6-Sarah Jane’s Shame
The end of Chapter 7-What color is Jesus?
Chapter 14-Boyfriend beats Sarah Jane
25. Dialogue….Words…Truth “It’s a sin to be a shame of who you are . . .”
“She say’s nobody is her friend!”
“How do you explain to your child she was born to be hurt?”
“The Lord must have had His reasons!”
26. Possible Projects/Assignments You Could Use With this Novel Interview parents/guardians and/or grandparents-present through a memoir, video documentary, or scrapbook
Diversity Fishbowl-dispel rumors about different ethnicities
Passages-explicate for significance and find song lyrics or poems that reflect ideas
Reading Journal
27. Source “The Writer: James McBride” New York University Writer’s Institute. 1998. State University of New York. <http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/mcbride.html> 17 November 2004.