Summary of Zora Neale Hurston, Henry Louis Gates & Genevieve West's You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 We met a man named Longfellow, who was begging for money to give to homeless children. We gave him a dime, but he requested more pennies. We gave him six cents, and he began to sing: These be gray days and a sweet singer in Israel is to be highly honored.

#2 We were not really hungry, but we went to Odds and Ends anyway. The food was delicious, but atmosphere was the most attractive thing about the place. There was a peace and a calm that fell like a benediction on the guests.

#3 High John de Conquer was a man, and he was a mighty man. He was not a natural man in the beginning, but a whisper, a will to hope, and a wish to find something worthy of laughter and song. He walked the winds and moved fast.

#4 John de Conquer was a bottom-fish. He was deep. He had the wisdom tooth of the East in his head. He knew that nothing could live on human flesh and prosper. He knew that nothing would live on human flesh and prosper if the people knew about it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669375029

IRB Media

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Insights on Zora Neale Hurston and Henry Louis Gates & Genevieve West's You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

We met a man named Longfellow, who was begging for money to give to homeless children. We gave him a dime, but he requested more pennies. We gave him six cents, and he began to sing: These be gray days and a sweet singer in Israel is to be highly honored.

#2

We were not really hungry, but we went to Odds and Ends anyway. The food was delicious, but atmosphere was the most attractive thing about the place. There was a peace and a calm that fell like a benediction on the guests.

#3

High John de Conquer was a man, and he was a mighty man. He was not a natural man in the beginning, but a whisper, a will to hope, and a wish to find something worthy of laughter and song. He walked the winds and moved fast.

#4

John de Conquer was a bottom-fish. He was deep. He had the wisdom tooth of the East in his head. He knew that nothing could live on human flesh and prosper. He knew that nothing would live on human flesh and prosper if the people knew about it.

#5

High John de Conquer was a powerful man who came to teach and tell the slaves about their freedom. He had taught the white folks that freedom was coming for the black people, and he had taught the black people that they had power of protection.

#6

Old John was working in Old Massa’s house at the time. One night, Massa came down to the quarters and asked for some of John’s cooking. When he lifted the lid and saw a pig, he ate it without saying anything.

#7

The party traveled to many places, and had many adventures. They stopped off in Hell, where John, under the name of Jack, married the Devil’s youngest daughter. They then visited Heaven, where they were given new and shining instruments to play.

#8

The brother in black offers to white America the source of courage that endures, and laughter. High John de Conquer. If the news from overseas reads bad, and the nation inside seems like it is stuck in the Tar Baby, listen hard, and you will hear John de Conquer treading on his singing-drum.

#9

The last survivor of the last boatload of black men and women who had been set down stark naked on American soil died in 1935 at the age of ninety-five. The people of Takkoi formed an industrious, agricultural community. They had remained on good terms with their neighbors for many years before the King of Dahomey sent the first message which was to spell their eventual doom.

#10

The king of Dahomey had a large female army called the Amazons. They were strong, courageous, and even more bloodthirsty than the men. The king paid an extra bonus for every head brought in by his soldiers.

#11

The King of Takkoi was outraged by the King of Dahomey’s response, and he sent a large army to capture the king and his kingdom. But the king died before the army could arrive, and the army had to bring his head back to Dahomey.

#12

The Jamaican proverb says, Do for do bring black man here from Guinea, which means that fighting among themselves caused black folks to be in slavery. Kossula and his fellow Takkoi tribesmen were placed in one barracoun by themselves.

#13

The Meaher brothers, Tom and Tim, and their business associate, Captain Bill Foster, were not Southerners. They had