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The Bibliophile

D.C. Emancipation Day is celebrated on April 16, when, in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the act that ended slavery in the District. 

These recent books reflect on different aspects of the black experience:

Notes from a Young Black Chef: A Memoir, by Kwame Onwuachi with Joshua David Stein, 288 pages, Vintage paperback, 2020

Award-winning chef Kwame Onwuachi has written a riveting memoir about the first three decades of his life. Onwuachi is currently executive chef of Kith and Kin at the InterContinental Hotel at the Southwest Waterfront and owner of the Philly Wing Fry franchise. 

Onwuachi’s book focuses on the harrowing struggles that predate these ventures. He was abused physically by his father and learned to cope with neighborhood gangs. He was thrown out of college for dealing drugs. 

His mother struggled to lift herself into the lower rungs of the middle class, her dreams for her son and her strict discipline complete the portrait of a young man who must choose between right and wrong. 

Onwuachi received help at the Harlem kitchen start-up initiative and mentored at the Culinary Institute of America. But he is fleeced by charlatans, shady investor-angels and kept from promised promotions by a new boss. 

He experiences a modicum of fame as a contestant on the TV show “Top Chefs,” but is devastated by the failure of his dream restaurant, Shaw Bijou.

A dozen recipes, each at the conclusion of a chapter, reflect the vast array of cultures from which this talented chef draws his repertoire — Creole, African, soul, all-American and French gourmet. This candid memoir nourishes body and soul.

The World’s Fastest Man: The Extraordinary Life of Cyclist Major Taylor, America’s First Black Sports Hero, by Michael Kranish, 384 pages, Scribner hardcover, 2019; paperback June 2020

There was a time in late 19th-century America, before the age of the automobile, when travel by bicycle was beginning to eclipse the horse and carriage as the popular means of transportation. 

Bicycle races ensued, and the sport of cycling became the rage. Indoor velodromes were built with oval racing tracks, some providing seating for more than 10,000 spectators. Cyclists also competed over rugged outdoor courses. 

Sprinters and long-distance racers vied for local, national and international titles. Competing for prize money were athletes who trained rigorously and were sponsored by bicycle manufacturers. 

Into this exciting sport, which was arguably the most popular of its time, a black cyclist broke the color barrier before Jack Johnson, Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson made history in their respective sports. Yet Major Taylor has been forgotten in the annals of civil rights history and American sports heroes. 

Taylor reached the pinnacle of his cycling career in 1899, earning the world’s record for the fastest mile and becoming the world track champion. He was the national sprint champion in 1899 and 1900. 

For most of his career, he declined to race on Sundays due to his strict Baptist upbringing, which cost him tens of thousands of dollars in potential prize money. 

Washington Post reporter Michael Kranish brings this remarkable historic figure to our attention. The author, who is in his early 60s, writes with attention to detail and a firm grasp of his subject. His beat at the Post is investigative political reporting. Look for his prolific byline as the 2020 presidential race unfolds.

Heroes of the Underground Railroad Around Washington, D.C., by Jenny Masur, 192 pages, The History Press paperback, 2019

For 17 years, anthropologist, local historian and native Washingtonian Jenny Masur served as National Capital regional manager of the National Park Services’ National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. 

Masur has compiled dramatic tales of escapes — and attempted escapes — and the stories of courageous abolitionists and free blacks. An appendix enumerates 12 sites in D.C., 19 in Maryland and 17 in Virginia — complete with addresses — for those wishing to learn more.

Heroes of the Underground Railroad brings to our attention many individuals whom history has forgotten and should be remembered. Their heroic actions should be emulated in the fight to defeat injustice wherever and whenever it emerges.