Re-emergence of a Harlem Renaissance gem

Limited amounts of literature existed in the early 1900s to provide authentic, culturally centered images, stories, and information about Black people. This literary drought changed considerably when a group of talented writers, artists, intellectuals, and activists recognized the need to create artistic products for children. An oppositional philosophy guided their efforts, which reflected the self-emancipatory stance of the “New Negro.” W. E. B. Du Bois, one of America’s premier intellectuals, Jessie Fauset, teacher and novelist, and Augustus Dill, researcher and creative artist, were the living embodiment of the New Negro philosophy. They combined their considerable talents to create a magazine for Black children or “the children of the sun” as Du Bois referred to them in the children’s pages of The Crisis magazine, the official publication of the NAACP. They christened the new children’s magazine The Brownies’ Book (1920–21). Diane Johnson-Feelings deserves accolades for culling selections from the defunct magazine and resurrecting some of its best works in an anthology titled The Best of the Brownies’ Book.

Johnson-Feelings details the status of Blacks in children’s literature. As she points out, premier examples of children’s literature, for example, St. Nicholas magazine, rarely deviated from images of Blacks as pickaninnies, mammies, and buffoons. Du Bois et al. encouraged the creation of artistic and literary works that were original, creative, authentic, and representative of the diversity found among Blacks. They also wanted to nurture and guide the transformation of children into men and women dedicated to racial uplift. Such sentiments were radical for the historic period. Many of the dominant images were malicious and stereotyped. The creators of The Brownies’ Book magazine faced significant odds.

Johnson-Feelings cites numerous reasons for creating the anthology. Some parallel the reasons advanced by Du Bois in 1919 when he announced the creation of the magazine. Among these are the quality of the literature, monthly columns, and features, the editors’ ability to combine entertainment with education, and the editors’ gentle inculcation of a philosophical perspective that would enable readers to withstand the emotional and physical effects of racism. Such commonality of purpose prompts reflection about the continuing literary and socio-cultural conditions that cause comparable views more than seventy-five years later.

The seeming abundance of literature featuring Blacks, the mantra of cultural diversity, and the emergence of “multicultural literature” can create the impression that children’s literature no longer reflects the “all-white world” identified by Nancy Larrick (1965). More critically, exhortations decrying “ethnic balkanization” may convince some that The Best of The Brownies’ Book is another example of racial cheerleading. Neither view is accurate. Current data compiled by Ginnie Moore Kruse and Kathleen T. Horning of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC Choices 1996) indicate that the number of books, authors, and illustrators increased; publishers adopted marketing techniques that improved the visibility of the literature; and professional journals included more reviews and critical essays examining the literature’s merit and curricular utility. On the other hand, they argue that history may be repeated and the literature will become a passing fad because of a lack of institutionalization. This reincarnation of The Brownies’ Book should not fall victim to the whims of those who follow fads. The anthology deserves an active life among children and adults.

The Best of The Brownies’ Book is exceptional. The anthology consists of five sections: an introduction written by Marian Wright Edelman (founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund), preface, list of notable contributors, selections from the twenty-four issues of the magazine including a facsimile of the April 1921 issue, and an afterword.

Edelman’s introduction recounts her personal reading history which also parallels the ideas advanced by Du Bois and Johnson-Feelings. She developed a “sense of boundless possibility” because her family provided reading materials that introduced her to the “intellectual giants of the race”; caused her to recognize and escape the strictures of race, gender, class, and materialism; and created a sense of self based on love and...