What was it like to grow up black and female in the segregated South? To answer this question; LaKisha Simmons blends social history and cultural studies; recreating children's streets and neighborhoods within Jim Crow New Orleans and offering a rare look into black girls' personal lives. Simmons argues that these children faced the difficult task of adhering to middle-class expectations of purity and respectability even as they encountered the daily realities of Jim Crow violence; which included interracial sexual aggression; street harassment; and presumptions of black girls' impurity. Simmons makes use of oral histories; the black and white press; social workers' reports; police reports; girls' fiction writing; and photography to tell the stories of individual girls: some from poor; working-class families; some from middle-class; "respectable" families; and some caught in the Jim Crow judicial system. These voices come together to create a group biography of ordinary girls living in an extraordinary time; girls who did not intend to make history but whose stories transform our understanding of both segregation and childhood.
#1170307 in Books 2015-05-19 2015-05-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.30 x 1.40 x 6.20l; .0 #File Name: 1468311301400 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. minute detailsBy Jammer13It must have been an epic task to research and write this. The chapters on the battle field post battle and the occupation of the Louvre are particularly memorable. However it proves difficult to draw the line on where the aftermath finishes and I was left wishing for more political analysis.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Highly recommended for the story after the great battleBy Dennis E. KocikVery well researched and written. Highly recommended for the story after the great battle.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy J. Petersoncovers events after the battle-good read
