Black History Month - Day 3 Recommendation: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl — Written by herself. By Harriet A. Jacobs.

 

This book is such a profound story of perseverance & strength. Harriet was born enslaved in 1813 & became a “fugitive” in the 1830’s & she recorded her story in this book which was published pseudonymously in 1861. In about 1986-88 I was asked to be a book reviewer for a small Black newspaper supplement, thanks to the late Juanita Townes (RIP). This book was the first book they gave me to review. I read it from cover to cover in record time and eagerly wrote my review. When I submitted it, the editor surprisingly asked, “You read the book?” I replied “Of course, how else could I do a review?” She informed that for for the amount of money she was paying me I could simply read the front & back jacket & skim through the book & do the review based on that. I let her know I LOVE reading, especially about Black history & culture & I looked forward to reviewing many more. The bonus for me was I got paid to read books written by & about Black people AND she gave me the book to keep after I completed each review. Needless to say I read & reviewed so many books for them. This book is one you don’t want to miss.