Lessons from Down Under

Lessons from Down Under by Bessie House-Soremekun gives readers a taste of childhood in the South right in the middle of the civil rights turmoil. She tells of the restraints put on slaves and how they obtained their own education by depending on literacy and their own traditions. The nonexistence of formal education in the black community led to history being passed down through oral methods rather than writings. The reading discussed different ways African Americans expressed themselves, through storytelling, songs, and even a more rebellious method: protesting and boycotting.