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A review by lattelibrarian
Black Folktales by Julius Lester
5.0
Oh. My. God. This collection of folktales is the best that I've ever read. Seriously. I don't remember the last time I felt compelled to share every single last tale from a compilation to my coworkers. Like, there were so many great things in this book. Mrs. God? Death being afraid of a human? God warning Mr. Rabbit to hide out in the 1960s? An enslaved person straight up murdering their master? Oh, man. These were too good.
These tales, however, have a seriously political slant, given that this collection was published in 1969. However, while that may mean it's too political for some folks (as though folk tales aren't political), it also means that they're so funny. There are jokes in there, there's real, legitimate criticism in there. "He was as blind as a white person to racism" is a real, actual sentence in one of those folk tales. They're just...incredible.
If you're interested in reading more literature by black folks, this is a good place to start! Short, sweet, and utterly radical.
Review cross-listed here!
These tales, however, have a seriously political slant, given that this collection was published in 1969. However, while that may mean it's too political for some folks (as though folk tales aren't political), it also means that they're so funny. There are jokes in there, there's real, legitimate criticism in there. "He was as blind as a white person to racism" is a real, actual sentence in one of those folk tales. They're just...incredible.
If you're interested in reading more literature by black folks, this is a good place to start! Short, sweet, and utterly radical.
Review cross-listed here!