Julius Lester - The Old African

Lester, J. (2005). The old African. New York: Dial.


The Old African, by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, is a metaphysical tale set against the historical backdrop of times when slaves were punished for trying to escape from their owners. When the Old African intervenes on behalf of a young slave receiving a whipping from his master referred to as Ol' Riley, readers learn of a special "gift" the Old African has that allows him into the minds of the rest of the slaves owned by the same master who had been assembled to watch the whipping as a deterrent to any future attempts to escape. Old African casts a spell on his people that enables them to transcend the horrific scene they observe. A story about the power of the mind, effective leadership and community escalates the degree of magical realism as the story progresses. In the tradition of Native American literature, Old African transforms himself into a hawk, to search for the Water-That-Stretched-Forever, after tending the wounds of the whipped slave who reveals that he's seen the water. Silent, the Old African communicates to those with whom he connects through a form of mental telepathy and whose other powers result in a house fire caused by lightening from a storm generated by the Old African. Riley's house is consumed by fire with Riley inside.
The reader suspends disbelief by the time the Old African offers to lead the slaves back to their home across the ocean. Not only does he walk into the ocean and lead his people to walk along the bottom of the sea, he is befriended by sharks that show him a skeletal burying ground on the bottom of the ocean and escort the Old African to the shore of their home continent. The freed slaves follow him out of the water and even the dead bones walk out of the water to the land of their ancestors in a resurrection scene that reunites the Old African with his wife and with Obasi, his mentor, both of whom died and were thrown overboard on the boat trip over to an unspecified land.

Despite the fact that this is a beautifully written story, I did not enjoy it all because it was extremely heavy and sad. The scene where Riley is whipping the young slave is truly heart-wrenching. The Old African is a deep tale that could be disturbing to young readers and should be reserved for only the most mature students.

Despite an intense respect for the artistic writing and gifted storytelling of Julius Lester, I have no desire to read any more books by him unless I can be confident that they are uplifting or lighthearted stories before commencing reading.

Other books by Julius Lester and more information is located here:

http://members.authorsguild.net/juliuslester/