  A compilation of hundreds of word stories and histories that have appeared in CALLIOPE magazine duri … (more info) Paperback - $10.95 |
Teacher's Guide for Don't Hold Me Back: My Life and ArtIn many ways, Winfred Rembert is an ordinary man who does extraordinary things. His life story is one of perseverance and determination. See if you agree. Winfred's mother really struggled. Because she wanted her son to have a good life, she gave him to her aunt, Winfred's great-aunt. He called this woman Mama. Mama's granddaughter Lorraine helped take care of him. Lots of kids are raised by grandparents or other family members. Sometimes these arrangements are called "informal adoptions."
What is your earliest memory from your childhood? Draw or paint it. Or, if you prefer, write a poem or a couple of pages about that earliest memory. What makes it yours alone? What does your memory have in common with your friends'?Picking cotton was hard work for little pay. Winfred's Mama worked five days a week and sometimes a half-day on Saturday. Like many children during this period, Winfred had to go to work instead of going to school. Sharecroppers are people who live on the land and work the crops for someone else. They do not own the house they live in or the equipment they use. Everything belongs to the landowner. The landowner charges the tenants for seeds, tools, food, and supplies. Workers are almost always in debt. The system was not so different from slavery.
Are there any characters in your neighborhood? Someone with a nickname? Someone who has an unusual talent or gift? A quirky behavior or trait that is theirs alone?Winfred made toys in the playlot behind the house JT had built for Mama. Sometimes he swapped them for store-bought toys with his friends. There was one toy he wouldn't trade.
How is your life the same or different from theirs?Working in the cotton fields was one of the few job opportunities for black folks in Cuthbert, Georgia. The pay was low. You had to ask permission to get a drink of water or use the bathroom. The overseer carried a rifle. Workers ate lunch in the fields. (They called it "dinner.") It was a time when children were seen and not heard. Winfred could listen to adults talk about going north for a better life. The mass movement of African Americans from the South to the North in the early part of the 20th century was called the Great Migration. Entire families and neighborhoods moved north seeking a better life. Winfred and Mama once saw a man and his son hanging from a tree. One of Winfred's paintings honors those victims and other people - men, women, and children - who have been lynched. What type of injustice have you witnessed? Draw or paint it. Or write a poem or a couple of pages about it.People knew that participating in civil rights demonstrations was dangerous. Winfred went to a demonstration where things started to go very bad. When whites started firing their guns, he ran into an alley where he found a car with the key in it. He drove off and got arrested. The police beat him and he fought back. He stayed in jail for several months. There were many indignities. The guards called prisoners by their numbers - not by their names. Winfred served time on a chain gang, shackled to an iron ball. Some good things happened, too. He learned some useful skills and met the woman he would marry. Winfred struggled to change his life and become successful.
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