This is a comprehensive, concise, well-written history of the roles played by African American men and women in the U.S. military during the Second World War.

During the war, the role of African Americans in a segregated U.S. Army expanded considerably. Besides quartermaster and service units, African Americans served honorably as infantrymen, combat engineers, artillerists, and tankers in a number of tank destroyer and tank battalions in Europe. Also, for the first time, African Americans were given the opportunities to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps (later United States Army Air Force = USAAF) as fighter pilots first with the 99th Fighter Squadron and later with the 332nd Fighter Group, establishing a fine combat record in Europe. Furthermore, African American soldiers also served in Asia and the Pacific.

The book also highlights the roles performed by African Americans in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, the Coast Guard, and the U.S. Merchant Marine.

Anyone interested in learning about a still largely unheralded saga in U.S. history will gain much knowledge from reading this book.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of hearing at a local bookstore the author Stephen L. Carter speak about his paternal grandmother Eunice Huston Carter (1899-1970). Sometime later, after the Q&A session, I had the opportunity to speak with Professor Carter as he autographed my copy of this book.

"INVISIBLE: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down America's Most Powerful Mobster" puts the reader into an era in U.S. history barely half a century behind us, when African Americans were restricted by law and what was accepted custom from realizing their full potential in what was an overtly racist America (Jim Crow segregation). Notwithstanding all that, what I found to be deeply inspirational from reading this book is learning about the life of this most remarkable woman - as well as the lives of her parents (who were both fully engaged social activists; Eunice's father with the YMCA (its 'colored' section) for whom he worked tirelessly both in the U.S. and abroad til his death in 1916 and her mother Addie was a graduate of Boston Latin School, and a college graduate who later served as a teacher and worked with a variety of organizations promoting racial and gender equality til her death in 1943) and younger brother, from whom she became estranged. 

This is a book that would be instructive (as well as inspirational) to any reader who wants to learn about the value of living -- in spite of the obstacles and challenges arrayed against someone because of his/her color and/or gender -- a purposeful, committed life wholly dedicated to advancing socio-economic justice, as well as racial and gender equality.

Born in Texas in 1922, Emiel W. Owens went on to live an extraordinary life as an educator and economic/financial consultant. He shares with the reader his life experiences from growing up under Jim Crow segregation in Texas, through his service in the U.S. Army during World War II with the 777th Field Artillery Battalion (which was engaged in almost constant combat in Europe between October 1944 and V-E Day in May 1945), and his subsequent reassignment to a quartermaster unit that was shipped to the Philippines shortly before the end of the Pacific War.

Owens was honorably discharged from the Army shortly after returning to the U.S. in early 1946. He went on to earn his undergraduate degree at Prairie View A&M University and graduate degrees (a Masters and doctorate) in economics from Ohio State University. He would go on to teach and serve in a variety of educational and consultative endeavors both in the U.S. and abroad.

I very much enjoyed reading this memoir. It is well-written and a rare work, because there are very few memoirs from African American veterans of World War II. That in itself makes "BLOOD ON GERMAN SNOW" a book to treasure.

I have been greatly deceived by this book. When I first saw it several days ago and noted its title, I was led to believe that I would be buying a book that would be a comprehensive history of African Americans who had travelled to Paris (France) and spent time there, as well as explain how Paris shaped and influenced their lives and careers. For that reason, I promptly bought the book.

In truth, "The Third Migration: African Americans in Paris" only provides very thin, sketchy accounts of a small number of African Americans (e.g. Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Lois Mailou Jones, Langston Hughes, and Mary Church Terrell) who either went to Paris and became expatriates or simply to study or work for a short time before returning to live in the United States. The author also tried to tie in the Atlantic Slave Trade (the Middle Passage forced migration of Africans to the United States, where they were placed into involuntary servitude) and the Great Migration of 1915-1970 (from which many African Americans left the South because of the overt racism and oppression they experienced there in search of greater job, educational, and social opportunities in the North) to the African American experience in Paris. As a reader, that made no sense to me at all. There was nothing in what the author wrote that tied in the forced diaspora of Africans to the United States with the experiences of some of their descendants who moved from the South to the northern United States, as well as those African Americans who travelled to Paris and spent time there. The 3 pieces did not fit well together at all. 

Furthermore, the writing in the book itself was very amateurish and at times hardly intelligible. Let me cite a couple of examples.

1) "...some of her [Lois Mailou Jones] most famous paintings were of the Garden Luxembourg, Paris Bridges and cityscapes also painted by the Monet, Manet and Sisley who were some of the leaders this art movement."

2) "The Middle Passage migrates were force to leave Africa crossing the Atlantic Ocean under dangerous conditions. They had no legal documents identifying their names or families. The migrates were brought to serve as slaves." 

As far as I have been able to determine "migrates" is NOT a noun, but a verb. 

There is nothing about "The Third Migration" that I can recommend to anyone. But - save yourself from reading it.

Almost to Freedom by Vaunda Nelson is an amazing, inspirational fictional book told through a rag doll's perspective. The rag doll's name is Sally and she is telling the story of a young girl and her family as they escape from slavery and start a new journey called the Underground Railroad, which to them, is a way to freedom. The young girl who owns Sally builds a friendship with her and takes her every where she goes, until one night in a safe house, Sally accidently gets left behind. Throughout this story, the reader sees how powerful freedom is. Even though this is a fictional book, it does have some truth behind the words. I would read this to second grade through fourth grade. I would read this book during Black History Month so my students will understand the meaning behind this special holiday.

Lexile Level: 530L