The Great Migration

ArtsEdge (The National Arts and Education Network), part of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, offers lesson plans to help young people become better acquainted with art through “creative use of technology.” I recently learned about a new lesson plan from ArtsEdge that focuses on Jacob Lawrence’s The Great Migration. Here is an excerpt from the lesson description:

In this lesson, students will learn about the migration of African Americans to Harlem, beginning with the original migration of blacks to North America. Students will explore paintings by Jacob Lawrence to understand the experience of blacks who migrated from the South. Then students will take a closer look at Harlem and its place in African American history and make a travel brochure of Harlem’s historic landmarks. Finally, students will create a mural representing one period studied in the lesson, such as the migration from Africa, life in the South, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, or the Great Depression.

In an extension of the lesson children are asked to consider that when Africans were forced to migrate to North America during the slave trade they couldn’t bring any material possessions and later when African Americans migrated from the South to the North they brought very few belongings because many were poor and the trip was long and difficult. Instead they carried valuables in their minds and hearts. Students are asked to imagine what things the migrants might have packed in their “mind’s suitcase.” After studying The Great Migration what do you imagine they carried with them? How does this book challenge or reinforce your perspective of African American history?

“The Big Read”

Audio books are a great way to experience novels. Thanks to the arrival of satellite radio and the enormous number of channels they provide we can experience audio books in a new medium. The New York Times recently published a segment in the “Arts Briefly” column about a new program on XM Radio sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

Colin Powell, Garrison Keillor, Sandra Day O’Connor and Robert Duvall will be among the voices in a new series of book readings and discussions on XM Satellite Radio, the company announced. The show, “The Big Read,” created by XM along with the National Endowment for the Arts and the online audio bookstore Audible, will feature complete readings of classic books and discussions with authors in 30-minute weekday installments, beginning on Sept. 10 with Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451.” Other titles to be broadcast on XM’s Channel 164 include Fitzgerald’s “Great Gatsby” and Amy Tan’s “Joy Luck Club.” BEN SISARIO

I think The Great Gatsby would be excellent to hear on the radio since it’s told in first person from an observer’s point of view. Would you listen to an audio book? What makes a good audio book?

Steal Away Jordan

A recent blog post pointed me to an indie RPG that takes some of its inspiration from Octavia Butler’s novel, Kindred. Steal Away Jordan: Stories from America’s Peculiar Institution, created by Julia B. Ellingboe, is from Stone Baby Games. Here is a description from the Stone Baby Games website.

This is not simply a game about slavery. Steal Away Jordan is a vehicle for players to tell a collective story of the lives of people who live in the shadow of slavery. The emphasis here is on the people, not the place or time. The institution affects everyone, from the child born into bondage to the man who owns him. Steal Away Jordan is a role playing game written in the spirit of neo slave narratives like Margaret Walker’s Jubilee, Toni Morrison’s Beloved, and Octavia Butler’s Kindred. Like these fictional accounts of slave life, players explore the social and psychological implications of life in a society where people can be property. Ultimately, players consider slavery’s long-term impact on a society and on the descendants of slaves and slave owners.

This sounds like a complex look at slavery in nineteenth century America and it has generated a lot of positive buzz in the RPG community. Is this a game you would be interested in playing?

We the People Bookshelf Award

Thanks to a “We the People Bookshelf” grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association the Oro Valley Public Library has added several new books for children and teens to the collection. These books explore what it means to be an American and the theme of “Pursuit of Happiness.” We hope that the information you find here will inspire you to read some of these books and consider what the pursuit of happiness means to different people in different places and in different times.

Throughout the upcoming year the library will feature these books in storytimes, book clubs and other activities. We’re also going to be asking for your feedback. We want to hear what you have to say about the books. Did you like what you read? How did the book make you feel? Have you learned anything new about yourself or the world around you? Please leave your comments on this blog so we can all share our experiences.

The library also has a website dedicated to the “We the People Bookshelf” with links to resources about the books and authors. Watch this blog to see what other members of the community have to say about the books and for pictures of events at the library. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you have. We would love to hear from you.