{"product_id":"delta-fragments-the-recollections-of-a-sharecroppers-son-paperback","title":"Delta Fragments: The Recollections of a Sharecropper's Son - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJohn O. Hodges\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe son of black sharecroppers, John Oliver Hodges attended segregated schools in Greenwood, Mississippi, in the 1950s and '60s, worked in plantation cotton fields, and eventually left the region to earn multiple degrees and become a tenured university professor. Both poignant and thought provoking, \u003ci\u003eDelta Fragments \u003c\/i\u003eis Hodges's autobiographical journey back to the land of his birth. Brimming with vivid memories of family life, childhood friendships, the quest for knowledge, and the often brutal injustices of the Jim Crow South, it also offers an insightful meditation on the present state of race relations in America. \u003cbr\u003e Hodges has structured the book as a series of brief but revealing vignettes grouped into two main sections. In part 1, \"Learning,\" he introduces us to the town of Greenwood and to his parents, sister, and myriad aunts, uncles, cousins, teachers, and schoolmates. He tells stories of growing up on a plantation, dancing in smoky juke joints, playing sandlot football and baseball, journeying to the West Coast as a nineteen-year-old to meet the biological father he never knew while growing up, and leaving family and friends to attend Morehouse College in Atlanta. In part 2, \"Reflecting,\" he connects his firsthand experience with broader themes: the civil rights movement, Delta blues, black folkways, gambling in Mississippi, the vital role of religion in the African American community, and the perplexing problems of poverty, crime, and an underfunded educational system that still challenge black and white citizens of the Delta. \u003cbr\u003e Whether recalling the assassination of Medgar Evers (whom he knew personally), the dynamism of an African American church service, or the joys of reconnecting with old friends at a biennial class reunion, Hodges writes with a rare combination of humor, compassion, and--when describing the injustices that were all too frequently inflicted on him and his contemporaries--righteous anger. But his ultimate goal, he contends, is not to close doors but to open them: to inspire dialogue, to start a conversation, \"to be provocative without being insistent or definitive.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn O. Hodges\u003c\/b\u003e is associate professor emeritus of religious studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he was also the chair of African and African American Studies from 1997 to 2002. His articles have appeared in the \u003ci\u003eCLA Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eLangston Hughes Review, Soundings\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Southern\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eQuarterly\u003c\/i\u003e. He holds a PhD in religion and literature from the University of Chicago Divinity School.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 248\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.55 x 8.99 x 6.11 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 01, 2014\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53756072919373,"sku":"9781621900863","price":33.85,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0927\/3304\/7117\/files\/yfvayZ-icb9781621900863.webp?v=1776722039","url":"https:\/\/belfastbooks.us\/products\/delta-fragments-the-recollections-of-a-sharecroppers-son-paperback","provider":"belfastbooks.us","version":"1.0","type":"link"}