The 1619 podcast by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones was a guiding resource in the first year of our social justice study group at Bridgetown Baby. So we’re pleased to highlight his collaboration with Newbery honor-winning author Renée Watson as our book recommendation for this Black History Month.
Born of Water follows the process of discovery for a young student whose family history homework hits a roadblock when he has only three generations left to trace. Her grandmother and the rest of her family fill in the gaps, weaving a fuller story that began not on US soil but when their ancestors were stolen from their homes and brought to America by traders. of the slave.
It is a story of how those born in the water survived, and in this lyrical verse of a family readers will find a celebration of the richness of African American history – land, language and tradition; the consequences of slavery – and of a future shaped by Black resistance and resilience.
you will find Born of Water at Portland’s local Black-owned independent book shop, Third Eye Books.
