Finally a book to help validate all of my perceptions, feelings and emotions as i transitioned into my second life, one filled with new fulfillment and meaning. The horrors of the middle passage told through the artwork of tom feelings. Rutherford calhoun arrives in new orleans as a newly freed slave who enjoys drinking and the company of exotic. The middle passage is a book without words that communicates volumes of emotions to the reader.
Swahili counting book, and in 1975 he won a second caldecott honor for jambo means hello. Whether you need a classic kids book or classroomproven teaching materials, discover it at scholastic. White shipsblack cargo, artist tom feelings tells the story of the brutal transatlantic crossing through a series of sixtyfour narrative paintings. Aswahili alphabet book, both written by muriel feelings. Triangular trade in the atlantic ocean teachervision. Read uncle tom s cabin, by author harriet beecher stowe page by page, now. Performance leonard bernstein, new york philharmonic. The entire suite of original mixedmedia artwork, executed from 19931995 and published in the 1995 book. Comprising 58 pieces in 48 frames, mixedmedia with tempera, pen and tissue, heightened with white and collage.
Have students read tom feelings biography and look at his works of art. Tom feelings took fifteen years to complete his work on the book, middle passage. Illustrated books are a natural extension of the african oral tradition of storytelling, writes caldecott awardwinning artist tom feelings. Discussion of themes and motifs in asa bundy sheffeys middle passage. Bring the discussion of time and distance back to the middle passage and a broader study of slavery by talking with students about what that journey might have been like for a kidnapped person, chained to another person, confused and afraid. He focused on the africanamerican experience in his work. Tom feelings may 19, 1933 august 25, 2003 was born and raised in brooklyn, new york. Tom lived in africa, south america, and new york before moving to south carolina. White ships black cargo by tom feelings and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The middle passage was the stage of the triangular trade in which millions of africans were forcibly transported to the new world as part of the atlantic slave trade.
Africans in america teachers guide part 1 questions. In 1974, feelings returned to new york, spending his time lecturing, attending exhibits throughout the country, and working on a book entitled the middle passage, which depicts the journeys of slaves from africa to america. It took the author, tom feelings, 20 years to complete the art and storyboard for this stunning book. This is the book ive been looking for forever, since i experienced my own middle passage in the early 2000s. Swahili counting book, and in 1975 he won a second caldecott honor for jambo means. This picture book by tom and muriel feelings was a 1972 caldecott medal winner.
Much longer than feelingss picture books, the middle passage has been used in middle and high school but requires a mature reader and is often most appreciated by adults. Tom feelings died in 2003 at seventy years old, much too young. Considers how the use of a picture book with adolescents enhances lessons and evokes aesthetic responses. Johnson about the final voyage of an illegal american slave ship.
In 1972, he was the first africanamerican artist to win a caldecott honor, for moja means one. Tom feelings books, author biography, and reading level. Through his artwork, tom allows the reader to discover diverse people, places, and events from around the world. Middle passage 1990 is a historical novel by charles r. The middle passage was the route of sea going journeys of africans taken from their native land, to the shores of the caribbean and america, where they were invariably destined to an existence of institutional slavery. Sixtyfour paintings trace the torturous journey of slaves from africa to the americas, from their capture at gunpoint to conditions below deck. After the confederacy falls, newlyfreed slave rutherford calhoun is eager to avoid marrying a prim schoolteacher and boards the first ship he finds moored at a new orleans port. Set in 1830, it presents a personal and historical perspective of the illegal slave trade in the united states, telling the story of rutherford calhoun, a freed slave who unknowingly boards a slave ship bound for africa in order to escape a forced marriage. The middle passage hardcover white shipsblack cargo. In this seminal work, master artist tom feelings tells the complete story of this horrific diaspora in sixtyfour extraordinary narrative paintings. A swahili counting book and in 1975 hewon a second caldecott honor award for jambo means hello. Tom feelings has receivednumerous awards for his art in books.
Tom feelings describes himself as a storyteller in picture form. Read uncle toms cabin, by author harriet beecher stowe page by page, now. These voyages across the atlantic ocean are called the middle passage. Drawings by tom feelings features 52 penandink and tempera drawings on rice paper, that were used in feelings 1995 book, the middle passage. Be careful to use the lesson as a way for the students to better understand the time and distance that. This study guide consists of approximately 60 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of middle passage. He was a cartoonist, childrens book illustrator, author, teacher, and activi.
They used their voices to express their sadness and pain. Dec 01, 2008 the horrors of the middle passage told through the artwork of tom feelings. White shipsblack cargo, which consists of 51 drawings, currently housed in 47 frames, created in mixedmedia tempera, pen and tissue, heightened with white and collage. Middle passage middle passage audiobook, by charles johnson. Feelings has been featured on numerous television programs. The middle passage although the origins are unknown and the meaning has changed over time, the middle passage is a term that commonly refers to the transporting of african slaves from the west african coast, across the atlantic sea to the americas, aboard slave ships known as slavers. Nowhere in the annals of history has a people experienced such a long and traumatic ordeal as africans during the atlantic slave trade. White ships, black cargo tom feelings, in bw photos by feelings on. By tom feelings, john henrik clarke introduction by. The collection includes the original artwork for the middle passage. The collection consists of original artwork, dummies, prints and posters documenting tom feelings s work as an artist and book illustrator. It designated the bottom line of a trading triangle, between the outward passage from europe to africa and the homeward passage from the americas back to europe. Feelings was the recipient of numerous awards for his art in childrens picture books. Ships departed europe for african markets with manufactured goods, which were traded for purchased or kidnapped africans, who were transported across the atlantic as slaves.
Tom feelings may 19, 1933 august 25, 2003 was a cartoonist, childrens book illustrator, author, teacher, and activist. His books have been honored by caldecott, newbery and coretta scott king awards. Write a narrative, poem, or letter to tom feelings and express their feelings about. The collection consists of original artwork, dummies, prints and posters documenting tom feelingss work as an artist and book illustrator. Imaging separation in tom feelings the middle passage. In his works such as middle passage and soul looks back in wonder, tom feelings gives a tribute to the survival of the human spirit, and the humanity won by the survivors of the middle passage. His illustrations, achingly real, draw us into the lives of the millions of african men, women, and children who were savagely torn from their beautiful homelands, crowded into a diseaseridden death ship, and transported under nightmarish conditions to the so. Tom feelings, well known artist and illustrator, was born in brooklyn, new york. Unbeknownst to calhoun, the vessel is a slave ship en route to africa. He attended the school of the visual arts, and later lived in ghana and guyana. Swahili alphabet book, both written by muriel feelings.
Graphic artist tom feelings and novelist toni morrison face similar challenges in representing the atlantic slave trade. Mankala oware is a popular bead game across west africa, including ghana, where tom feelings and maya angelou met in the early 1960s. Here, in 64 powerful blackandwhite paintingssome of them harshly realistic, others nightmarishly phantasmagoricthis noted artist tells a neglected part of the story of africanamerican slavery. Marshall once spoke of the psychological and spiritual journey that we must take back into the past. The textbooks never said anything about adolescents. European slave traders brought africans to the new world on ships as early as the 1400s. Reports 11th and 12th graders efferent and aesthetic responses to the poignantly evocative narrative paintings portrayed in the wordless picture book the middle passage by tom feelings. Tom feelings paintings for sale tom feelings art value. The middle passage is the name given to one of the most tragic ordeals in history. Visit scholastic, the worlds largest childrens book publisher. To be a slave by julius lester, tom feelings, paperback.
Tom feelings has received numerous awards for his art in books. Part of an other genocides project for a holocaust course. It was a terrible experience for the africans who were packed between decks in areas too small to stand in. White shipsblack cargo, along with three sculptures and one textile scrim. In discussions of the atlantic slave trade, the term middle passage often arises. In 1972, he was the first africanamerican artist to win a caldecott honor award formoja means one.
776 399 563 727 1306 503 1352 789 566 591 852 1422 655 1024 420 1232 205 145 1114 1480 1380 1285 107 1405 1097 1046 474 569 1186 795 707 1228 1120 253 1206 938