Pride of Family - Four Generations of American Women of Color (Paperback, 1st Harlem Moon trade pbk. ed)

""From the moment I read the words [my great-grandmother] Frances Anne Rollin wrote in Boston on January 1, 1868--"The year renews its birth today with all its hopes and sorrows"--she became my beacon, the foremother who would finally share with me our collective past . . . --From the Preface
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Originally published to rave reviews, "Pride of Family" is the dazzling true story of an upper middle-class African American clan--and four generations of extraordinary women. Carole Ione, rebel daughter from a long line of rebel daughters, traces her heritage from her mother, Leighla, a sad and lovely journalist, actress, and composer; to glamorous grandmother Be-Be, the popular restaurateur and former showgirl; to upright great-aunt Sistonie, one of Washington's first black female physicians; and, finally, to great-grandmother Frances Anne Rollin, the indomitable feminist-abolitionist. It is through her great-grandmother's brilliant diaries that Ione finds enlightenment--a deep connection to the women she cherishes and the proud, glorious history they share.