Barak Obama
In this tender, beautiful letter to his daughters, Malia and Sasha Obama, President Barack Obama has written a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the ideals that have shaped our nation. From the artistry of Georgia O’Keeffe, to the courage of Jackie Robinson, to the patriotism of George Washington, President Obama sees the traits of these heroes within his own children, and within all of America’s children.
Breathtaking, evocative illustrations by award-winning artist Loren Long at once capture the personalities and achievements of these great Americans and the innocence and promise of childhood.
This beautiful book celebrates the characteristics that unite all Americans, from our nation’s founders to generations to come. It is about the potential within each of us to pursue our dreams and forge our own paths. It is a treasure to cherish with your family forever.
Cloth 17.99
Tag Archives: black history
Mansa Musa: The Lion of Mali
Khephra Burns, Illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon
In the annals of African history, few have left more of an imprint on the outside world than Mansa Kankan Musa, ruler of Mali from 1312-37 A.D. Called by historians Musa the Magnificent, Mansa Musa was a very successful leader, celebrated for his enlightenment, justice and piety. He inherited the Empire of Mali, founded by the great warrior-diplomat, Sundiata, who reigned from 1230-55 A.D. Sundiata was a man of foresight who extended the country’s boundaries and enforced throughout his realm, excellent law and order. Sundiata encouraged agriculture, especially the cultivation of cotton and the mining of gold. His policies made him one of the most heroic and constructive rulers in history. After Sundiata’s death in 1255, there was, until Mansa Musa took power in 1312, a period of confusion. At least six different rulers took power, but the only concrete achievements attributed to these sovereigns was the extension of Mali’s boundaries.
When Mansa Musa took over the helm of state, he added the important towns of Timbuktu and Gao to his kingdom. However, his greatest contribution to Mali’s history was the consolidation of the foundation laid by Sundiata. Known as the country’s architect, Mansa Musa welded a nation from a huge mosaic of peoples whose leaders for 150 years dominated the affairs of West Africa. Establishing Islam as the base for uniting the wide diversity of tribes, he championed this religion with extraordinary zeal. Musa was famed for his piety and the building of imposing mosques, yet he never fought a religious war and did not outlaw other religions.
His encouragement of trade between Mali, North Africa and beyond brought his land great prosperity. He encouraged learning by his generous patronage of schools and Muslim scholars and his encouragement of education made Timbuktu one of the foremost centers of scholarship in the world. Mansa Musa’s famous pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 spread Mali’s renown and prestige in the Islamic countries and the far corners of medieval Europe. In his caravan, as he travelled eastward, were 60,000 courtiers and servants, richly dressed, and 80 camels each carrying some 300 pounds of gold. Wherever his caravan halted on a Friday, he paid for the erection of a mosque. Everywhere he went, he became legendary for his generosity and the extravagant spending of his entourage.
Stopping in Cairo, one of the greatest cities in the world of that era, his spending of millions of dollars caused the value of gold in Egypt to be devalued. Mali’s ambassadors were exchanged with Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and other countries. A few years after Musa visited Cairo, Al-Omari wrote that in all of West Africa he was, “the most powerful, the richest, the most fortunate, the most feared by his enemies and the most able to do good for those around him.”
Most of these historic details are not written in this book. It’s intended for children 6 years old and up. Khephra Burns describes a life lesson that enabled Mansa Musa to accomplish such heroic feats: discovering that truth is only personal. Leo and Diane Dillon, multi-Caldecott Medal winners, illustrated the book and worked their usual, luxuriant magic.
Cloth 18.00
The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass: His Early Life as a Slave, Escape from Bondage, and His Complete History
Frederick Douglass
Check out this excerpt from Life and Times of Frederick Douglass.
“While at my house, John Brown made the acquaintance of a Negro man who called himself by different names-sometimes ‘Emperor,’ at other times, ‘Shields Green.’ He was a fugitive slave, who had made his escape from Charleston, South Carolina; a State from which a slave found it no easy matter to run away. But Shields Green was not one to shrink from hardships or dangers. He was a man of few words, and his speech was singularly broken; but his courage and self-respect made him quite a dignified character . . .
About three weeks before the raid on Harper’s Ferry, John Brown wrote to me, informing me that a beginning in his work would soon be made, and that before going forward he wanted to see me, and appointed an old stone-quarry near Chambersburg, Penn., as our place of meeting. Mr. Kagi, his secretary would be there, and they wished me to bring any money I could command, and Shields Green along with me. In the same letter he said that his ‘mining tools’ and stores were then at Chambersburg, and that he would be there to remove them . . . I approached the old quarry very cautiously, for John Brown was generally well armed, and regarded strangers with suspicion. He was then under the ban of the government, and heavy rewards were offered for his arrest, for offenses said to have been committed in Kansas. He was passing under the name of John Smith.
As I came near, he regarded me rather suspiciously, but soon recognized me, and received me cordially. He had in his hand when I met him a fishing-tackle, with which he had apparently been fishing in a stream near by; but I saw no fish, and did not suppose that he cared much for his ‘fisherman’s luck.’ The fishing was simply a disguise, and was certainly a good one. He looked every way like a man of the neighborhood, and as much at home as any of the farmers around there. His hat was old and storm-beaten, and his clothing was about the color of the stone quarry itself-his then present dwelling place.
His face wore an anxious expression, and he was much worn by thought and exposure. I felt that I was on a dangerous mission, and was as little desirous of discovery as himself, though no reward had been offered for me.
We-Mr. Kagi, Captain Brown, Shields Green, and myself- sat down among the rocks and talked over the enterprise which was about to be undertaken. The taking of Harper’s Ferry, of which Captain Brown had merely hinted before, was now declared as his settled purpose, and he wanted to know what I thought of it. I at once opposed the measure with all the arguments at my command. To me such a measure would be fatal to running off slaves (as was the original plan), and fatal to all engaged in doing so. It would be an attack upon the Federal government, and would array the whole country against us . . .
Of course I was no match for him in such matters, but I told him, and these were my words, that all his arguments, and all his descriptions of the place, convinced me that he was going into a perfect steel-trap, and that once in he would never get out alive; that he would be surrounded at once and escape would be impossible. . . . I looked at him with some astonishment, that he could rest upon a reed so weak and broken, and told him that Virginia would blow him and his hostages sky-high, rather than that he should hold Harper’s Ferry an hour . . .
When I found that he had fully made up his mind and could not be dissuaded, I turned to Shields Green and told him he heard what Captain Brown had said; his old plan was changed, and that I should return home, and if he wished to go with me he could do so. Captain Brown urged us both to go with him, but I could not do so, and could but feel that he was about to rivet the fetters more firmly than ever on the limbs of the enslaved. . . . ‘Come with me, Douglass; I will defend you with my life. I want you for a special purpose. When I strike, the bees will begin to swarm, and I shall want you to help hive them.’ But my discretion or my cowardice made me proof against the dear old man’s eloquence-perhaps it was something of both which determined my course. When about to leave I asked Green what he had decided to do, and was surprised by his coolly saying, in his broken way, ‘I b’leve I’ll go wid de ole man.”
Paper 12.95
