Skip to main content

Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats










The Urban Life Experience Book discussion Series has been immersed in the outrage against racial injustice, mass incarceration and the killings of unarmed citizens by the police. Imagine how we responded when asked by the New Haven Free Public Library and the Long Wharf Theatre to read the book Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats. The book features black and white photos taken by Michael Cunningham. Journalist Craig Marberry provides the mini-bios of the women pictured. The group met on Saturday April 14th and actually had one of the best discussions ever.

The oral history provided in the women’s stories, although not so much concerned with criminal justice or race relations, was yet meaningful, providing another facet of African American culture. The forward was written by Maya Angelou, who asserted that “Truly the Civil rights Movement was begun In the Black Church.  She made the connection between African head coverings and African Americans covering their heads for church in submission to God. Of course submission evolved to adornment:

Addie Webster: “When I get dressed to go to church, I’m going to meet the King, so I must look my best.”

Among the women featured in the book one was a state representative, six were college professors, several were teachers, at least two were business owners. In spite of the book’s focus on head covering and adornment, there is some social history interspersed throughout.

Nancy Carpenter: “Back when I got my first hat, blacks could shop only in certain stores…In the sixties, we were finally allowed to in Montaldos.”

On the day of our book discussion, Shelara led us off with such issues in the book as colorism, feminism, economic empowerment, and desegregation. She related how even though the society told us we weren’t ladies, we adorned ourselves. Lenslie told us how even though the dress codes had been relaxed when she went to Bennett College, her aunt had gone before her and had to wear the hats gloves, and stockings every time they went off campus. One of the women in the book, Ms. Ollie Mc Dowell relates her story from her Bennett College days.



Ms. Dora Lee Brown, the oldest member of our book group, asserted, “I’m 81 years old and grew up in Kentucky. Church was where we had to wear our best things. Even at 16 years old I had my white gloves…I think that today we can have a little more respect for the church. Dolores Colon co-signed on this adding, “Even at funerals, people don’t dress to show the proper respect.
We all agreed that church on Sunday was the one day Black people could congregate. Betty pointed out that “the house servants and the field workers could be together in church. Church was where the Dr. Kings and the Andrew Youngs were started."

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision by Barbara Ransby, 2003

Nine of us met on Saturday March 16 th to discuss Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement by Barbara Ransby, published in 2003.    Although born 1903 in Norfolk, Virginia, Ella Baker was predominantly reared in Littleton, North Carolina. Her Civil Rights and Human Rights career spanned over five decades, some of her work took place in New York and some took place in the South.    Some of the groups she worked with are   YNC L Young Negroes’ Cooperative League    WEP Worker s’ Education Project    NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People    SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference    M FDP Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party    SCEF Southern Christian Education Fund    SNCC Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee     She established her place in these movements as a behind the scenes organizer and never sought leadership positions. Her philosophy abou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Don't Cry for Me by Daniel Black

  The author, Dr. Daniel Black, said “ T his book is what most of us in many ways would hope that our parents would do one day. And that is to give us their hearts, share with us their story . This is the story of a man named Jacob Swinton who is on his death bed, and he is writing a series of letters. It’s the epistolary form . The l etters are to his estranged gay son named Isaac. The Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series continued July 13 th , 2024 , where we discussed this amazing book. Before this meeting, the group listened to a YouTub e video of an interview with Dr. Black that had been recorded earlier this year. This video can be found by searching All CT Reads 2024 Dr. Daniel Black on Yo u Tube.   Wendy started us out, saying, “ I listened to it on audiobook, and Dr. Black read it. I really liked that because it brought it to life. The downside was places where I thought he captured something about his own experience or love, and I wish I had it on a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas 2023

Book Discussion of In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas Thirteen of us met on Saturday Oct. 5 th to discuss Kai Thomas’s In the Upper Country , his debut novel. The story begins with an elderly woman who has escaped slavey from the US, and is now in Canada, shoots a slavecatcher who has tracked her there. A much younger woman, a jou rnalist name Lensinda is assigned the task of interviewing the old woman, who is now in jail. When Lensinda asks the woman for her story, the woman responds by saying, “A tale for a tale.” Thus, Lensinda is required to tell a story to receive the old woman’s story. This starts a reciprocal arrangement of storytelling over the interviews.     Kai Thomas, author  Wendy started us out saying, “I have to say I loved listening to it, but I also think that if I had read it, I may have absorbed more. I thought the language was just exquisite . I also kept feeling that each story I would lose track of sometimes, bu t I stopped worryin...
Post a Comment
Read more