The Blacker the Berry by Joyce Carol Thomas

Source of book: Borrowed from the library

 

My youngest and I have enjoyed poetry together lately, specifically Custard and Company by Ogden Nash, and Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot. So, I thought I might pick up one from the library for Black History Month. 

 

The Blacker the Berry is a collaboration between poet Joyce Carol Thomas and illustrator Floyd Cooper. It is a pretty short book, with a series of poems all about skin color. Specifically, the different shades of black skin, from “purple” black to nearly “white,” Including the “red” of those with mixed African and Native American heritage, the “yellow” of biracial skin, and a number of shades along the continuum, which are treated within the metaphor of delicious and sweet things to eat. Hence the title, from the old saying, “The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice.” 

 

The book starts with the author (or narrator, as you prefer) asking her grandfather about what shade is Human. From there, it is a celebration of the spectrum of Black skin coloration that is deliciously positive and affirming and inclusive. 

 

Which means, probably, that a right-wing group somewhere in Florida is probably trying to get it banned. Sigh. 

 

We enjoyed it quite a bit, because the poems are fun, and roll off the tongue well, and are just so joyful. I guess maybe we don’t feel defensive about being white. And my kids have been puzzled and horrified to see how many people have become openly racist these days. It feels good to see positive messages to counteract all the hate and fear that certain politicians and groups have stoked lately to cling to power. The illustrations, with the various shades illustrated by vibrant children of the shades described, in motion and verve, are a perfect accompaniment. 

 

 

I won’t quote too many, because of copyright, and because I think the book is worth reading as a whole work of art, not as pieces. But I will quote a few. 

 

“The Blacker the Berry”

 

“The blacker the berry

The sweeter the juice”

 

I am midnight and berries

I call the silver stars at dusk

By moonrise they appear

And we turn berries into nectar

 

Because I am dark the moon and stars 

    shine brighter

Because berries are dark the juice is sweeter

 

Day couldn’t dawn without the night

Colors, without black, couldn’t sparkle

    quite so bright

 

“The blacker the berry

The sweeter the juice”

 

I am midnight and berries

 

What’s not to like about that? It is the perfect celebration of an embodiment that, for the past 500 years has been treated as lesser, less beautiful, less intelligent, less worthy. It is, in an age-appropriate way, a giant middle finger extended to the small-minded white supremacist culture and system we live in. 

 

The next one has a lovely word play, which we of course discussed.

 

“Night Shade”

 

I feel as purple

As the night shade

Of an eggplant

That great berry among berries

Smooth skinned

 

And as stained and sweet 

As my fingers

After rinsing boysenberries

 

I am a firm believer in introducing children to poetry. With my kids, at least a few take after me (and one takes after my wife, who, despite being able to write excellent poem analyses, doesn’t have an emotional connection to poetry.) This book is one that will work for kids in elementary school on up, I think.