‘The Maid Narratives’: Stories, no matter how small, are important

When we think of leaders in the civil rights movement, we often think of people like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X - powerful men and women who stood up and called others to action.

We don't often pay enough attention to the smaller stories of men and women who worked everyday, in their own ways, to make the world a better place.

In 'The Maid Narratives” by Dr. Katherine van Wormer, Dr. David W. Jackson III and Dr. Charletta Sudduth, the authors do just this by exploring the lives of black domestics and white families in the Jim Crow south.

The authors encourage readers to think of the African-American narrators when reading the lines of Langston Hughes: 'Children, I come back today / to tell you a story of the long dark way / That I had to climb, that I had to know / In order that the race might live and grow.”

While 'The Maid Narratives” is an important, beautifully-written text, some may find the beginning a bit dense, with a lengthy academic literature review and methods section. Consider beginning with chapter 5, which provides a wonderful overview to common themes and an introduction to the interviews. From here readers can then move to the interviews themselves, which begin back in chapter 4.

This is not to say you should skip the opening sections. (I found the chapter 'History and Context” to be incredibly insightful.) Every chapter of this book is important; however, when approaching this text, whether for academic purposes or personal gain, readers should feel free to move around.

Hearing the stories from the African-American and white narrators is thought-provoking and inspiring, showing that all stories are important.

IF YOU GO: To honor African-American women for Black History Month, two authors of 'The Maid Narratives: Black Domestics and White Families in the Jim Crow South” - Katherine van Wormer and Charletta Sudduth - will discuss the narratives collected from women of the Great Migration who came to Iowa from the Jim Crow South.

What: The Maid Narratives: Honoring Women of the Great Migration

When: 6 p.m. Thursday

Where: African American Museum of Iowa, 55 12th Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids

Cost: Free

For more information: Blackiowa.org