New Book 1012 Natchez by Renowned Storyteller and Author Njoki Mcelroy Ph.D
In 1012 Natchez: A Memoir of Grace, Hardhip and Love, Njoki McElroy recalls growing up in the South in the '30s; coming of age in New Orleans at Xavier University, the only Catholic university founded for blacks in the U.S.; and migrating to Chicago right before the end of World War II.
North Chicago, IL, May 05, 2010 --(PR.com)-- A Personal Struggle for Equality: "My Parents said deep roots make strong trees... Negroes did things in the North that they would never think of doing in the South."
Growing up in the 1930's and '40s in the heat and oppression of Texas, Njoki McElroy overcame the odds to rise to the top academically, spritually and emotionally. At sixteen, she left a sheltered childhood for a protected existence at Xavier University in New Orleans. Her graduation present from her grandmother was a trip to Chicago to visit her Xavier roommate whose parents lived in Chicago. She was to stay two weeks and come home. But anxious to flee the nest and believing that better opportunities awaited her in Chicago, she decided to stay.
Through her eyes we see Chicago during the heyday of the Great Migration: thriving businesses in Chicago's Black Belt; rent parties where McKinley Morganfield aka Muddy Waters and other Mississippi transplants held sway, and jumping nightclubs like the El Grotto and the Rum Boogie where you could catch a young Sarah Vaughn or T-Bone Walker any night of the week. Meanwhile Chicago's segregated racial policies held blacks in a tight vise of squalid living conditions. So much protection left her unprepared to to confront the vice and discrimination of Chicago.
After nearly losing her children in a fire in a basement apartment, Njoki leaves her husband behind in Chicago and seeks refuge at 1012 Natchez, her grandparents spacious home in Sherman Texas. Back home memories resurface and lessons are remembered. She eventually embraces her challenges with grace, however, rekindling love, enjoying family and earning a post-graduate degree. Njoki McElroy's memoir is a moving reflection of perseverance, family devotion and cultural and historical ties that will make you pause to appreciate your own family roots and cherish your own personal freedoms. Recipes and photos recall a proud past of gracious living in spite of segregation and Jim Crow laws.
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Growing up in the 1930's and '40s in the heat and oppression of Texas, Njoki McElroy overcame the odds to rise to the top academically, spritually and emotionally. At sixteen, she left a sheltered childhood for a protected existence at Xavier University in New Orleans. Her graduation present from her grandmother was a trip to Chicago to visit her Xavier roommate whose parents lived in Chicago. She was to stay two weeks and come home. But anxious to flee the nest and believing that better opportunities awaited her in Chicago, she decided to stay.
Through her eyes we see Chicago during the heyday of the Great Migration: thriving businesses in Chicago's Black Belt; rent parties where McKinley Morganfield aka Muddy Waters and other Mississippi transplants held sway, and jumping nightclubs like the El Grotto and the Rum Boogie where you could catch a young Sarah Vaughn or T-Bone Walker any night of the week. Meanwhile Chicago's segregated racial policies held blacks in a tight vise of squalid living conditions. So much protection left her unprepared to to confront the vice and discrimination of Chicago.
After nearly losing her children in a fire in a basement apartment, Njoki leaves her husband behind in Chicago and seeks refuge at 1012 Natchez, her grandparents spacious home in Sherman Texas. Back home memories resurface and lessons are remembered. She eventually embraces her challenges with grace, however, rekindling love, enjoying family and earning a post-graduate degree. Njoki McElroy's memoir is a moving reflection of perseverance, family devotion and cultural and historical ties that will make you pause to appreciate your own family roots and cherish your own personal freedoms. Recipes and photos recall a proud past of gracious living in spite of segregation and Jim Crow laws.
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Contact
Njoki McElroy, Ph.D
Marian McElroy
8476894437
www.njokimcelroy.com
Marian McElroy
8476894437
www.njokimcelroy.com
Contact
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