Reviewed by Patricia Poland
Elijah Yancey was a
He walks and walks and eventually ends up in
Therein begins a beautifully poetic book, written like a memoir, of Elijah and his ‘coming-to-grips’ with life, the
U. S. Army, God, and eventually love. (Though we must accept that Elijah finds earthly love because he tells us this near the end of the book, it is a spiritual and inner love that is the most apparent for the reader.)
As the years of soldiering give way, so does the anger at how his race has been treated.
It grows into something else - a deep relationship with his ancestors (respect really) and an even deeper understanding of God from the canyons, meadows, stars and even grizzly bears (and mules) of
It is his short time at
In general, we didn’t talk much on patrols, cause the mountains and valleys and meadow kept shutting us up. It seemed like God was usually talking in a big voice here and over there and round the bend yonder, and when God’s talking, you shut up.
Quotations at the beginning of each chapter from the “Cavalry Tactics” manual create a nice balance with the fine prose.
Only someone who has lived and worked at this National Park could portray it in such a personal and beautiful way and Johnson is that person, being a ranger at
Gloryland will give you a peek into the painful time of southern African-Americans from the 1870s and on into the early struggles of desegregation within the U. S. Army. You will be bound to a man who eventually finds himself in a wonder-filled place and learns who he really is. It will leave you yearning for you own
1 comment:
Keep telling that history Shelton:
Read the novel, Rescue at Pine Ridge, "RaPR", a great story of black military history...the first generation of Buffalo Soldiers.
How do you keep a people down? ‘Never' let them 'know' their history.
The 7th Cavalry got their butts in a sling again after the Little Big Horn Massacre, fourteen years later, the day after the Wounded Knee Massacre. If it wasn't for the 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, there would of been a second massacre of the 7th Cavalry.
Read the novel, “Rescue at Pine Ridge”, 5 stars Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the youtube trailer commercial...and visit the website http://www.rescueatpineridge.com
I hope you’ll enjoy the novel. I wrote it from my mini-series movie of the same title, “RaPR” to keep my story alive. Hollywood has had a lot of strikes and doesn't like telling our stories...its been “his-story” of history all along…until now. The movie so far has attached, Bill Duke directing, Hill Harper, Glynn Turman and a host of other major actors in which we are in talks with…see imdb.com at; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0925633/
When you get a chance, also please visit our Alpha Wolf Production website at; http://www.alphawolfprods.com and see our other productions, like Stagecoach Mary, the first Black Woman to deliver mail for Wells Fargo in Montana, in the 1890's, “spread the word”.
Peace.
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