Great article! I had no idea about this history, and that makes me really sad. I'm reminded of the outrage I felt when reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
It definitely pushed my rage buttons, but I couldn’t put it down. I read it shortly after it came out back when I was still in bookselling. It’s one of the first books that pushed me down the history path because I was stunned by the history of America that I wasn’t taught. I took advanced history classes all through school. That education feels like propaganda based on what I know now.
My vision is blurred with tears. We haven't come all the way out of racism, but we've come to appreciate and compensate black stars. Will the US ever be free of racism? I cannot imagine it happening in my lifetime. And that brings tears to me.
"journalists frequently conflated Baby Esther Jones with the R&B singer Little Esther Phillips (born Esther Mae Jones)."
Esther Phillips herself had a complicated life, but that's another story.
Reid Mitenbuler's 2020 book "Wild Minds", on the early days of animation, spends a substantial amount of time discussing the Fleischer/Kane/Jones trial.
Great article! I had no idea about this history, and that makes me really sad. I'm reminded of the outrage I felt when reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
I haven’t read that I will have to check it out.
It definitely pushed my rage buttons, but I couldn’t put it down. I read it shortly after it came out back when I was still in bookselling. It’s one of the first books that pushed me down the history path because I was stunned by the history of America that I wasn’t taught. I took advanced history classes all through school. That education feels like propaganda based on what I know now.
I am always shocked, here in the UK we constantly teach the atrocities of the Nazi’s but not those of the Japanese.
My vision is blurred with tears. We haven't come all the way out of racism, but we've come to appreciate and compensate black stars. Will the US ever be free of racism? I cannot imagine it happening in my lifetime. And that brings tears to me.
I’m not sure it will happen anywhere at the moment especially as our politicians like to divide to conquer.
"journalists frequently conflated Baby Esther Jones with the R&B singer Little Esther Phillips (born Esther Mae Jones)."
Esther Phillips herself had a complicated life, but that's another story.
Reid Mitenbuler's 2020 book "Wild Minds", on the early days of animation, spends a substantial amount of time discussing the Fleischer/Kane/Jones trial.