Day 12 (Friday) & 13 (Saturday)
When I saw today’s book pop up in the lottery I said (not unlike Joey from Blossom) “Whoa!” Followed by a “holy coincidence Batman!” You’ll see why these pop culture inspired exclamations were in order in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.
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Through no strategizing of my own, today’s book came straight out of the headlines. George Lucas’s Red Tails is on the tip of everyone’s tongue these days. Sentiments range from “Go see it! Support the all black cast!” to “Don’t go see it! It sucks! See a documentary on the subject instead!” I’m kind of on the fence. Kind of. Lets just say I don’t appreciate the overt manipulation involved in the marketing of this movie: ‘They say blacks won’t spend their money to see this worthy film! Let’s prove ’em wrong!’ I’ll see the film if and only if I wanna see it. The only sheep around here are those two purple cuties up top ^^ shaking what their mama gave ’em.
I was excited to see today’s offering too because I’ve always wondered about blacks in aviation. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a black pilot proudly cutting his/her way through the airport. The authors of these articles notice the dearth as well. Check this book out if you’re as interested as I am!
Bibliographic info:
Black wings : courageous stories of African Americans in aviation and space history
Hardesty, Von
HarperCollins Publishers, 2008
Summary (Library Journal Review):
Traces African American achievement in flight from the earliest days of exploration through the famed Tuskegee Airmen to today’s astronauts. Great attention is paid to the Tuskegee pilots, who battled the Germans and then U.S. racism, but this book also details the first African American woman to fly in combat (during World War I) and the first African American to go into space.
My Reaction:
Wowsers! I opened the book and ran smack dab into Bessie Coleman’s story. Talk about fearless and inspirational. This woman was critically injured in some of her flights and got back in the cockpit to stunt fly another day. She was a star in the male dominated world of aviation, giving lectures and touring the country. She was also civic/political minded. There should be a biopic on her! Thandie Newton, Kerry Washington or Taraji P. Henson call me!
Speaking of movies, the book states that she was offered a bit part in a movie called Shadow and Sunshine. She was to play a woman in tattered rags but ultimately declined the part opting not to “play out existing racial stereotypes”. Miss Coleman was killed in a plane accident due to repair issues. She was 34. I might keep my $10 (sorry George Lucas. Something tells me you’ll be OK though.) and just keep reading this book.
Now for the second book. Just when I thought that there might be a chance that I’d love/find interesting every book that I encountered on this challenge, I ran into this little number. Pun intended.
Bibliographic Info:
The Math Chat Book
Morgan, Frank
Mathematical Association of America, 2000
Who 'chats' about math? Fans of cruel and unusual punishment that's who.
Summary:
It’s about math.
My Reaction:
And that’s all I have to say about that.
life on tuesday 