40 Acres and a Mule

By Shelton James

When slaves were set free, forty acres and a mule were promised to the slaves on the plantation. The "40 acres" was the land on the plantation, while "the mule" was the physical body that did the work. Back when Black men were slaves on forty acres of land, you could grow cotton, beans, corn, and wheat. Today, however, on forty acers of land, one could build a billion-dollar football stadium or basketball arena. The physical body code word, (the mule) represent eighty percent African American football and basketball players currently playing today. This book gives a generational consumption of the rebirth of the plantation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639854028

Book preview

40 Acres and a Mule

SHELTON JAMES

Copyright © 2022 Shelton James

All rights reserved

First Edition

Fulton Books

Meadville, PA

Published by Fulton Books 2022

ISBN 978-1-63985-401-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63985-402-8 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: 40 Acres and a Mule (a 2-Legged Mule, Male and Female)

Chapter 2: The Foundation

Chapter 3: The Great Future

Chapter 4: Who Has the Answer? No one. We Need to Talk…

Chapter 5: Back to the 40 Acres and a Mule

Chapter 6: The Mule

Chapter 7: The Great Education Safety Net for the White Middle Class

Chapter 8: Trillion-Dollar Projection

Chapter 9: 16 to 20-Year-Old Education Safety Net

Chapter 10: Elementary School Life in 1950s-1960s Mississippi Delta

Chapter 11: New School for Black Students

Chapter 12: Nothing More Than Slave Labor

Chapter 13: The Success of the Private Schools

Chapter 14: The Other Plantation That Provide Vegetation

Chapter 15: The Three Super Plantations

Chapter 16: The Legacy of a Master Craftsman and Generation from Piney Woods School

Chapter 17: The Mighty, Mighty Female Mule

Chapter 18: How Piney Woods School Started

PREFACE

The 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s—if you really, really remember that generation, it was during the height of Jim Crow laws, segregation and Northern migration from the great Mississippi Delta and small town and plantations across the Jim crow South. The greatest treasure of our lives as Black people was the Black woman, our mother, our grandmother, aunt, sister, cousin, teacher, and mentor. The Black woman is and always has been the Mother Earth of the plantation.

My mother gave birth to me seventy-two years ago. She gave birth to eight boys and three girls. The last two generations and generations before then, the Black woman gave birth on average to eight to fifteen children. There were Black women that I knew of: one woman gave birth to twenty children, and another gave birth to eighteen children. Many of these Black women’s family had no father in the house. Not only did she take care of her own family but she also had to serve and take care of the rich and powerful White man’s family. She was the nanny, the cook, and the cleaner for the big house. She also washed and ironed the clothes.

Many generations in the past and even today, the Black family could not depend on the Black man to support the family. The local state and federal government created laws and policies that even today make it hard for Black men to support the family. However, in the Black family, there is always a member that the family can depend on for support.

I’m glad that I have the opportunity to say this to all the strong Black women of this great nation, most of