My Children's Minds Will Not Be the Devil's Workshop - Paperback

by Essie P. Knuckle (Author)

In 1952, three black children; Big Sister Jane, Max, and Pete set out on an extraordinary imaginary journey across America, sparked by their mother's urgent warning: "An idle mind is the devil's workshop." What began as a project became a profound exploration of the world beyond their Jim Crow-era Southern town.

Guided by maps, a Sears Roebuck catalog, and The Negro Motorist Green-Book, the siblings imagined their way through states like Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Encountering the horrors of lynchings, sundown towns, minstrel shows, and the legacy of the Trail of Tears. In Springfield, Missouri, they stop at a statue marking where three innocent black men were burned by a mob. In Tulsa, they learn about the massacre of over 300 black residents and the destruction of their thriving community. But alongside the terror, they discover light: Native American stories, multicultural families, black communities offering food, shelter, and prayers. They learn that if you can imagine a dream, you can claim its power, if only in your mind.