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Chasing Me to My Grave: an Artist's Memoir of the Jim Crow South
In this posthumous work, artist Rembert (1945–2021) offers a powerful, unfiltered look at life growing up in Jim Crow Georgia. “This was a time when everybody was above the law—if you were White... they just made up their mind about what they wanted to do with you and that’s what they did,” he recalls of his childhood growing up with his great-aunt. Even from a young age, Rembert was exposed to murders, mutilations, and humiliations designed to break and degrade the Black residents in his town. His artwork vividly showcases harrowing moments in his life, from picking cotton in endless fields to the horrors of being on a chain gang in prison for stealing a car (to escape a “White mob”). Especially graphic is his account of narrowly surviving his own lynching: “They hung me up by my feet in a tree... and stuck me with the knife... I was bleeding like a hog.” Despite his incredible hardships, Rembert highlights the beauty he encountered, such as the kindness of strangers and his wife, Patsy, who encouraged him to “turn my stories into art.”
Excerpted from the Starred Review Publishers Weekly, vol 268, issue 21
The Courtland S. Wilson Library opened in 2006. With the largest footprint among the NHFPL branches, Wilson is a beacon of opportunity and life-long learning in the Hill neighboorhood. Wilson supports literacy with monthly bulk book delivery to school teachers. A youth Lego club, and a newly formed tween and teen computer group meet weekly; and launching in 2019, a youth Girls Who Code Club. Many community groups convene in Wilson’s seven meeting rooms. The Computer Lab hosts groups and offers computer instruction including digital literacy classes in Spanish and weekly free tax preparation during tax season.
2019 Recipient of National Medal for