Not Without Laughter

Not Without Laughter
Adult fiction
"He understood then why many old Negroes said: 'Take all this
world and give me Jesus.' It was because they couldn't get this world
anyway--it belonged to the white folks. They alone had the power to
give or withhold at their back doors...and no door at all for Negroes
if they chose to go into Wright's Hotel or the New Albert restaurant..."
You probably know of Langston Hughes' poetry. What's less well
known is that he also wrote novels. His first novel, Not Without
Laughter, came out in 1930. It's the coming-of-age story of Sandy,
the grandchild in a three generation household.
Hager, the grandmother, was born into slavery. She earns a
living doing white folks' laundry, an arduous process from drawing
well water through washboard scrubbing to ironing. She feels that
People of Color will be able to rise through education, hard work, and
respectability. (In contrast to a close friend whose community was
burned to the ground by whites angered by People of Color having stuff
like painted houses and productive land and considers that route to be
futile).
Middle child, Anjee, Sandy's mother, cleans and cooks for a very
mean white woman. Most of the time she misses her roving husband,
Jimboy, who spends very little time at home and has trouble holding
down jobs. (Hager believes she'd be better off without him.)
Younger daughter, Harriett, really worries Hager. She drops out
of school. She hangs out with a fast crown in the Bottoms. She
disobeys. Although they fight often, there is a lot of love between
Hager and Harriett.
Ironically, Hager is most alienated from Tempy, the daughter who
finished high school, got a respectable job, and married "well", the
only one who actually followed her advice. Tempy lives in an upper
class black neighborhood, very rarely visits, and only associates with
the "right" people. She's even ditched the Baptist church to become an
Episcopalian.
Sandy experiences plenty of racism. In one really heartbreaking
episode a new amusement park advertises a day when all children will
get in free. The Black children dress in their Sunday best, only to
learn that it's White kids only.
Don't let the fact that the book was written 90 years ago put
you off. It has aged better than most of its vintage with a
protagonist it's impossible not to care about.
On a purrrsonal note, I hope you had a great weekend. I surely did.
The highlight was Sunday. Eugene and I went on one of our road trips
driving around Maine. It was a blue sky sunny day. The scenery was
gorgeous. We stopped at yard sales. I scored one of my best finds
ever--a meowing cat clock. Every hour has a picture of a cat--the 12
most popular breeds. And every hour there is a meow. I got other
cool stuff including a cat coffee mug. Then on the way home we got
ice creams. We ordered mediums and they were huge. I got Maine
blueberry. It was delicious. So it was a super special fun day.
(Jules)
That is a gorgeous clock. (Tobago).
A great big shout out goes out to Eugene.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway



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