The Children of Children Keep Comingis an awe-inspiring contribution to literature. A breathtaking form of poetic expression, this unique work presents a riveting chronicle of the African American experience in the United States.
The dramatic odyssey opens with two anonymous slaves running to catch the Freedom Train, where at journey's end they hope to find liberation. Along the way, they encounter fields of laborers sowing seeds, plodding hard under sun high and moon low, working to end slavery. The toilers are sustained by work songs that at one moment express the dreams and fears of the downtrodden and at another moment burst forth with unbound faith and optimism.
These determined travelers, with dangerous crows circling around them, roam through fields holding their dead; step over graves of the once enslaved; walk across beds of red, white, and blue flowers, all for the opportunity to march on the green lawns of democracy. Throughout their entangled journey, they meet imaginary and mythological characters. But it is down by the riverside where their belief that a time of change will come is affirmed by engagements with "giants" such as Frederick Douglass, Billie Holiday, Hank Aaron, Sojourner Truth, and Rosa Parks.
The Children of Children Keep Comingis strung seamlessly together -- by poetry and prose, blues and gospel, hymns and jazz, work songs and prayers -- forcing the universal harmony of the cry for freedom and justice to reach an unforgettable pitch that cannot be ignored.
This astounding mosaic of voices is accentuated by the images of Romare Bearden.introduction
Sometimes there is a moment that makes you take notice.
Russell Goings'sThe Children of Children Keep Comingis the book for that moment, an epic poem that traces the journey of African-Americans in this country, that transcends pain and struggle and provides a vehicle for transformation, for weightiness that is light on its feet because of its music.
Like Walt Whitman'sLeaves of Grass,The Children of Children Keep Comingreminds us of the necessity of art. People used to sit with each other and listen to poems detailing their shared cultural experience;The Children of Children Keep Comingis such a poem. In addition to the compelling story it tells, there is the richness of poetic devices in motion. Close your eyes. Bells are ringing; hands are clapping; feet are stomping. Over the course of the poem, motifs are picked up; a weightiness is gathered. Goings writes, "Is this the day / We pick up momentum?" If the poem itself is any indication, the answer would seem to be yes.
The Children of Children Keep Comingis a memorable book for a memorable moment.
This is not surprising, since it was written by such a remarkable man. I met Russell Goings when he visited Fairfield University in 1995, shortly after he returned from the Million Man March. A mutual friend of ours, Father Tom Regan, S. J., now the provincial of the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, suggested to Russ that he talk with me, since Russ had mentioned that he wrote poetry. I knew that he might stop by, but, as I recall, it was not a sure thing. I remember the day vividly. It was the middle of the afternoon, and I was busy grading some papers at my desk. Russ peeked around the door and introduced himself. He asked if I had a free moment. I said that I did, and welcomed him into my office. I put my pen down. We started talking. My life was never the same.
Anyone who meets Russ knows the dynamic force of his presence, which has served him well in the various successful contexts of his life -- professional football player, the first African-American to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, the founder ofEssence, the friend and confidant of Romare Bearden -- but what I was not prepared for was the force of the rough draft ofThe Children of Childrenthat
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