Genre: Historical Fiction
Time and Place: 1898; Wilmington, NC
Historical Event: The Wilmington Massacre, aka The Wilmington Insurrection, aka The Wilmington coup d'etat
Point of View: 1st person, 11 year old Moses Thomas
"RIDE AN EAGLE AND SOAR"
Aside from the beautiful cover art which captures the mood and tenor of this powerful story, Barbara Wright has given readers a terrifying glimpse into the racially motivated riots known as the Wilmington Massacre. It is the era of Reconstruction. Moses Thomas' father is a city alderman in Wilmington, NC, and a reporter for the only Negro Daily in the South The Wilmington Daily. Moses' mother works for a rich white family, and his grandmother Boo Nanny, a former slave, still clings to the old ways. Moses is a typical boy who experiences both subtle and overt instances of racism, but under the guidance of his father he is learning how to stand firm against prejudice even when he is powerless to overcome it. At the time of the Insurrection, Wilmington had a strong black middle class, a black majority population, and a bi-racial Republican Party. The elections of 1898 (for city and county seats) were usurped by white supremacists who made an assault on the city and its black citizens, driving out the elected officials and businessmen. The result was the election of a democratically controlled city government which eventually influenced the state legislature to establish the first Jim Crow laws in North Carolina. Wright has written a story that balances history and fiction; horror and humor; language and ignorance; friendship and hatred; democracy and vigilantism. This is a story that soars.
This is a period of time not often featured in historical fiction. The fictional Thomas family perfectly captures the Reconstruction era - the father seeks education as the path to a prosperous future for the Negro race, Boo Nanny is skeptical and holds fast to slave superstitions and habits, Mrs. Thomas tries to strike a balance between the two, and Moses represents an uncertain future - a future clouded by the shadow of a crow, Jim Crow. A powerful story.
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