Black-Eyed Peas for the Soul: Tales to Strengthen the African American Spirit and Encourage the Heart [Paperback]

Donna Marie Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 1997

To tell a story well, you have to live a story well -- with courage, persistence, and faith that everything's going to turn out all right. Black-Eyed Peas for the Soul is a collection of stories that reveals universal themes, as well as the unique perspectives of African Americans. The first collection of its kind, Black-Eyed Peas for the Soul boldly dispels the myth of a homogeneous Black culture. Diverse voices -- including those of Zora Neale Hurston, Dawn Turner Trice, and Frederick Douglass -- tell our stories of beginnings, wisdom, patience, hard work, excellence, joy, and miracles. Stories about love, healing, and atonement are told with insight, humor, and gritty honesty.

Arising from these distinct voices is the call for hope. Enjoy these stories and let them guide your soul to a place where you can find solace and draw nourishment, a place that can warm and soothe you, like a bowl of black-eyed peas.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At first, Donna Marie Williams resisted the title that her editor gave this book before it was assembled; she feared that it would seem like a rip-off of Chicken Soup for the Soul. Yet as she gathered inspirational stories from African Americans she began to see the wisdom in the title. "Black-eyed peas are not a comfort food like chicken soup," Williams explains. They are a hearty bean, representing grit, determination, and wisdom, "an excellent metaphor for the sojourn of the Africans in America." This collection of real-life stories, which includes contributions from Zora Neale Hurston, Maya Angelou, and Andrew Young, has the heartiness of unstrained truth while still managing to be satisfying and uplifting, just like a steaming bowl of hoppin' John.

From Library Journal

Williams (Sister Feelgood, Crown, 1996) carefully compiles over 60 of some of the most enriching stories told by African American heros and heroines. Many of the authors are well known, from Maya Angelou and Zora Neale Hurston to Shirley Chisholm, Dick Gregory, and Iyanla Vanzant. Most of these inspirational tales detail how African Americans have wrestled with some of life's most difficult dilemmas, including poverty, homelessness, incarceration, divorce, AIDS, racism, and dysfunctional families. Also included in this work are myths and folktales. Throughout, Williams uses the metaphor of a father teaching his grown daughter how to cook a good pot of black-eyed peas. Like that integral part of the African American diet, these stories warm the heart and fill the soul with so much hope and pride that they give energy and real solutions to African Americans and all people willing to take life's challenges head on. Recommended for YA and African American literature collections.?Demetria A. Harvin, "Hospital Medicine," New York
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Original edition (November 14, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684837455
• ISBN-13: 978-0684837451
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,120,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My blog, The Celebrity Editor (http://thecelebrityeditor.blogspot.com/), is for writing entrepreneurs (mostly self-published authors) who must produce content for their businesses and causes. I provide motivation and ideas on marketing, self-promotion, writing/editing, and self-publishing. I also provide writing, editing, and production management services. I've written self-help and inspirational books, including Sensual Celibacy (Simon & Schuster), Sister Feelgood (Crown), and Black-Eyed Peas for the Soul (Simon & Schuster).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The readings offer rare wisdom, knowledge and humour., May 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Black-Eyed Peas for the Soul: Tales to Strengthen the African American Spirit and Encourage the Heart (Paperback)

This unique book carries the reader into many worlds through the experiences of the writers. A reader is inspired by stories of faithfulness in varied relationships. Lessons about the kind of persistence that leads to life altering achievement are included from unexpected authors like George Washington Carver. It is good to read perspectives from African-Americans from many different disciplies and philosophies. I don't think we have heard enough about the presence of this book in the literary world. My suggeston to everyone is read it and improve the quality of your life. BLACK-EYED PEAS FOR THE SOUL IS A TREASURE.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stories for the soul, May 17, 2002

By 

"July Lady" (MS United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black-Eyed Peas for the Soul: Tales to Strengthen the African American Spirit and Encourage the Heart (Paperback)

If you are a fan of the Chicken soup books, You'll love Black-eyed peas for the soul, a collection of inspirationl, and stories of hope from african americans of every wake of life.