Mahalia Jackson Gospel Singer & Civil Rights Champion

“Haley” Jackson grew up in poverty on the levees of New Orleans, hunting alligators along the Mississippi River for food and gathering driftwood for fuel with her brother Peter. But every Sunday, when her father preached at the Baptist Church, young Mahalia sang proudly in the choir—the youngest member at age five! Lively illustrations and engaging text pull young readers into the world in which Mahalia Jackson grew up. Whether constructing her dolls braid from blades of grass, stuffing a cornhusk mattress, or adjusting to life in her Aunt Dukes home after her mother died, young Mahalia displayed the persistence and courage that foreshadowed the civil rights champion and world-famous gospel singer she would become. Working as a maid and a laundress, she always found the time for her passion—singing her special brand of music known as gospel in churches. She met the challenge of being black in what was largely a white entertainment world, overcoming poverty and prejudice and pioneering the way for all aspiring African Americans who succeeded her. Singing for royalty, presidents, and working closely with her friend Martin Luther King, Haley never forgot her early days on the levee and she found special joy encouraging young African Americans to follow their ambitions. This replaces 0689717865.

“[The Young Patriots series] . . . is an outstanding contribution to childrens literature. Patria Press has successfully reintroduced Americas past with this fine series for children.” —The Review Zone

Montrew Dunham is the author of James Whitcomb Riley, Young Poet and Langston Hughes, Young Black Poet. She lives in Downers Grove, Illinois. Cathy Morrison is the illustrator of Ignacio's Chair and the Young Patriots series. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and Picturebookartists.org. She lives in Denver, Colorado.