Description
BACK HOME THE SAME DAY is a mother’s story that begins in Chicago at the dawn of the Great Migration as African Americans fled the Jim Crow South. Her name is Dorothy, and the narrative unfolds both in her voice and through the perspective of her son. This melding of biography, memoir, and collaboration is also told through the lens of generations past, sharing the legend and lore that compelled the family from field to factory and beyond on its journey through the 20th century.
Dorothy’s story is one of striving and even thriving in spite of the challenges of newly realized opportunity. It is also the story of the affairs of the heart – a story as old as time.
At its essence, BACK HOME THE SAME DAY is an intimate portrait of boundless love, the disappointment of shattered dreams, and of the glory that comes in sharing the stories with the next generation.
Rosalind Hendersn Mustafa (verified owner) –
This treasure of a memoir is an ode, a poetic song to be sung. Back Home the Same Day intertwines history, lives well lived, family triumphs and trials, unrequited dreams, coming of age…. it intermingles poetry, prose and telling of stories always under the umbrella of a mother’s deep love and strength and a son’s reverence for her stories and lessons. It is a tale so American, yet unique in its telling; the telling of Africans in America is America. We are the fabric of this nation which is what it is today because of us.
Back Home the Same Day brings us struggles against odds and the joy of having done so. We learn about the horizons of hope dashed by disappointment. We learn about resiliency and optimism. But most of all, this memoir gives us love with all of its joy, pain, sorrow and promise Thank you Donald Brooks Jones for a lyrical journey and your mother’s incredible poetry.
There are places where transition between events or scenes is slightly awkward, a tad disconnected. The reader is gently jolted till the story is righted. These moments do not detract from the delight I felt reading each page. The book is well edited and organized and moves at a proper pace to hold interest. Not all details are revealed sequentially which also adds greatly to intrigue. Job well done. I loved that Mrs. Jones’s poetry introduces a chapter or gives voice and perspective to their experiences. What a gift she had for ‘understating loudly’.
I traced my own life and marveled at the unexpected coincidences. Years earlier, my family lived blocks from the Jones family, and my parents’ attorney was also theirs. Our fathers attended Tilden Technical High School several years apart, but still at a time when Black boys with ambition and technical talent did not often have that chance. We moved to the same co operative, diverse community. I regret I did not spend time at the feet of Mrs. Jones to hear her memories that would have filled my mind with wonder. I am glad to have read of her life and that of her family. Such a joy.