Tuesday, January 30, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Talking Leaves…Books, Hallwalls, Babeville, Buffalo Public Schools, BPS Office of Culturally & Linguistically Responsive Initiatives (CLRI), Buffalo Museum of Science, & Key Bank Foundation present
Asbury Hall
Dr. Kendi will appear in conversation with Buffalo author and artist Ariel Aberg-Riger, whose book America Redux: Visual Stories of our Dynamic History was awarded the 2023 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature. Anticipate a lively discussion about why history matters and how to make it come alive for young readers, about the process of adaptation, about the enduring legacy of Zora Neale Hurston and her work, about words and pictures in history-telling, about current efforts to restrict access of books to young readers, and much more. The purchase of a copy of Barracoon from Talking Leaves, either from the store's website (https://www.tleavesbooks.com/book/9780063098336, at the special price of $15.00 + tax) or at the door, is required for admission for this event. Copies of books by both authors will also be available for purchase at the event. Readers ages 8 and up are welcome to attend.
About the book:
In the first middle grade offering from Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi, young readers are introduced to the remarkable and true-life story of Cudjo Lewis, one of the last survivors of the Atlantic human trade, in an adaptation of the internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed Barracoon.
This is the life story of Cudjo Lewis, as told by himself.
Of the millions of men, women, and children transported from Africa to America to be enslaved, 86-year-old Cudjo Lewis was then the only person alive to tell the story of his capture and bondage—fifty years after the Atlantic human trade was outlawed in the United States. Cudjo shared his firsthand account with legendary folklorist, anthropologist, and writer Zora Neale Hurston.
Hurston spent months talking with Cudjo about the details of his life. Cudjo recounted memories from his childhood in Africa, the horrors of the raid of his village, being captured and held in a barracoon for sale by human traders, and the years he spent in slavery until the end of the Civil War.
Adapted with care and delivered with age-appropriate historical context by award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi, Cudjo’s incredible story is now available for young readers and emerging scholars. With powerful illustrations by Jazzmen Lee-Johnson, this poignant work is an invaluable contribution to our shared history and culture.