the importance of a living history.

"...and it's a funny thing about the living history you learn in the family kitchen among the elders -- it don't always match what you supposed to learn from the books you read and the films you see and the people you meet.

take slavery for instance. some people will try to paint a peaceful picture of us folks singing in the yard washing somebody else's clothes or dancing in the hot fields picking somebody else's cotton -- happy as a lark. but in the kitchen you learn that us folks didn't dig the setup one bit. we would set fires to the barn and try to burn down the plantation. we would go on the strike and refuse to work even if we got whipped for it. and we would escape through harriet tubman's underground railroad even though we might get caught and killed trying. and you've seen movies that show our folks just living and caring for the plantation owner. and we'd be all broke up if the owner took sick or something. but you learn in the kitchen that this is a lie. we'd jump for joy, break out the the ole guitar and have a party.

all this to say what? to say that while it is very, very important for young folks to read, to read well, to read everything in sight, it is equally important for young folks to learn how to listen, to be proud of our oral tradition, our elders who tell their tales in the kitchen. for they are truth."

*excerpted from tales and stories for Black folks edited by toni cade bambara, pg.12