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Modern Black Stories
The stories in this collection reflect some aspect of the black experience in America.
196 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
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May 10, 2012
In the book Martin Mirer book, "Modern Black Stories",there are many stories in which explains the importance of blacks. the book consists of many other authors such as, Richard Rive, Samuel Thompson, Lerone Bennett,Jr., Richard Wright, Langston Hughes and more. They all tell stories about racism and how it affected many African Americans, both males and females. it was stories I enjoyed and stories I couldn't really relate to.
There was a story called "The bench" by Richard Rive. This was one of the stories that stood out the most to me. Richard Rive a well known writer, made this story to explain the importance of segregation. He wrote a that had a man named Karlie in it who refused to get up off a bench that said "Europeans Only". He didn't move, even after so many officers told him to move. Karlie refused to listen to them. He felt as if he could sit anywhere he wanted to. People was yelling at him teling him to move. The blacks were not mad at all, in fact they cheered him on. One Cop then shouted "Come on Nigger". Karlie just stared him in his eyes as if, he was thinking "I'm not Moving". This was shocking. Another officer told his partner "not to reason with the nigger". Then they dragged him out of the train station. There were cheers because of what Karlie had done and there were aslo racial slurs.
Another story that stood out to me was called "The Convert" by Lerone Bennett,Jr. This story was sad and I can relate to it a lot. It's starts out as a, not happy, but not sad secene. A guy named Aaron, the Preacher, wants to leave town and go to St. Louis. Booker thinks Aaron has gone crazy but Booker says otherwise. Aaron tries to reason with his friend. You know, trying to stop him from doing something stupid. Aaron doesn't really want to hear Booker's speech so he starts his march to the train station. Booker decides to follow him. He kisses his wife and son and say he'll be back. He leaves and as they are arriving at the train station they see a group of white men laughing at eachother's jokes and smoking. They walk pass enter the train station.
Aaron tries to get the clerk's attention. Everyone has their eyes glued on him. Then he hears a door close behind him. The Sheriff, Mr. Sampson approached Aaron and questioned him. The group of white men laughing out front, had entered the station and saw that Mr. Sampson was talking to Aaron. They argued that Aaron said some bad things to them. They eventually started beating him after they claimed he reached for the sheriff's gun. They tried to order Booker to say he saw Aaron reach for the gun. As they were in court, tension rose between the blacks and whites. He ended up telling the truth and the sheriff orderd him Booker to get out of town.
Another story that was great was called "The death of Tommy Grimes". It's great story about a little boy named tommy. He want to be a hunter like is father but he didn't want to kill anyone. In this story you see the little boy slowly become a man. In the beginning of the story I thought tommy was a black guy. I soon realized he was a white male. Tommy had heard a noise in the bushes. He sloped down and waited for another sign of what it was. He took aim with his shotgun. He fired it and then the noise had stopped. He was worried that he might have killed his dad. He ran off the porch and called out for his dad. His dad soon answered to his call. Tommy ran to his dad and hugged him tight. He told him that he thought he had killed him. His dad was proud that he got his first kill. He went to the bar and told evryone that his son had killed his first "nigger". Everyone was like "who'd he kill". Some of even was chanting "way to go". His dad looked at him and told the bartender to get this man a drink, reffering to his son.
This book was great. Although some of the stories weren't as good as others, I enjoyed the book a lot. I would recommend this book to all people, of any race. It's great to know how other authors both white and black view racism. You compare what you and other authors have in common. Many people might look at this book as an insult toward blacks, but authors and illustrators such as langston hughes, Martin Mirer and others were the ones who wrote these stories. These were some of the people who were important during the harlem Renissance period.
There was a story called "The bench" by Richard Rive. This was one of the stories that stood out the most to me. Richard Rive a well known writer, made this story to explain the importance of segregation. He wrote a that had a man named Karlie in it who refused to get up off a bench that said "Europeans Only". He didn't move, even after so many officers told him to move. Karlie refused to listen to them. He felt as if he could sit anywhere he wanted to. People was yelling at him teling him to move. The blacks were not mad at all, in fact they cheered him on. One Cop then shouted "Come on Nigger". Karlie just stared him in his eyes as if, he was thinking "I'm not Moving". This was shocking. Another officer told his partner "not to reason with the nigger". Then they dragged him out of the train station. There were cheers because of what Karlie had done and there were aslo racial slurs.
Another story that stood out to me was called "The Convert" by Lerone Bennett,Jr. This story was sad and I can relate to it a lot. It's starts out as a, not happy, but not sad secene. A guy named Aaron, the Preacher, wants to leave town and go to St. Louis. Booker thinks Aaron has gone crazy but Booker says otherwise. Aaron tries to reason with his friend. You know, trying to stop him from doing something stupid. Aaron doesn't really want to hear Booker's speech so he starts his march to the train station. Booker decides to follow him. He kisses his wife and son and say he'll be back. He leaves and as they are arriving at the train station they see a group of white men laughing at eachother's jokes and smoking. They walk pass enter the train station.
Aaron tries to get the clerk's attention. Everyone has their eyes glued on him. Then he hears a door close behind him. The Sheriff, Mr. Sampson approached Aaron and questioned him. The group of white men laughing out front, had entered the station and saw that Mr. Sampson was talking to Aaron. They argued that Aaron said some bad things to them. They eventually started beating him after they claimed he reached for the sheriff's gun. They tried to order Booker to say he saw Aaron reach for the gun. As they were in court, tension rose between the blacks and whites. He ended up telling the truth and the sheriff orderd him Booker to get out of town.
Another story that was great was called "The death of Tommy Grimes". It's great story about a little boy named tommy. He want to be a hunter like is father but he didn't want to kill anyone. In this story you see the little boy slowly become a man. In the beginning of the story I thought tommy was a black guy. I soon realized he was a white male. Tommy had heard a noise in the bushes. He sloped down and waited for another sign of what it was. He took aim with his shotgun. He fired it and then the noise had stopped. He was worried that he might have killed his dad. He ran off the porch and called out for his dad. His dad soon answered to his call. Tommy ran to his dad and hugged him tight. He told him that he thought he had killed him. His dad was proud that he got his first kill. He went to the bar and told evryone that his son had killed his first "nigger". Everyone was like "who'd he kill". Some of even was chanting "way to go". His dad looked at him and told the bartender to get this man a drink, reffering to his son.
This book was great. Although some of the stories weren't as good as others, I enjoyed the book a lot. I would recommend this book to all people, of any race. It's great to know how other authors both white and black view racism. You compare what you and other authors have in common. Many people might look at this book as an insult toward blacks, but authors and illustrators such as langston hughes, Martin Mirer and others were the ones who wrote these stories. These were some of the people who were important during the harlem Renissance period.
Displaying 1 of 1 review