Meet the Author : Willie Mae Brown
"My Selma," by Willie Mae Brown
True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement
"I have a person that 'lives' with me, a muse.
It is my 12-year-old self.
I never let go of that individual.
And that's how I have remembered a lot of things."
Have you ever wondered how you would feel if you were growing up during the Civil Rights Movement? How would you deal with segregation? School integration? Sit-ins? How would you feel listening to great leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking out for justice, for the very first time? In My Selma, True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement author Willie Mae Brown tells us what it was like for her, growing up during the 60s and what it was like to be a young adult during these turbulent, yet joyful and triumphant times.
Written as a message from an elder to our youth, Brown hopes her book - and readings like this one - will create pathways for dialog between youth and adults.
This promises to be a wonderful experience for tweens, young adults, and adults alike. Though addressing difficult topics and times, My Selma is also an unexpectedly joyful celebration of the simple beauty, strength, and protection of family love.
Combining family stories of the everyday and the extraordinary as seen through the eyes of her twelve-year-old self, Willie Mae Brown gives readers an unforgettable portrayal of her coming of age in a town at the crossroads of history.
As the civil rights movement and the fight for voter rights unfold in Selma, Alabama, many things happen inside and outside the Brown family’s home that do not have anything to do with the landmark 1965 march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Yet the famous outrages which unfold on that span form an inescapable backdrop in this collection of stories. In one, Willie Mae takes it upon herself to offer summer babysitting services to a glamorous single white mother—a secret she keeps from her parents that unravels with shocking results. In another, Willie Mae reluctantly joins her mother at a church rally, and is forever changed after hearing Martin Luther King Jr. deliver a defiant speech in spite of a court injunction.
Infused with the vernacular of her Southern upbringing, My Selma captures the voice and vision of a fascinating young person—perspicacious, impetuous, resourceful, and even mystical in her ways of seeing the world around her—who gifts us with a loving portrayal of her hometown while also delivering a no-holds-barred indictment of the time and place.
It's no coincidence that Ms. Brown chose to join us in April - it's her way of commemorating Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. as he was assassinated in over 50 years ago, on April 8, 1968. Please join us for an inspired reading from Willie Mae Brown's remarkable memoir.
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Please note: April 29 also happens to be Independent Booksellers Day. Books will be available for purchase from our local bookseller, Books Are Magic. Show your appreciation with the purchase of an autographed copy of this wonderful book.
