Book Review: Am I Not A Man: The Dred Scott Story

An illiterate slave, Dred Scott trusted in an all-white, slave-owning jury to declare him free. But after briefly experiencing the glory of freedom and manhood, a new state Supreme Court ordered the cold steel of the shackles to be closed again around his wrists and ankles. Falling to his knees, Dred cried, "Ain't I a man?" Dred answered his own question by rising and taking his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Dred ultimately lost his epic battle when the Chief Justice declared that a black man was so inferior that he had "no rights a white man was bound to respect."

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Dred died not knowing that his undying courage led directly to the election of President Abraham Lincoln and the emancipation proclamation.Dred Scott's inspiring and compelling true story of adventure, courage, love, hatred, and friendship parallels the history of this nation from the long night of slavery to the narrow crack in the door that would ultimately lead to freedom and equality for all men.

There are so many things to be said about this book, it will be hard to narrow it to a helpful review!

For history buffs, which I think most people who pick this book up will be, this is a must have. It should be the staple of a historian's library, especially for those interested in the Civil War. I can see, and would highly recommend, Am I Not A Man being put to great use as required reading for college, or even high school, American History courses. The detail included of such a confusing time in US history is astounding.

I am not a history buff. And the entire thought of slavery ever being allowed in this, the home of the free, sickens me.

This story was almost agonizing for me to read. Not because of the writing style, which was excellent, but because this is a true story. Mark Shurtleff captured the person so well that you get to know these people, and this man who took the name of Dred, and it is almost as if it's happening to a dear friend!

Knowing that Dred died before the complete tale was told worried me when I first started reading. How can you possibly have a happy ending in that case? You can't really. The end may not be happy, but it is triumphant, and in this case, I think that is the better of the two options. Dred Scott's life, his persistance and determination to oppose the law peacefully instead of turning to violence, affected an entire nation. I am glad that his story was told, and not allowed to fall into obscurity, as I'm sure many, many others have done.

So - did I enjoy the book? Not exactly, but I am glad I read it.

Good for kids? Not remotely. There is nothing inappropriate in the writing, but the subject matter, and the cold, hard facts of what Dred and his family endured, are too much for young readers. Give this to history buffs, teach it in college classrooms, that is where it will do the most good!

Would I recommend it? HIGHLY.

Am I Not A Man? by Mark Shurtleff

Publisher: Valor Publishing Group; 1st edition (November 3, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1935546007
ISBN-13: 978-1935546009

Available to purchase at Amazon.com - Follow THIS LINK.

When It Rains, It Pours

So, I signed up for NaNoWriMo. I'm totally stoked and the fires are burning, the kettle on the back burner is starting to steam. I've told my husband about my goal and he's on my side. It's gonna be good.

And then, the other day I get a notice in my email - a huge order (well, huge for me) for workbooks! Wonderful! So I spend an entire day putting those together. I can't have them professionaly bound, no one will put the rings on them that they are designed to have, so I print and compile them myself. I don't mind, it's not a gigantic amount of work, but it does take time.

Just finished those up last night and the neighbors come knocking on my door. We share a common interest in the Renaissance, and they asked if I could design/sew a tunic for him - and they need it by tomorrow afternoon. Of course I jumped at the chance, I love to sew as much as I love to write!

It never ceases to astound me how it's never one thing at a time. Oh, I don't mind, I love to be busy, and the timing isn't particularly bad. It's just that it seems to be feast or famine. I guess it's my turn for feasting...

Will somebody pass the salt, please?

Never Surrender Your Passion

Beautiful and astounding, this video should remind everyone why we do what we do. Watch, and I hope you find the same amazing inspiration I did!

Let it Begin! Let it Begin!

Well, I've done it now! I've officially signed up for NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month.

The entire idea behind it is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. That divies up to 1,667 words per day, every day of the month of November. You are not allowed to edit, you are only to write, word count is all that matters. It's about quantity - quality can come later. It's like a big "sit in" - but in this case it's a "write in" - the Woodstock of Writing! It's gonna be awesome!

The SLC region is having a kick off party here in South Jordan on the afternoon of the 31st - and I've RSVP'd. So I'm in as far as I can get.

Just today, a thought crossed my mind of what I should write. I've never actually put it down on paper because it's always seemed kinda corny, but what the heck? Maybe it'll end up a best seller. Probably not, but anything to get me back in the swing - because heaven knows my swing ain't been doin' much lately.

You're ALL invited to join me at NaNoWriMo - the more the merrier!

NaNoWriMo is Here Again!

(click for more information!)

Adrift

I have nothing I really, really want to write.

I have lots of things I could be working on, but nothing I'm just dying to dive into.

Is this writer's block, or something different?

My muse is FIRED!

406 Words

Hey, it may not be much in the Grand Scheme of Things, but I'll take it!

One small step for mankind, one giant leap for ME...

I'm Being Bullied by a Blank Page!

Ever noticed that the phase of the moon can really mess around with some things? Kids get cranky, electronics act up, all the weirdos come out of the woodwork. I'd love to blame the moon for this gihumongous case of writers block I have, but I don't think I'd get away with it, since this has been going on for a couple of months.

I sometimes wonder if I've written myself out. Have I exhausted my writers supply?

Is there any hope of ever enjoying opening my Word program again? Ever?

(Insert overdramatic sigh here!)

The Grand Adventure

I think I've finally recovered enough to write about it. Our weekend vacation to California was nice, the drive home exhausting, but that isn't what caused the lack of blogging.

Last Monday, I found out that my nephew and his sweet wife were having a family crisis. He is an Iraqi veteran, and his wife is in the Navy. I'm being purposefully vague on the reason, but J. (the wife) ended up in the hospital, leaving N. (my nephew) torn between caring for his children and house and being with his wife who needed him by her side.Add a sudden transfer to another state, compliments of the Navy, and you can just imagine what kind of stress that young man was feeling!

They live in New York, while the rest of both of their families are on the west coast. With the situation and the distance, they were feeling rather desperate, and it quickly became apparent that there was only one person in the family that was in a position to help - me.

My sister is much older than I am, and married young, so her children are as close to my age as she is. Since they've always lived practically next door (in some cases literally next door) those three boys are like my little brothers instead of nephews. Of course I was going to help if I could.

Tuesday, Danny and I caught a plane to New York. Danny had never been on a plane before, so he was thrilled with the whole thing. I have never been further east than Wyoming, so it was something new for me, too. We stopped in Chicago, and had to catch a connecting flight in Baltimore, before we got to New York. It was a long flight, and Danny was as good as a five year old could possibly be.

We spent one day with N. and his three kids: E, W and V. Danny was so excited to meet cousins he hadn't met yet.

This is where the hard part really started. N. decided that the best course of action was to send his children to thier grandmothers so they would be taken care of by family so he could take care of his dear wife. I had only seen the oldest child, E, when she was three months old, now she was three years. We needed to get to know each other, and help them trust me - and fast.

Thursday, we - and by we I mean myself and four children under five - caught a plane. We were late getting to the airport to begin with, since we'd only purchased the tickets two hours before.

It went something like this:

-Run to the ticket counter
-Argue with the agent about why I needed a birth certificate for the youngest one
-Get boarding passes
-Run to security, where they would not let N escort me past
-Off with everyone's shoes and coats
-Send four little children through the detectors one at a time
-put everyone's shoes back on
-get everyone's carry-ons situated
-head for the gate
-DISCOVER MISSING BOARDING PASSES
-go back to security and search
-go to gate anyway, to find someone had found and turned in our passes
-get tags for stroller
-get to doorway to plane
-wait while stewards rearrange other passengers to get us four seats together
-situate oldest three while trying to hold 5 month old
-have upset 5 year old because he is sitting across the aisle and wants to sit with cousins
-finally take off, while holding 5 year old's hand across the aisle
-wait for seatbelt light to turn off, so I can switch places with 5 year old

IN Chicago we stayed on the plane, but I learned quickly to sit at the very back row of the plane, so kids could be closer to the bathroom. Something about take-off seems to activate childrens bladders. So we rearranged everything to relocate to the back row.

Halfway through the six hour flight between Chicago and Phoenix, V (5 months old) POO'd. She didn't just poo - she plopped a pile to rival a Texas Longhorn! Have you ever tried changing a diaper in an airplane bathroom? It's a fine art, let me tell you! She was so stinky, by the time I was done I threw everything she had been wearing away. I opened the bathroom door to ask for a plastic garbage bag, and the stewardess exclaimed:

"Whew! What are you feeding that child?!"

In Pheonix, we had to switch planes so:

-off the plane
-reconstruct stroller, which broke down into three pieces
-get all kids and carry-ons situated around said stroller
-walk as fast as three year old legs can go to completely different gate in completely different hallway
-repeat last half of first list

Happily, all three of the older kids slept the entire way from Phoenix to Portland.

I could not have done it without two of the most helpful, wonderful flight crews in the history of the world. They let the crews know that I'd be there with four kids. The stewards were absolutely wonderful! I don't think I could have done it without them! Kudos to Linda, Tim and Teisha of Southwest Airlines - you are all fabulous and you have the thanks of a grateful auntie!! And an equal thanks to all the passengers who were understanding and offered a hand!

So, finally in Oregon, we unloaded the kids, handed them off to grandmothers and spent a couple of days with my mother and sisters. Danny got to meet three more cousins, and even go to a birthday party at a park for one of them.

Sunday afternoon, we caught a flight home to SLC - both so tired we could hardly stand it. I've never been so glad to see Utah in my entire life! In five days we had traveled over 7,000 miles - twice across the width of this great country of ours. It was definitely an adventure, and a once in a lifetime experience, but I don't think I'd do it again if I could help it. Once in this lifetime is quite enough...

So there it is - the most extreme excuse for not posting on a blog ever heard! I think next time I'll stay home and settle for "the dog ate my computer"!