11th Reading: Solo reading together

Written By Sophia Senyo

For our 11th month of gathering, each member has chosen a book that they will read. And, each week each member will share their insights about their book and the author. We will share highlights from these discussions. We will share only a few of the books/members’ choices.

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

  • “The Last of the African Kings” by Maryse Condé – Historical Fiction

  • "Beloved" by Toni Morrison – Fiction, Magical Realism

  • "I Know Why the Caged Birds Sings" by Maya Angelou - Autobiography

VIDEOS

First Gathering

PROMPTS

  • Prompt One: What is your book about so far?

  • Prompt Two: What are the insights you have taken away from your book so far?

  • Prompt Three: What have you learned about the author of your book?

DISCUSSION

  • Prompt One:

    • Reader reading - The Last of the African Kings by Maryse Condé: the book is about what happened to the descendants of an african king that was exiled to the islands during colonization and what happened to his children and grandchildren and what type of lives they lived in the islands and in the united states.

    • Reader reading - "Beloved" by Toni Morrison: The book is difficult to read and not easy to grasp from the beginning. The book is about how slaves were kept and the things they go through. And their daily life during slavery and after slavery. Particularly highlights the sexual and physical abuse that black women experienced from the slave owners. And it is about one specific family’s experience during slavery and their life after slavery. And the trauma and ghosts from what they had to do to survive during and after slavery. Particularly one grand tragedy where the mother killed one of her children to spare her from the life of slavery and the ghost of that child. The characters are Sethi the mother, and her daughter Denver, and Sethi’s sons, and Sethi’s mother-in-law (the grandmother) and the ghost/presence of Sethi’s deceased child Beloved.

    • Reader reading - "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou: The Title is actually from a poem Maya Angelou read called Sympathy by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The book starts with the author’s childhood and what her upbringing was like and the circumstances that led to her being raised by her grandmother and that she had an overall kind upbringing by her grandmother. And the book highlights the admiration the author had for her grandmother and the strong figure her grandmother was and the entrepreneur that she was. And the book goes into the challenges the author has with her mother who was not stable. The book so far is talking about the challenges and the good in her family and then the overall challenges of being black in general with racism and issues in the black community.

  • Prompt Two:

    • Reader reading - The Last of the African Kings by Maryse Condé: this feels like a tragedy. It shows the vices and problems and struggles of african americans in the family and community and the issues between black men and black women and how terrible it was in the families and relationships.

    • Reader reading - "Beloved" by Toni Morrison: Books like these show that no one can ever opine on the african American experience during these times because we can never know how treacherous it was for them firsthand. The book also highlights that community has always been core to how african americans navigate healing and challenges.

    • Reader reading - "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou: It is good to read these books because of the stereotypes that say blacks are lazy so although these stories are difficult, it is important to see what the realities were and are. And with these stories there is always some sources of lightness and joy and humor amongst the tragedies or in between that are infused in the writing. Not just with Maya Angelou but many of the other writers that talk about the life of african americans during these times. Also, I want to posit that with all these tragedies and traumas that happened in slavery and post slavery, does the stain of these tragedies ever really leave a family or the generations.

  • Prompt Three:

    • Reader reading - The Last of the African Kings by Maryse Condé: I learned that she describes herself as a truth teller. And that she was criticized for how she showed the challenges in the lives of the diaspora and the not good aspects of their lives and the poor treatment that happened in relationships and families.

    • Reader reading - "Beloved" by Toni Morrison: She is not self-seeking. Her purpose for going into writing is yes to write the stories she felts need to be told but she is also mindful of the writers coming after her and that she knows she is paving the way.

    • Reader reading - "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou: Maya Angelou’s real name was: Marguerite Annie Johnson. And, just being in the childhood portion of the book, it is interesting to see how she navigated things as a child. Also, beyond the book, her life has been fascinating as an activist and writer and also her taking time to explore and get to know Ghana. And also that she took it upon herself to be an advocate for others. And knowing what her beginnings were to the life she lived is truly impressive.

Second Gathering

PROMPTS

  • Prompt One: Who is your favorite character from your book and Why?

  • Prompt Two: In your opinion, which character do you think was the hardest for the author to write about?

DISCUSSION

  • Prompt One:

    • Reader reading - The Last of the African Kings by Maryse Condé: Although this is not a main character, Romulus is my favorite character. He is the stepfather to one of the illegitimate sons of the exiled king. Romulus is like a breath of fresh air in the story. He is a good man and a good stepfather. He is good to his wife and stepson. There is no violence. Just a healthy kind human being amidst the other characters who have so many personal demons that lead them to be in chaotic unhealthy situations.

    • Reader reading - "Beloved" by Toni Morrison: There is no favorite at this stage of reading the book. Each of the 3 main characters complement each other and their roles are each unique. The character of Sethi is such a strong character. The character Paul D has a lively and matter of fact personality. And the character Denver even though she is young, she is insightful and observant.

    • Reader reading - "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou: Bailey, Maya Angelou’s brother. They are very close and he is a great support for her. The way she is able to easily incorporate him in the story and show his qualities and the positive role he played in her life.

  • Prompt Two:

    • Reader reading - The Last of the African Kings by Maryse Condé: I speculate the character Romulus. It seems like the author did not know what to do with a character like him in the midst of all the chaos and trauma and characters that have their own demons they cannot deal with. So this character ends up dying early.

    • Reader reading - "Beloved" by Toni Morrison: Sethi’s character because she is such a complex character that has had to deal with so many challenges and all the emotions and trauma she is navigating from moment to moment as a mother.

    • Reader reading - "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou: Up to this point in the book, perhaps her Mother was difficult to write about because she grew up with her mother off and on and their relationship was not very close when she was growing up.

Third and Final Gathering

PROMPTS

  • Prompt One: What were the themes you noticed in your book?

  • Prompt Two: How would you describe the author's style of writing now that you have finished?

DISCUSSION

  • Prompt One

    • Reader reading - The Last of the African Kings by Maryse Condé: Insecurity and lack of self-worth in the black identity, Lack of cohesiveness in values and passing down values intergenerationally, The absence of love and respect in black relationships, Lack of purpose.

    • Reader reading - "Beloved" by Toni Morrison: communal pain of the black experience, individual and communal resilience of the black experience, unresolved trauma, surrender, segregation, balance of lack of hope of the future black experience and at the same time having hope.

    • Reader reading - "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou: racism, segregation, the young black child’s point of view and encounters with racism and segregation, white supremacist patriarchy hypocrisy and racism, transient lifestyle of black americans, subtle moments of black resistance to racism.

  • Prompt Two

    • Reader reading - The Last of the African Kings by Maryse Condé: It seems like she really wants the reader to understand the characters at their core. She takes time for the reader to understand the characters and their lives and how their lives are connected and the implications each generation has had on each other. It as though she wants you to walk alongside each character.

    • Reader reading - "Beloved" by Toni Morrison: mystical, storytelling, it feels like someone who has made it a habit of sitting down with the elders and listening to their stories.

    • Reader reading - "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou: her writing is straightforward, honest, unapologetic, direct and raw. Also she is able to write in a style that is conversational that makes it seem like she is in conversation with the reader. Also of course there is some poetry and lyricism to her style. And it seems was intentional about make sure the black everyday vernacular was prevalent throughout the book.

Final Reflections

PROMPTS

  • Prompt One: What are your final takeaways from your book?

  • Prompt Two: How was it reading separately yet together?

DISCUSSION

  • Prompt One:

    • Reader reading - The Last of the African Kings by Maryse Condé: It had a lot of the traumas and chaos and issues that many of her contemporaries and fellow esteemed african diasporan writers write about too of the diaspora experience so it was not out of the norm for an african diasporan writer. It just felt like a familiar tragedy story just in different locations. Yet at the same time, I appreciate that from the francophone and Caribbean and african writer perspective this is not the norm and is a novel experience for the francophone african diaspora and Caribbean african diaspora and africans to read about with such vulnerability and no restraint.

    • Reader reading - "Beloved" by Toni Morrison: It makes you appreciate the black experience during these times. It also makes you wonder from a spiritual perspective, on how could things like this happen?

    • Reader reading - "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou: Looking at the events that occurred in her life, it really shines a light on the black American experience and the different ways struggle appears and what it looks like to move forward and poses the question to the reader what does moving forward look like for the general black American population.

  • Prompt Two:

    • One member noted that they liked reading separately together to get to hear the other member’s just natural experience and first impressions of discovering an author on their own and then sharing it with the group each week.

    • One member noted that they liked it and you are encouraged to want to read the other books that the other readers read thus increasing the joy of reading.

    • One member noted that it was different and good being able to read books separately but together.

Sophia Senyo
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12th Book: What Is Africa to Me?: Fragments of a True-to-Life Autobiography by Maryse Condé
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10th Book: “Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope” by bell hooks