MILK THE IRON COW - book 2 or trilogy

MILK THE IRON COW is Book 2 of historical black family fiction and is set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – early 1941. It is the eve of World War II; the time when black families were leaving farms in the south for work in northern factories. Black men were denied employment and barred from union membership. GO TO WEB PAGE: – PLEASE SHARE. www.adolphusward.net,

HARVEST THE DUST - 1st of Trilogy

HARVEST THE DUST is Book 1 of historical black family fiction and is set in Arkansas – 1934. It is the time when Jim Crow Laws governed the lives of black people – what they could and could not do; where, when and how they could do it. The Great Depression was devastating the nation’s economy; cotton was the staple crop; and Arkansas’ fertile land had turned to dust. GO TO WEB PAGE: – PLEASE SHARE. www.adolphusward.net

THOUGHTS ABOUT WHO BUILT THIS (Country)

THOUGHTS ABOUT WHO BUILT THIS (COUNTRY) – WE did Some years back I wrote a poem titled “We’re Growing Up” – the opening line was I Saw Us When We Were Born Covered By The Slime and Blood of Slavery… On one occasion I recited the poem at a gathering of follow artist and art lovers. An artist came up to me at the end of the session and quietly informed me that we, black folks, did not come into being in slavery – that black folks were in existence when white Europeans were still living in caves. The conversation continued with the artist pointing out an objection to saying African American as a racial description, preferring to say African instead. I listened intently to being identified as African rather than African American but could find no compelling reason to prefer one over the other. Slavery was a barbarous, dehumanizing act that transformed African slaves into a different people – African slaves eventually became Americanized Africans: African Americans. We are not the same people as were our African parents. Thanks to the blood and resilience passed on to us by our African parents we maintained our humanity through slavery, Jim Crow, and systemic discrimination to the present day. Black groups saying We Built This (Country) is really an over reach, a spin on reality. Now in rebuttal some Irish groups are saying We Built This (Country). Like black Americans white Irish Americans who use the mantra are over reaching reality. History records the struggle of Irish people to become a part of the American fabric. Some Irish need to be reminded that once the door of opportunity was opened for them they joined other white Europeans in closing that door to black Americans in the building trades and other skilled jobs and that denial continued well into the 1970s. All white American and Europeans need to be informed or reminded that black labor has been employed in every aspect of American and European development. Whether it was black hands laying brick molding steel, building roads and rails or changing the course of rivers, whether it was black unpaid labor that created the money that filled the banks that paid the wages of the Irish and other Europeans, America as it is would not exist without the active participation of Americans of African descent – black folks. www.adolphusward.net

THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE CHOICES

THOUGHTS ABOUT LIFE CHOICES – make your own or they’ll be made for you I stay away from telling others what they should do to attain what they want. I learned early on that my choices are just that, mine; and not what will lead another to where they want to go. I don’t love nor trust anyone more than I love and trust myself. It is out of the love and trust of self that I am able to love and trust others. I decided long ago to set my own course in life and not wait for circumstances or others to make that decision. Through experience and education I learned the value of acquiring the skills necessary to do what I set out to do; I learned to persevere and not give up when I failed. I learned that the road I traveled would not be crowded; I learned that most of the time I would be alone physically and in my soul. Some of the choices I’ve make have not set well with those close to me. I decided to take the responsibility into my own hands to not father more children by undergoing a vasectomy. I decided when I should get a divorce and sought agreement with my spouse. I decided I would never marry again. These were choices I saw necessary to achieve what I set out to do. I have not had the success I set out to achieve in all my choices but I would never have achieved the success I did and will have if I had not made my own choices. I have discouraged some from following my choices. What has been or will be successful for me might very well kill them. I have acquired the skills necessary to make choices that have a reasonable chance of success. It would be foolish of me to support a person in a choice they haven’t acquired the skills for. www.adolphusward.net