Don't Hold Me Back: My Life and Art

Sometimes a book is more than a book - it is a way for readers to meet an extraordinary person and discover an exceptional life. Don't Hold Me Back: My Life and Art features Rembert's own voice and powerful paintings as he shares with a new generation of young people his story and his passionate commitment to self-improvement. Winfred Rembert grew up in the 1950s in rural Georgia as the child of field workers whose lives were little better than enslavement. As a young man, he was nearly lynched, and served seven years on a prison chain gang. Yet he constantly found ways to create, to invent, to uplift. As a child, he made toys from pieces of junk at the town dump. In prison, he watched a leather worker and learned to carve and paint the leather himself. Reminiscent of the work of Jacob Lawrence and Horace Pippin, the paintings' rich, deep colors and poignant details tell a story of personal courage and exceptional talent. At the same time, Rembert shows how the civil rights movement was not just a matter of famous speeches and marches, but a product of the bonds of the black community and the unbreakable spirit of individuals who would not allow any threat, chain, or jail to hold them back.

Hardcover  40 pgs.  Full Color
Suggested for ages: 9-14
Product Code: KBK62703