(Hardback-New)
 
This collectible book by distinguished public historian Velma Maia Thomas offers an intimate look at black history in America with exclusive accounts, photographs, and interactive and removable artifacts.

Presented in three parts—Lest We Forget, Freedom’s Children, and We Shall Not Be Moved—the history comes to life through 5 interactive items attached to the pages throughout, along with 10 more pieces of removable memorabilia contained in an envelope at the back.
From the Publisher
Lest We Forget by Velma Maia Thomas
The Passage From Africa Into The Twenty-First Century
I am often asked why I developed the Black Holocaust Exhibit and how I conceived of the idea. Relating the pain of my people was never a part of my 'career' plans. I never sat down and said, “let me build a collection that speaks to the treatment Africans received under slavery.” It was more as though I was being called by the ancestors to tell their stories. Countless instances guided me to this project: documents I hesitated to purchase, I bought; reference books were purchased and forgotten, and then reappeared; people who could offer insight came into my life just when I needed them. These repeated occurrences made me feel that this was a special project, one foretold by the ancestors generations ago. It was a resurrection of the stories that the enslaved wanted to be told, only awaiting a vessel through which they could speak. Lest We Forget is a tribute to those whose lives are told through the documents you’ve seen and read.
I hope this book gives those who read it a better understanding of the human drama of slavery and of the human spirit that would not be broken.
From 1619 to 1865, Africans in America were enslaved. Today, my people are civic, political, and religious leaders, businessmen, judges, physicians, teachers, artists, inventors, recipients of the Nobel Prize, and more. Such great strides against a continual tide of resistance attest to my people’s remarkable will and to their undying faith in the sovereignty of a higher power.
We owe much to our forefathers; their sturdy backs have been the bridges that have brought us thus far. To them we say thank you. Their sacrifices we shall never forget.