This is the blog for the Bentari Project.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
In this passage, Bentari describes the ancient Mbara “Lightning Bird ritual” to some of the German soldiers who had recently tried to plunder his tribe’s hidden treasure. They sought to make him their prisoner, but now the boy befriended them: Bentari spoke with such animation that the men were raptly intent, even Immer who needed a translation. “T...
Read full postTuesday, February 22, 2011
I hope that you enjoy the entries below that celebrate African-American & Black History Month. (beginning with entry posted Saturday January 22, 2011) We began in my hometown Portland, Oregon where my young life and neighborhood were both segregated. Lucky for me, super parents, great role-models, my young friends and the Civil Rights Movement cure...
Read full postSunday, February 20, 2011
From the Abolition Movement to the Civil Rights Movement; from the Haitian Revolution to the Egyptian; from French to American Independence; from Spartacus to Frederick Douglas; from Sojourner Truth to Julia Ward Howe, to Harriet Tubman, to Susan B. Anthony, to Helen Keller, to Rosa Parks, to Coretta Scott King—and, to Martin. Yes, to Martin. Human...
Read full postSaturday, February 19, 2011
As you write, choosing character names can be a fun little side-story. In my book, Bentari , I used names from my own family tree (Badollet), a friend’s name (Farley Maxwell who married us—became narrator Max Farleigh), and the name of a personal hero (Wangari Maathai—Kenya’s “Mother of Trees”). But the majority of names were conjured out of my min...
Read full postSunday, February 13, 2011
Still in Africa, we migrate west from Wangari’s Kenya to Congo. Still honoring Black History Month, we share a modern story about “the worst place on Earth to be a woman”—a place that happens to include the setting for Bentari. Lisa Shannon [1] is a hero. When you follow heroes as I try to do, you often learn that they have role-models, too. And yo...
Read full postThursday, February 10, 2011
Across the sea, to Africa—the birthplace of Humankind! This Black History story is about one of my newest heroes—one who is still making history. Wangari Maathai [1] was the first East African woman to obtain her PHD. She was born in the region where Beryl Markham [2] lived, but Beryl was on the other side of the “social order”. Wangari had to buck...
Read full postTuesday, February 08, 2011
Now sail into the Caribbean, where Columbus landed on Dec. 5, 1492. His discovery was a death knell for the Taino and Arawakan people who dwelled there and called their island Ayiti [1] . The name would survive as Haiti [2] , but the people would not. This discovery also opened the “historical door” for the slave trade between Europe, Africa and th...
Read full postSaturday, February 05, 2011
Our journey takes us back—along the path through America’s history that sadly includes over two centuries of slave labor imported from Africa. Our journey takes us south—toward the Caribbean. Our journey takes us towards Jim Crow [1] times, when a People was treated with intentional cruelty and equally tragic neglect. These were the times in which ...
Read full postThursday, February 03, 2011
A self-described “free mulatto man”, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable [1] (1745-1818) is known as the “Founder of Chicago”. Much is known about this strong man—much is not known or is debated. Yet his important place in history is secure, since he is undeniably the first recorded non-native permanent settler at the mouth of the Chicago River. French ex...
Read full postTuesday, February 01, 2011
February (in the U.S.—October in the U.K.) is African-American & Black History Month [1] . To honor this important annual event, the Bentari Project hopes you are enjoying these stories and thoughts about some truly heroic men and women.This is the story of two men who both lived in or around Chicago. They were not contemporaries, but their lifetim...
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