Oscar’s Gift Reading Guide: Day 23 Milkweed and Spiderweb Cures “Mama used her fingers to form some of the spider webs into a soft bandage. She placed this web bandage on the milkweed sap. She used another clean cloth to wrap around Oscar’s forehead again.” ~ Oscar’s Gift Homesteaders like Tomas’s family often had to …
Oscar’s Gift Reading Guide: Day 22 Ragged, Jagged Jack and the Problem of Stereotypes “Oscar did not dance with the adults. He entertained the children, who were in the corner of the barn opposite the fiddlers. He sang a song called ‘Any Rags?’ and danced while he sang. ‘Did you ever hear the story of …
Oscar’s Gift Reading Guide: Day 21 Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois “Oscar’s hero was a man named Booker T. Washington, and he quoted him whenever he had the chance.” ~ Oscar’s Gift Oscar Micheaux dedicated his first book, The Conquest, to “the Honorable Booker T. Washington.” Born into slavery in 1856, Booker T. …
Oscar’s Gift Reading Guide: Day 20 Tomas’s World: Childhood at the Turn of the 20th Century “Joe sighed, then said, ‘I cannot spare you, Tomas. We still have more than half of the claim to break. You are a farmer now, son, not a school child.’” ~ Oscar’s Gift One of the best ways to …
Oscar’s Gift Reading Guide: Day 19 The Language of Dance Music “With a tap of their feet and a loud count of ‘One! Two! Three!’ the fiddlers began to play. Before long, more couples joined in. Soon the barn was alive with music and movement. Everyone seemed to know the language of dance music.” ~ …