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2. Summary Only the highlights!!!

3. Summary Parallel Story-telling Ruth and James How Past Reflects Future Parents influence children’s lives Identity and Race/ Ethnicity Relations Black/ White vs. Jewish/Christian Tribute to his mother’s accomplishments Every child (12) went to college

4. Summary Ruth (Rachel Shilsky) McBride- Jordan Jewish Orthodox Living in rural Virginia Ran away to Harlem Married African American Man Disowned from family Became Christian Mother of twelve children James McBride Biracial Man One of twelve Children Feared for mother’s life Red Hook projects in Brooklyn Became journalist Discovered truth about mother Discovered truth about himself

5. James McBride (Condensed) Biography

6. Parents Mother Ruchel Dwarja Zylska (Ruth Jordan McBride)- Polish, Jewish, White Father Reverend Andrew McBride- Baptist, Black Step-Father Hunter Jordan- Baptist, Black

7. Education Bachelor’s in music composition from Oberlin College in Ohio Master’s in journalism from Columbia University in New York

8. Literary Career: Author and Journalist Books The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother Miracle at St. Anna Employers The Boston Globe The Washington Post People Magazine Rolling Stone

9. Musical Career Written songs for: Gary Burton, Anita Baker, Grover Washington Jr., and Everett Harp Toured with: Michel Jackson and jazz artist Little Jimmy Scott. Wrote a jazz, hip-hop musical entitled “Bobos” Directed “Lady Day” a musical about Billie Holiday Wrote scores for “All Roads Lead Home and “Harlem Kids Symphony.” Written several children’s songs, including some for the television series “Barney.”

10. Awards (Partial List) Alton B. Jones Foundation Grant for “Bobos” American Arts and Letters Richard Rogers Awards (1996) Stephen Sondheim Award (1993) Anisfield Wolf Book Award (1997)

11. Review My perspective on The Color of Water

12. Review “Engaging and inspirational, James McBride creates an emotional, autobiographical piece highlighting the transcendence of racial and religious issues through a journey of self-discovery. With sequential chapter juxtapositions of James’ voice along side the echoes of his mother; McBride creates a parallel that mirrors the histories of both mother and son. It is through these seemingly contrasting experiences that James is able to uncover their shared pains and rise above his personal trials through his mother’s strong example.

13. Review cont. Through the trinity of family love, education, and Christianity voiced daily by his mother, James is able to embrace her doctrine that race is subsidiary to the ideals that make an individual righteous. Through this eloquent work of truth and discovery, James McBride exposes a reflection between mother and son, a reflection between family and faith and a belief of why God is the color of water.”

14. History Understanding the context

15. HISTORY The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was one of the leading organizations advocating Black Power. (Source: J.C. Albert and S.E. Albert, eds., The Sixties Papers [Praeger, 1984], 105) Malcolm X Harlem Black Power Movement

16. HISTORY The Great Depression Jewish Immigration Jewish African-Americans Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother,"

17. Supplementary Materials for James McBride’s The Color of Water Be Prepared for Gallons and Gallons of Useful Information

18. Novels for Students Zack by William Bell A high school senior takes a road trip to find out about his African-American identity from his mother’s side of the family. Jubilee Journey by Carolyn Meyer A multiracial teen discovers more about her African-American heritage when she visits her great-grandmother in Texas. I Have Lived A Thousand Years: Growing Up In the Holocaust by Livita Bittion-Jackson Story of a thirteen-year-old girl who grew up during the Holocaust and was sent to a concentration camp. What Are You?: Voices of Mixed Race Young People by Pearl Fayo Gaglens Book with interviews, essays, and poetry from over 40 young adults depicting their experiences with multiracial identities

19. More Reading for Your Students(This is an English class isn’t it?) Motiba’s Tattoos: A Granddaughter’s Journey into her India Family Past by Mira Kamdar Another Way Home: The Tangled Roots of Race in One Chicago Family by Ronne Hartfield Depiction of author’s life growing in multiracial Chicago home The House You Pass on the Way by Jacqueline Woodson Story of a thirteen-year-old daughter of an interracial couple

20. Novels/Books for Teachers Trevor’s Story: Growing up Biracial (Meeting the Challenge) by Bethany Kandel and Carol Halebian Black, Jewish, and Interracial: It’s Not the Color of Your Skin, but then Race of Your Kin, and Other Myths of Identity by Katya Gibel Azoulay Half and Half: Writers on Growing up Biracial and Bicultural by Claudine C. O’Hearn Everything You Need to Know About Being a Biracial/Biethnic Teen by Nash, Renea D.

21. More Novels/Books for Teachers(The More You Know) Of Many Colors: Portraits of Multiracial Families by Gigi Kaeser- depicts the lives of multiracial families…like a scrapbook Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama Life on the Color Line by Gregory Howard Williams Jefferson’s Children: The Story of One American Family by Shannon Lanier and Jane Feldman-historical materials, interviews, and photographs of both families

22. It’s Showtime: Movies Mixing Nia-light hearted tale of a biracial woman grappling with identity issues. Secrets and Lies-story of an adopted upper-class black Londoner who seeks out her white mother.

23. Now It’s Time for the FEATURE PRESENTATION

24. Memorable Scenes(Be Prepared I Cried….Yes I Cried) Chapter 6-Sarah Jane’s Shame The end of Chapter 7-What color is Jesus? Chapter 14-Boyfriend beats Sarah Jane

25. Dialogue….Words…Truth “It’s a sin to be a shame of who you are . . .” “She say’s nobody is her friend!” “How do you explain to your child she was born to be hurt?” “The Lord must have had His reasons!”

26. Possible Projects/Assignments You Could Use With this Novel Interview parents/guardians and/or grandparents-present through a memoir, video documentary, or scrapbook Diversity Fishbowl-dispel rumors about different ethnicities Passages-explicate for significance and find song lyrics or poems that reflect ideas Reading Journal

27. Source “The Writer: James McBride” New York University Writer’s Institute. 1998. State University of New York. <http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/mcbride.html> 17 November 2004.