Alice Childress (1916–1994)

"Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave -- and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way."

So says Cora's father to Cora, his adopted daughter. He also tells her that when he dies, as he does early in this book, she is to go to the slave market and tell it that slavery stops with her; she is her own person.

A major theme of this book is that black women are doubly discriminated against - first by race and then by gender. Cora learns white racism early. Then learns gender discrimination at the hands of her first husband Kojie, her second husband Cecil and the proprietors of the shows she conducts. Along the way she helps, and is helped by, women both black and white.

Thanks to my son for the recommendation of this magnificent, yet underated achievement.… (mehr)

Not mine--from the back cover of the book: First published in Paul Robeson’s newspaper, Freedom, and composed of a series of conversations between Mildred, a black domestic, and her friend Marge, Like One of the Family is a wry, incisive portrait of working women in Harlem in the 1950’s. Rippling with satire and humor, Mildred’s outspoken accounts vividly capture her white employers’ complacency and condescension—and their startled reactions to a maid who speaks her mind and refuses to exchange dignity for pay. Although they were written more than six decades ago, MIldred's tales of discrimination, harassment, and entrenched racism, classism [sic], and sexism are shockingly familiar today. Upon publication the book sparked a critique of working conditions, laying the groundwork for the contemporary domestic worker movement. Although she was critically praised, Childress’s uncompromising politics and unflinching depictions of racism, classism, and sexism relegated her to the fringe of American literature. Like One of the Family has been long overlooked, but this new edition, featuring a foreword by best-selling author Roxane Gay, will introduce Childress to a new generation.… (mehr)