Today our Princess read “Goin’ Someplace Special” by Patricia McKissack aloud to Cooter and me. It’s part of her Living Literature Grammar program. She reads a new story each week. This week this is the story.
In it Ms. McKissack tells the story of ‘Tricia Ann who wants to travel to a place where all are welcome, no matter their skin color. As she makes the trip, she encounters signs and comments that are hurtful, intended to keep her “in her place.” As my littles read the story together, side by side on the couch, Princess stopped. “Mama, why don’t they want the dark-skinned people to sit with them? Why are they making them go in different rooms and ride in the back of the bus?”
Before I could get a word out, Cooter said gravely, “Slavery.”
Well, yes. I explained it as best I could–the way fear of what is different can make folks do things that are irrational and unkind and just plain wrong. How people were trying to keep folks separate so they didn’t have to face the unknown, and that many never actually tried to get to know people who looked different.
Cooter said, “Yes, Martin Luther King had friends who wouldn’t play with him because he had dark skin and looked different from them.”
I have no idea where he learned that. He listens way more than I give him credit for.
Princess, who can be such a peacemaker usually, piped up forcefully with, “Those people are making me so angry right now. That is just wrong.”
Yes, baby girl, it is.
Last Friday we ordered the last of Aub’s books for her history class. They attempted to deliver them on Sunday. Because there are actual post offices and facilities open to accept deliveries on Sundays? I got no idea.
Anyway, today when Princess was reading the book aloud and got so upset, I thought about two of the books we ordered. One was a study of the Salem Witch Trials in the late 1600’s and another was about the Underground Railroad between 1850 and 1860.
Those joined with this story set in the 1950s had me shaking my head
I hear and read folks commenting that what’s wrong in our country today is that we are moving away from God. Away from faith and religion. And church.
And I have to ask myself–when exactly do these folks think we as a country were close to God?
Was it when folks were persecuted for being different and accused of horrible things? Was it when it was okay, legal, respected and expected for folks to own another human being? Was it when all were free but folks were kept separate so they’d “know their place?” When exactly was all well and the country as a whole was walking in the dust of the Rabbi?
Not wanting to pick a fight. Just something I wonder about when I look at things through my children’s eyes. None of the hatred and cruelty and fear of others in this country or the world has made sense in the past 238 years since its inception and even before that. None of it.
Yes, the world is broken. Yes, people are losing battles for their lives in all sorts of ways. Yes, there is darkness and pain.
But instead of pointing fingers and blaming it on each other, I think it’s time we try something a little more revolutionary. Maybe instead of saying people have moved away from God, we should move toward some things.
Move to care.
Move to hold someone’s hand.
Move to listen to the story of another.
Move to offer a shoulder.
Move to open our arms. And wait.
Move to love.
Now that would really be “goin’ someplace special,” wouldn’t it?
That’s it. I can’t say I honestly know if our country is moving away from God or not. All I can worry about is me and where I stand. And I’m going to try to move.
Love to all.
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This book has stirred some memories and precious ones at that. ‘Tricia Ann’s grandmother sends her off with two thoughts that remind me of two women I love and dearly miss-my Granny and my Mama. Two women whose walk was always toward taking care of and loving those around them and those afar.
When Mama Frances says, “I trust you’ll be particular…..” I hear my own Granny saying just that many, many times. “Be particular.”
And when she calls after ‘Tricia Ann and says, “…..act like you b’long to somebody” I hear my own Mama who used to send us out the door with “Act like you are somebody.”
They are here for me when I least suspect it, and their presence makes me smile.
And today when our Princess was reading, her dialect was spot on. She is her Maemae’s granddaughter, reading aloud with feeling, inflection, intonation, and most of all, with a passion for reading and for life. And that is the best gift of all.
I Might Need A Nap 
I’m not a Christian but, it seems to me if we all “loved our neighbor as ourselves” and lived it, that would be, heaven on earth. 🙂
This book looks great, I may get it for little bee, thanks for sharing.
Amanda, that may be another whole post, but in a nutshell I struggle with that label “Christian.” I love how Jesus lived and want to follow closely. But labels make me a little crazy. So I get what you are saying.
You have said beautifully and succinctly what I rambled on a bit about to say. Yes. My Mama used to preach that one to us over and over. AND we don’t get to pick who our neighbors are. They are anybody and everybody. No excluding.
For me, that’s the goal. Bringing the “Kingdom”–heaven–here. I think that’s what we are “called” to do if we use that sort of language.
I reread the book last night, and it moved me. We will be talking about this story more, and not just for her grammar lessons. (One of the reasons I’m loving this program–good books and grammar all rolled into one? And excuse to get more books? Yes please.)
Thank you for stopping by, reading, following my stories, and for sharing your thoughts. I hope you will share again. And if you get the book, I’d love to hear what you and little bee think of it. 😉 Best wishes.
At a rare loss for words. This was a good one. I’ll leave it at that.
Thank you Cynthia. I am humbled by your kind words. ❤ Thank you for reading.