This book is about the life and times of a black family. A compelling family history
that shows the power of education to change people’s lives by one of America’s most
eminent black educators. This inspiring family success story centers on an exceptional
women, Maggie Comer, whose American dream brought her from abject poverty in the
rural South to become the mother of four outstanding achievers. Told first through
Maggie’s own words, then through those of her son James a child psychiatrist and
brilliant educator, it’s an unforgettable chronicle of courage and resourcefulness, of
pride and achievement, of daring to dream despite the …show more content…
Maggie fought hard to get herself out. After a
childhood of hunger and abuse, at sixteen she made her escape. Maggie’s odyssey led
her north to the steel towns of Indiana, where she met the Alabama preacher’s son who
would become her husband, Hugh Comer, as near perfect man as there can be. From
him, she learned that patience, a little guile and a lot of hard work, she could make her
dream a reality. Together, the two built a stable and sustaining family and raised four
children, whom Maggie had to put through college alone after her beloved Hugh died.
Uneducated, unskilled, working as a domestic and an elevator operator, she proudly
watched those four children earn a total of thirteen college degrees.
This book was moving and dramatic for me because it shows how people find the
the grit to succeed, despite the odds stacked against them, Maggie Comer’s testimony
reveals that the American dream, a dream of education, freedom and opportunity for all
people is very much alive. Despite living in a rag-tag household following the death