Book description
As a boy in Brooklyn's Red Hook projects, James McBride knew his mother
was different. But when he asked about it, she'd simply say 'I'm
light-skinned.' Later he wondered if he was different too, and asked his
mother if he was black or white. 'You're a human being,' she snapped.
'Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!' And when James asked what
colour God was, she said 'God is the colour of water.' As an adult,
McBride finally persuaded his mother to tell her story - the story of a
rabbi's daughter, born in Poland and raised in the South, who fled to
Harlem, married a black man, founded a Baptist church, and put twelve
children through college. As a boy in Brooklyn's Red Hook projects,
James McBride knew his mother was different. But when he asked about it,
she'd simply say 'I'm light-skinned.' Later he wondered if he was
different too, and asked his mother if he was black or white. 'You're a
human being,' she snapped. 'Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!' And
when James asked what colour God was, she said 'God is the colour of
water.' As an adult, McBride finally persuaded his mother to tell her
story - the story of a rabbi's daughter, born in Poland and raised in
the South, who fled to Harlem, married a black man, founded a Baptist
church, and put twelve children through college.
