Summary: Chapter 23
Maya notes that black families in Stamps consider the
eighth-grade graduation a great event. When Maya takes her seat
in the school auditorium, however, she feels uneasy. The white speaker,
Mr. Edward Donleavy, gives a speech about the improvements in the local
schools. The white school has received new lab equipment for science
classes thanks to his efforts. He also states that he has bragged
to many important people that several great college athletes graduated
from Maya’s school. Maya feels that he has blemished the joy of
the graduation day by insinuating that black children only achieved
greatness through sports, not through academics. The members of
the eighth-grade class hang their heads in shame. Maya laments the
fact that she has no control over her life and wishes that Christopher
Columbus never sailed to the New World. After his speech, Donleavy
rushes to leave.
Henry Reed’s valedictory speech dispels the dismal atmosphere, but
Maya reacts with cynicism and pessimism. Henry continues to speak
with strength and clarity, and afterward he turns his back to the
audience and addresses the graduating class sitting on the stage. He
leads them in “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” a song known popularly
as the Negro National Anthem. Maya listens to the words for the
very first time, drops her cynical attitude, and takes pride in
her black community.
Summary: Chapter 24
Maya develops an excruciating toothache. The nearest black
dentist practices twenty-five miles away, so Momma takes Maya to
see Dr. Lincoln, a white dentist in town. During the Great Depression, Momma
loaned money to many people, including Dr. Lincoln. Now she believes
he owes her a favor. When they arrive, Dr. Lincoln states that he
does not treat black patients. Momma reminds him that her generous
loan saved him before. He reminds her that he repaid the loan, adding
that he would rather stick his hand in a dog’s mouth than in Maya’s
black mouth. Momma leaves Maya outside and advances into Dr. Lincoln’s
office. Maya imagines Momma as a superhero, wielding her powers
and forbidding Dr. Lincoln ever to work in Stamps again. In reality,
Momma tells Dr. Lincoln that he owes her interest on the loan she
previously made to him. He protests, saying that she never asked
for interest before, but he pays her the ten dollars, demanding
a receipt to seal the deal. Afterward, Momma takes Maya to the black
dentist in Texarkana. Talking with Uncle Willie later on, Momma
indicates that even though she sinned in making Dr. Lincoln pay
interest retroactively, he deserved it.
Summary: Chapter 25
He was away in a mystery, locked in the
enigma that young Southern Black boys start to unravel, start to
try to unravel, from seven years old to death.
See Important Quotations Explained
One day, Bailey returns home from an errand, pale and
shaken. He asks what black people did to white people to incite
so much hatred. He has just seen a black man’s dead, rotting body
pulled from a pond. Grinning at the body, a white man ordered Bailey
to help load the man into the wagon and then pretended that he was
going to lock Bailey and the other black men in with the dead body.
Not long afterward, Momma begins planning a trip to take Bailey
and Maya to live in California with their mother.
Summary: Chapter 26
Momma lives in Los Angeles with Bailey and Maya while
Vivian makes living arrangements for her children. Maya and Bailey
begin to see Vivian not just as a superhuman beauty but also as
a real person with fears and insecurities of her own. Vivian seems
concerned with her children’s well-being and even throws them a
special party one night at two-thirty in the morning, enchanting
Maya with her fun-loving and spontaneous nature.
Although trained as a nurse, Vivian supports herself
and her children by running poker games or gambling. Maya notes
that even though Vivian exhibits temperamental, melodramatic outbursts, she
never compromises fairness. Maya discusses Vivian’s power and her
honesty. Once, Maya recalls, Vivian shot one of her partners for verbally
insulting her, and afterward, they retained their mutual admiration
for each other. After all, Vivian had warned him that she would
shoot before pulling the trigger.
