Growing up in Manchester, Jewell Parker Rhodes would sit on the front stoop of her grandmother’s house, regaled with stories about family, slavery, love, death and life. Little did she know then those stories were part of the African American tradition of storytelling, a link running through her family for generations.
When Rhodes wasn’t on the stoop, she was at the library, consuming as many books as possible—illustrated versions of classics like “The Prince and the Pauper” and “Robinson Crusoe.” But in the 1960s, few, if any, books by people of color were on the library shelves. “We never saw White people unless we took the bus downtown,” she recalls. “I only saw them on the covers of my books.”
Rhodes wrote her first book when she was 8 years old, “The Last Scream.” “I illustrated it and bound it in yellow construction paper. My teacher coaxed me to read it aloud in from of the class.”
Something clicked that would serve her later along the way.
She auditioned for Carnegie Mellon University’s Theater Dance program. Why dance? “My grandmother and I watched the weekday 4 o’clock movies. Media had taught me that African Americans were mainly on television for sports or performing,” says Rhodes. “I think because of my imagination, I fell in love with performing. I took years of dance classes and remember fondly taking classes and doing productions at the Pittsburgh Playhouse Theater.”
Despite her obvious interest in literature, “No one ever said, ‘you can be a writer.’ In all my schooling, I was never assigned a book by a person of color.”
That all changed during her junior year at CMU. “I saw at the library entrance a shelf of ‘New Fiction.’ ‘Corregidora’ by Gayl Jones attracted me immediately. It was the first time I’d seen a book by a Black writer,” Rhodes recalled. “Reading the book reminded me that my experiences as an African American woman were as relevant as anyone else’s.”
It was pure kismet.
“I changed my major to English and took writing workshops. I was the only African American in workshop and my classmates often asked, ‘Why didn’t you tell me your characters are Black?’ And I’d answer: ‘Why didn’t you tell me your characters are White?’”
“Unfortunately, default White characters and White authors was what I had absorbed culturally. Thankfully, my generation would be the generation that added women’s studies and multi-ethnic studies to academia.”
Indeed, Rhodes went on to earn a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in English (creative writing); all from CMU.
Rhodes’ trajectory led her to become an author. Her favorite genre is historical fiction. “I’ve written many adult and youth historical novels. I like researching, uncovering past and recent history, responding and trying to imagine the emotional truth of past lives. My books always have multi-ethnic characters and illuminate history and lives that are often overlooked.”
She has published five young adult books, three adult books and a trilogy, all steeped in history and culture; she has received almost a dozen awards for her writing. “My entire life has been a journey on the way to writing Ninth Ward.”
Rhodes elaborated: “I always wanted to write for youth. I wanted to honor how reading (even though the characters didn’t look like me) saved me—made me empathetic, sensitive to new horizons, and helped me think critically about my place in the world. In particular, I loved the hero/heroines overcoming adversity. Those fictional examples gave me courage to overcome adversity in my life.
“I have always wanted to write for youth and give kids diverse heroines to inspire them. I wrote 10 books for adults trying to become good enough to write for kids. Writing for youth has always been (for me) the highest calling. Youth stories can have significant lasting impact. I’m proof of that.”
Rhodes’ most recent book, “Ghost Boys,” echoes headlines and history. Twelve-year old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real one. As a ghost he sees the aftermath of the tragedy. And also meets another ghost, Emmett Till.
Rhodes was the special guest at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, Oct. 6, to discuss “Ghost Boys” with an intimate audience.
“Ghost Boys,” released last year, has garnered four awards, the latest being the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature.
JEWELL PARKER RHODES (Featured Image)
by C. Denise Johnson, For New Pittsburgh Courier
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