It's Good to Be Black

Copyright

Copyright © 1953 by Ruby Berkley Goodwin; renewed 1981 by James C. Goodwin Forewords copyright © 2013 by the Board of Trustees, Southern Illinois University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 16 15 14 13 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Goodwin, Ruby Berkley. It’s good to be Black / Ruby Berkley Goodwin. pages cm. ISBN 978-0-8093-3122-2 (paperback : alkaline paper) ISBN 0-8093-3122-5 (paperback : alkaline paper) ISBN 978-0-8093-3123-9 (ebook) (print) ISBN 0-8093-3123-3 (ebook) (print) 1. Goodwin, Ruby Berkley—Childhood and youth. 2. African American girls—Illinois—Du Quoin—Biography. 3. African Americans—Illinois—Du Quoin—Biography. 4. Du Quoin (Ill.)—Biography. 5. Du Quoin (Ill.)—Social life and customs. 6. Du Quoin (Ill.)—Race relations. I. Title. F549.D8G66 2013 305.896'073077393—dc23 2012036223 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. This, the sixtieth-anniversary edition of our mother’s book, is dedicated to our father, Lee Goodwin. His was a love that “surpasseth all understanding.” Coupled with the creative imagination of our mother, this love has been passed on to their four granddaughters, manifesting itself in their poetical inclinations and in their characters. Each of them has written a short foreword for this edition. James, Ethel, and Paul ...