February 2012 Book Of The Month Pick:

I stumbled across the writings of J.A. Rogers years ago and have always found him extremely astute and surprisingly forthcoming on his thoughts on the subject of the black race, race in general and cultural ethnicity, which is startling given the fact that J.A Rogers was born in 1880 and died in 1966. [J.A. Rogers was born in Jamaica and later moved with his family to Harlem, NY in 1906]

Synopsis:

In Nature Knows No Color-Line, Rogers examined the origins of racial hierarchy and the color problem. Rogers stated that the origins of the race problem had never been adequately examined or discussed. Rogers believed that color prejudice generally evolved from issues of domination and power between two physiologically different groups. According to Rogers, color prejudice was then used a rationale for domination, subjugation and warfare. Societies developed myths and prejudices in order to pursue their own interests at the expense of other groups. Rogers was trying to show that there is nothing innate about color prejudice; that there is no natural distaste for darker skin by lighter-skinned people; and that there is no natural aversion for lighter skin by darker-skinned people.

J.A. Rogers has many writings available that are of interest of a read. His books "100 Amazing Facts about the Negro" and "World's Great Men of Color" [Volume I: Asia and Africa, and Historical Figures Before Christ, Including Aesop, Hannibal, Cleopatra, Zenobia, Askia the Great, and Many Others"] are all MUST READS!

There are many things one will never learn in public schools. As a young child and even to this day, I have always had a thirst for knowledge, loved reading/writing and researching many subjects. It's a trait I'm very proud of.

An addendum to next month's book of the month is the pamphlet by J.A Rogers titled "The Five Negro Presidents: According to what White People Said They Were".

I ordered it on Amazon, however due to the fact it is less than 20 pages long, I don't quite understand why it wasn't available as a kindle purchase.

There has always been speculation on not only previous Presidents but other notable people in the world who were to have had black ancestry. Again what's so interesting with J.A. Roger's take on it, is due to the time period his writings were done.

Anywho Happy reading!