It is February and I MUST give some weather commentary. It is 58 degrees and Sunny in beautiful historic Savannah, GA and guess what? We are "hyped" and ready for the Savannah Book Festival!!!!
This year, (due to some members traveling, other commitments and illnesses), we are small in number, but mighty and ready to enjoy a fun-filled day of books, books and did I say, books, with authors from all around the Country. This year, of the 43 festival authors, only two (yes I said "2") are African Americans. With that said, there are actually three books with African American content or subject matter - and, we shall get to that anomaly in a few minutes.
One more mention, before we "get into it"... On January 25th, I was reviewing the author's festival schedule and noticed that the two (yes, I said "2") African American Authors were scheduled to speak at the same time...SERIOUSLY, THE SAME TIME!!!! What were the odds of that; with an all-day schedule? The next morning at 6:38 am, I decided to send the Savannah Book Festival an IG DM expressing our discontent with the scheduling and just why "we" felt thusly. By 10:38 am, I received a very sincere response and by Noon the schedule was modified. Now, that is the power of "the passion of the pen"!!
First Author for us to hear was Gayle Jessup White, author of "Reclamation" - a story of her journey to understanding her heritage and claim it as her own.
Ms. White begins by telling us that she learned she was a Hemings descendant from her sister over 50 years ago, when she was 13. Her older sister, Janice was a world traveler with her news correspondent husband and had the opportunity to visit such Nations as Vietnam and Singapore, - dining and mingling with dignitaries. It was at these embassy dinners, when guests spoke of their "proud" European lineage, that Janice often told the story of her relation to Sally Hemings. When she arrived back in the states, Janice would tell the story of the Embassy dinners to her father, and a young Ms. White overheard her. The next day she asked her father if they were truly descendants of Sally Hemings. Her father's response was..."that's what they say", and this was where her curiosity began.
Ms. White lovingly recanted the story of her "Aunt Peachy" who could not read or write, but was the storyteller of the family, and confirmed the story. She went on to express how important oral history is for African American genealogy.
Ms. White currently works at Monticello and acknowledged how she works there, just as her ancestors did, but she is being paid. The predominately all-Anglo audience erupted in applause.
Once her presentation was over, although Ms. White needed to proceed to the "book signing" tent to autograph copies of her book, she was gracious enough to chat with us briefly. She and Val chatted about DeSantis and his CRT antics in Florida, and I spoke with her about the recent WSJ article featuring the recent excavation of a hidden room in Monticello that is believed to be that of Sally Hemings.
Remember the anomaly I mentioned? Well, here we are...The next author that we scheduled to hear was Ilyan Woo. I must admit that I was not too enthused to hear her (An Asian-American author, telling OUR history?), BUT I promised myself to keep an open mind. Ilyan Woo started and ended the same way...with an editorial of how she came to draft and edit her book - "Master Slave, Husband Wife". The epic story of William and Ellen Craft's journey to freedom has been told in many forms, however this appears to be the first novel about this couple. The story of the light-skinned Ellen disguising herself as a sickly male slave owner and William as "his" slave traveling over 1000 miles from bondage in Macon, GA to the Northern States. Their journey soon made them celebrities and generated headlines across the country. They became abolitionist -speaking among the likes of Frederick Douglass. She wrapped up with comparing her writing to playing classical music and achieving melodic harmony.
After a little lunch, it was 3:00 and time for our last author of the day, Brendan Slocumb. His
energy and personality were evident from outside the venue, when we were waiting in line. He mingled, joked and took photos with the audience. Once inside, we were surprised to hear him give "U.S. G.I.R.L.S." a "shout out" from our IG posts...Yay!! Mr. Slocumb was very authentic and discussed the racism he faced as a youngster and now. He was swift to point out that there were not many guests in the audience that "looked like him" and even fewer of the male gender. Although he is a teacher, Mr. Slocumb (a classically trained Violinist) indicated that he actually "fell" into writing in 2020 when there were not as many requests or "gigs" for musicians.
He stated that he wanted his session to be more interactive, so he immediately went into Q&A mode. In preparation of the festival, I read Mr. Solcumb's book, "The Violin Conspiracy" last weekend and enjoyed it, so I wanted to make a comment and ask a question:
*Video credit: Lauryn
With the exception of a guest in the audience making a wayward comment about his wrinkled shirt and suggesting he use Downy "Wrinkle Release" in the future, this was by far my favorite author interaction of the day.
Needless to say, the Savannah Book Festival, 2023 was a HUGE success!! Kudos to the board members, sponsors and volunteers!! Keep up the EXCELLENT work!! Thank you!
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