8/12/10

Suitcase Full of Dreams

Hoy Kersh

Show Description:
Reflections of Civil Rights Era
Child of civil rights movement, now peace activist, encourages Americans to move forward, even in this Obama era
(California) In celebration of Personal History Month in May, Cozilove Enterprises releases a memoir that illustrates what living in the segregated South was like for a young black girl. In Suitcase Full of Dreams, Hoy Kersh gives readers access to the sorrows and joys of growing up in the dirt-road, Jim Crow South in the 1940s and early 50s, just prior to the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout the book, Kersh shares her personal memories, including those of various historical figures who inspired her - Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr. - all from a child’s perspective. She spent most of her days fending off the Ku Klux Klan, questioning authority and avoiding her mother’s heavy hand, but Kersh still managed to remain compassionate – and determined.

Born in Clarksdale, Miss., birthplace of the blues, Kersh’s father was the son of a German sheriff who had a black mistress. The harsh reality of racism first hit her when her grandfather was murdered because of their relationship. The Klan drove Kersh’s family out of town, forcing them into Mobile, Ala. where she spent the duration of her childhood. Her writing captures the anguish of the time:

That night, while Grandpa’s soul was leaving his body and his blood bathed the damp ground, the Klansmen came to our house. There must have been thirty or forty men dressed in white robes. They were a sinister crowd. With hoods over their faces, they carried torches and shotguns. Surrounding the house, one of them called Grandma out to the front porch and told her (to leave). The dark forces had their way and we were running for our lives. I was way too little to understand that night of terror, but the tale has been told so many times. I can see it, taste the fear, feel Grandma’s heart beat way too fast, and see Mama’s young woman face become old for the moment.

– Excerpt from Suitcase Full of Dreams

http://www.hoykersh.com

Guest Bio:
Growing up in the Deep South prior to the Civil Rights Movement, Hoy Kersh devoured books and learning, and despite being an African-American girl in 1950s Alabama, she was never afraid to speak her mind. At the tender age of 16, Kersh left behind her family and the South for Chicago, where she struck out to pursue equality, truth and opportunity.

"I wanted to leave hot, ignorant, snuff-dipping, tobacco-chewing Alabama. Hell, everybody seemed to move in slow motion to me, slow, scared. There were too many killings and beatings. The law was definitely not on our side. Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers, new leaders, countless voices were rising, and I was stuck in the quicksand of the South," writes Kersh in her memoir, Suitcase Full of Dreams, which released in February to coincide with Black History Month. "The train at night wailed in the distance, promising faraway lands, sweet streets paved with gold, and kind faces not prejudiced against you at every step. Me, the naïve dreamer, head full of hopes and visions, I was leaving."

Years after fleeing the turmoil of Civil Rights-era Alabama, Kersh became a songwriter and music performer, eventually producing two albums and touring the country with reggae artists such as Yellow Man and Everton Blender. She has also emceed Reggae on the River, an annual reggae festival in California.

Inspired by Bob Marley nearly forty years ago, Kersh moved to Jamaica where she built an organic farm and taught reading and writing to adults at the local night school. Kersh has lived there on and off ever since.

Now living in the woods of Northern California, Kersh works with students at a rural Pacific Northwest school on a video documentary about logging and the regional water crisis, issues close to her heart. Her writing has inspired the students to positive action in local environmental matters.