Review of Defining Moments of a Free Man from a Black Stream

[Jaadugar Yadu]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Defining Moments of a Free Man from a Black Stream" by Dr Frank L Douglas.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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A masterful find of Frank L. Douglas's Defining Moments of a Free Man from a Black Stream is a powerful tale of a free man’s journey through the storm of racial injustice. So is the story of triumph over adversity: this is the tale of a human spirit that tries to hack its way through the tangled thicket of social oppression, successfully illuminating the darkness.

Douglas is also a master of plain speech and naked prose, in terms of which he sketches a picture of a life fraught with strife. His childhood, which was characterized by poverty and prejudice, can also be described as rather truthful and, therefore, rather courageous. However, the memoir is not just narrating the suffering; it is also the story of the determination; it is the courage with which the spirit can overpower the flesh.

What sets Douglas’ memoir apart from others (or is at least not present to the same degree) is an absence of bitterness or self-pity. On the contrary, it is a text of victory, an affirmation of the mind as a weapon of emancipation. The rise of the author from the background to the best institutions is a story of hope and light in the sea of darkness and racism. However, while this biography is undeniably engaging, Douglas’ story sometimes stumbles in its presentation of the gestalt exhibitive traumas extant at such an extreme level of adversity. The author’s state of mind could have been described in much more detail to give a better understanding of the way he evolved.

The editing was very good; there were no mistakes, and that means there is nothing to dislike here. That is why it is possible to give 5 out of 5 stars to Defining Moments of a Free Man from a Black Stream to emphasize that it is not only the book but also the call to change and the demand for a world where anyone could become the best. This is a powerful book that stands as a witness to survival as well as a guide for the time when the dream of equal representation is no longer a dream but real life.

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Defining Moments of a Free Man from a Black Stream
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