First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

The great scholar W.E.B. Du Bois once wrote about the problem of race in America and what he called “double-consciousness,” a sensitivity that eery African American possesses to survive.

Since childhood, Ailey Pearl Garfield has understood Du Bois’s world all too well. Bearing the names of two formidable Black Americans – the revered choreographer Alvin Ailey and her great-grandmother Pearl, the descendant of enslaved Africans and tenant farmers – Ailey carries Du Bois’s problem on her shoulders. Ailey is reared in the North but spends summers in the small Georgia town of Chicasetta, where her mother’s family has fought a battle for belonging that is made even more difficult by a hovering trauma and the whispers of women – her mother, Belle; her sister, Lydia; and a maternal line reaching back two centuries – who urge Ailey to succeed in their stead.

To come to terms with her own identity, Ailey embarks on a journey through her family’s past, uncovering the shocking tales of generations of ancestors – Indigenous, Black, and white – in the Deep South. Along the way, Ailey must learn to embrace her full heritage, a legacy of oppression and resistance, bondage and independence, cruelty and resilience, that is the story – and the song – of America itself.

Happy Friday everyone! To my Chinese friends, 恭喜發財! But I wish the same for everyone, not just my Chinese and Taiwanese peers. I hope that the Year of the Dragon will be a roaring one, a year that is filled with redemption, good news, and blessings for everyone. In celebration of the Chinese New Year which falls on February 10, today has been declared a national holiday here in the Philippines. This is a great way to end the work week I guess. For those who had to report to the office, I hope you are all ending the work week on a high note. More importantly, I hope that everyone is doing great, physically, mentally, and spiritually. To everyone who was able to achieve something over the week, may it be small or big, or may it be just simply making it through the week, congratulations.

But before I continue with my long weekend, let me cap another week of blogging with a fresh First Impression Friday update. This update has become an integral part of my weekly blogging routine. I simply cannot switch to the weekend without publishing a fresh update even though I update late sometimes. First Impression Friday updates also allow me to process the books that I am reading. It provides a breathing room to reflect and even gain better insight. It is also a springboard for my book review which often comes late. HAHA. Reading-wise, my 2024 reading journey has been prolific so far although I slowed down in the past couple of weeks as I am reading lengthy books. My current read, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’ The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is certainly thick, with nearly 800 pages.

It was in 2021 – I am still reading catch-up on books published during the current decade – when I first encountered Jefers and her novel The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois. I actually thought it was an old book until I realized that it was a recent release; the book’s title does sound a little “old” if you get my drift. Anyway, the book received critical praise from both critics and readers alike, with even some literary pundits and publications listing it as one of the best books of 2021. This naturally piqued my interest although it took me two years to finally obtain a copy of the book and read it. The book, I learned, was Jeffers’s debut novel although Jeffers has been a mainstay in the literary scene. She has established a reputation as a poet and essayist before finally venturing into full-length prose.

Jeffers’ debut novel follows two major storylines. One was set in the past and the other is set in modern times. The story opens in the past, in a Native American settlement called Creek. The readers are regaled with details of how the lives of the Creek Native Americans intersected with the lives of enslaved Africans. Both had the misfortune of being brutalized and exploited by European traders and colonizers. Throughout history, the Native American village started losing its historical identity as it slowly transformed into a plantation. In time, the plantation grew and eventually became Chicasetta, a fictitious town in Georgia.

At the heart of the novel’s second major storyline – and by extension, the entire novel – was Ailey Pearl Garfield. She was only three years old when she was introduced by Jeffers. She was the youngest of three daughters of Mrs. Maybelle Lee Garfield and Dr. Geoffrey Louis Garfield; the eldest was Lydia while Carol Rose or Coco was the middle child. The family is currently residing in an urban area identified only as “the City.” However, Ailey’s earliest memories included annual trips to Chicasetta. Mrs. Garfield was born and raised in Chicasetta where her family still remains, including Ailey’s Uncle Root. We follow Ailey as she navigates a complicated world where racism has become prevalent; the Garfields are light-skinned but they have also been subjected to discrimination.

Race is a prevalent subject in the story and is its single main driver. As the story toggles between the present and the past, we read about the struggles of enslaved Africans in the plantations in the Deep South. This plotline starts with the story of Micco, a young man born to a Native American mother and a white father whom he was forced to kill to save his uncle, his mother’s twin. Micco eventually separated from his tribe, got married, and started tilling his farm. Then entered another white man, Samuel Pinchard. Samuel managed to convince Micco to transfer his farm’s deed to him. Micco, however, has no voice in the operations of his farm.

Meanwhile, in the present, Ailey was learning about romance, sex, and drug addiction. The latter does not really involve her but she brushes with it. But she was also plagued by memories of her childhood, of certain events that seemed unusual. We also read about Ailey’s struggles for acceptance and her devotion to her sister Lydia whom she looked up to. There was also a campus novel dimension to the story as Jeffers provided vivid details of African Americans’ college and university experiences. We read about initiation to fraternities and sororities which entailed hazing and pledging. But there is also another dimension to the story that makes it very compelling. Feminism, particularly Black feminism, was a leitmotif. Philosophies that shaped the Civil Rights movement were also subtly and astutely woven into the novel’s lush tapestry.

Jeffers provided each character’s backstory. This facet of the story provides glimpses into the characters and the lives they lead. Some of them experience sexual abuse as children. Worse, the adults who were supposed to look after the children’s welfare turned a blind eye. This trauma has a different impact on the lives of the characters. One character, for instance, grew abusive. He routinely raped young enslaved girls. He even purchased enslaved girls for this sole purpose. Another character grew up waylaid. She grew addicted to drugs and married a man selling cocaine. This has dire consequences.

I am more than halfway through the story which seems really complex as different elements converge and diverge and then converge eventually. There is a lot to unpack but Jeffers really has caught my attention. The rich background in poetry is shown in the quality of her prose. It is beautiful even though at times it can be brutal. I can’t wait to see how the story of Ailey and her ancestors – yes, while it was murky at the start, it eventually becomes palpable that the past will converge with the present – will come full circle. I am looking forward to how Jeffers spins this tail. How about you fellow reader? What book or books are you taking with you for the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy them. Again, happy weekend everyone!