If you haven't read "The Help," you should.
Yes, that's right: even though we offered a strong criticism of the Academy-Award nominated film today, we don't want you to take our word for it. Read the book, form your own opinions, and let us know what you think.
That said, if you read it, please also read these phenomenal historical accounts of Black women, and of their labor:
- "Clinging to Mammy: The Faithful Slave in 20th Century America," by one of our guests today, University of Connecticut professor Micki McElya.
- "Too Heavy a Load: Black Women in Defense of Themselves, 1894-1994," by Rutgers professor Deborah Gray White.
- "To 'Joy My Freedom: Black Women's Lives and Labors After the Civil War," by Princeton professor Tera Hunter.
- "Mammy the Huckster: Selling the Old South for the New Century," an article by Jo-Ann Morgan in American Art, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Spring, 1995).
- Lastly, visit Spelman College's oral history project, Their Stories, Our Treasure.
Happy reading, and viewing: yes, watching the Oscars on Sunday night is part of your homework, also. Tell us what you think on our Facebook page and here on the blog. We'll have an open thread going on both.