Black misery

Publisher Paul Eriksson commissioned Langston Hughes to write Black Misery in the late 1960s as a followup to a successful humorous children's series by Sue Heller called "Misery Is...".

Hughes's contribution was at once humorous and bitter.

As a reflection of the militancy of the 1960s it spoke to adults of the difficult times in which they lived.

But children saw it as a funny examination of growing up they could recognize and apppreciate.

The short but powerful one-sentence captions, illustrated by Arouni's black and white drawings, tell of the predicament of a black child adjusting to the new world of integration of the 1960s.

The mix of hope and dismay that characterized that decade is still real and immediate after 25 years.

This edition also includes an introduction by the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and an afterword by Professor Robert G.

O'Mealley of Columbia University.