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Biography & Autobiography. Nonfiction. HTML: Who was Ruth McBride Jordan? Not even her son knew the answer to that question until he embarked on a twelve-year journey that changed himself and his family forever. Born Rachel Deborah Shilsky, she began life as the daughter of an angry, failed orthodox Jewish rabbi in the South. To escape her unhappy childhood, Ruth ran away to Harlem, married a black man, became Baptist and started an all-black church. Her son James tells of growing up with inner confusions, chaos, and financial hardships; of his own flirtation with drugs and violence; of the love and faith his mother gave her twelve children; and of his belated coming to terms with her Jewish heritage. The result is a powerful portrait of growing up, a meditation on race and identity, and a poignant, beautifully crafted hymn from a son to his mother..… (more)
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With Ruth’s first husband, Andrew McBride, she had eight children. Following his death of lung cancer, she remarried Hunter Jordan, Sr. and had four more children. The author and his siblings were raised in Brooklyn’s Red Hook housing projects in cramped quarters with no television but lots of pressure from his mother to use their minds. And use them they did, growing up to become doctors, professors, chemists, teachers, and in the author’s case, a writer and award-winning musician and composer. Once James asked his mother, “Am I black or white?” She snapped back at him: “You’re a human being. Educate yourself or you’ll be a nobody!” When the kids were growing up, “Mommy,” as they called her, would lead her long rag-tag group of kids wearing hand-me-downs and hand-outs to the city to every free cultural event offered: festivals, libraries, concerts, exhibits.
But the author’s growing up years were marred by his struggles over his mixed identity. And Mommy always seemed oblivious to the fact that she was a white woman inhabiting a totally black world. He asked his mother whether God was black or white. “Oh boy,” she responded, “God’s not black. He’s not white. He’s a spirit.” …God’s spirit doesn’t have a color. “God is the color of water. Water doesn’t have a color.”
I loved this heart-warming book. It is more than a memoir; it is also a revealing look into the two worlds that come together so fruitfully in this touching tribute to a life well-spent.
The story is told both in the son's and the mother's voices. It is very well-written, and gives us an incredible insight into each mind. James' father was a preacher, and his mother converted to Christianity and insisted on church attendance and prayer from all her children. As he begins to realize that his mother is different from other mothers, he asks her "Is God Black?" "NO" she answers. "Well is he white?" Mom replies in the negative. Still the young boy persists. "Well what color is he?" "The color of water." I just loved that image, and fell in love with this family.
As he lovingly recounts his search for his mother's family, and helps her confront a past she has repressed, he comes to an acceptance of his Jewishness, his multi-cultural roots, and gives us a picture of an exceptional family. In the epilogue he gives us a breakdown of the incredible achievements of them all. Every one of the 12 graduated from college. There are two doctors, school teachers, musicians, journalists, nurses, artists, and the mother completes her degree in her late 60's.
It's a tribute any mother would be proud to have her son write.
This book is as much about McBride's coming to terms with his mixed race heritage as it is about his mother's life. The title comes from a childhood conversation between McBride and his mother. McBride and his siblings were conscious of the fact that their mother didn't look like them. When he pressed his mother about his race – was he black or white – she responded that he was “a human being.” And what about God, he asked? God is “the color of water.”
Ruth McBride Jordan left the world a better place than she found it. The world needs more people like her.
I loved the title, The Color of Water. It was the phrase his mother used when McBride asked her what color God was: 'God is no color, he's the color of water.'
Fascinating read and highly recommended!
We learn a lot less about James than about his mother, but I think
But eventually, and after repeated pleas, James convinced his mother to tell the story that he and his siblings never knew – or even suspected. She was not only white, but Jewish – the daughter of an Orthodox rabbi.
The book is told in alternating chapters – Ruth’s story, and James’s story. McBride doesn’t hold back in this memoir of “A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother.” He clearly outlines the missteps and tragedies, as well as the joy and success of his extended family.
It is emotional and heartfelt, tender and raw, full of the personal issues of race, religion and identity, as well as the societal issues of race and religion.
A white woman living with a Black man in 1941 would have been dangerous in the South, but they found acceptance in Harlem, eventually marrying and having seven children. Dennis McBride was religious and Ruth finds solace and joy in the Baptist Church. When Ruth was pregnant with James, their eighth child, Dennis becomes sick and dies of cancer. Ruth overcomes her profound grief and goes on to marry again and have another four children. When her second husband dies when James is 14, Ruth raises her twelve children on her own. All of them go to college and become successful professionals. Her story is one of perseverance and determination.
The book is written in alternating chapters with first James and then Ruth narrating. James writes of his struggles with his mixed heritage and identity and the lure of life on the street as a teen. He knew little of his mother's background, not even that she was Jewish, until he was an adult. This book is both a tribute to his mother and an uncovering of her past. Clearly she was a tremendous force in the lives of her children, although not always a gentle one.
The audio version is wonderful. The narrators do a fantastic job of bringing the words to life with subtle accent and cadence changes. I highly recommend it.
The mother was born in Poland of Jewish parents. Her mother had polio and was paralyzed on one side. Her father was a
The day after she graduated from high school, she got on a bus and headed for NYC. She ended up marrying a black man who was a devout Christian. She converted and they founded a church in Harlem. They had seven children. When she was pregnant with the author, the father died of cancer. She was devastated. Eventually she married another black man and had five more children. All children graduated from college and many had advanced degrees.
The author James McBride obviously loves and respects his mother. I think that is heartwarming in itself. Mrs. Ruth McBride (the mother) did an
The book also includes many fabulous themes for discussion: heritage, identity, religion, faith, parenting, marriage relationships, family hierarchy, race, forgiveness, love, history, etc. There is worth in reading this book particularly along side some other classics like Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, or Martin Luther King Jr's I Have a Dream speech.
But somehow this book just didn't reach straight to my heart. I'm not sure why, because I do see so much that is of worth in this book.
Perhaps it's because I want more information about Ruth. I want to know more about her relationships with her husbands. I want to know more about her faith. I want to know how her faith changed her. And the book never quite lets me see how that change happened.
I see many issues in Ruth's life where she needed the healing influence of Jesus: her molesting and abusive father, her first boyfriend, her abortion, her family abandoning her, etc. But I never get to the heart of how her conversion to Christianity healed the years of hurt. Obviously the woman had great faith that saw her through the years and helped her raise 12 kids. And I began to see a glimpse of it when she told Dennis that she wanted to get married and refused to "live in sin" any longer. But it never went beyond that.
I suppose the reason could be that this book was written by her son James McBride, and I really want to hear the story from Ruth's own lips. James McBride is successful in portraying his personal love for his mother, but he's lacking when it comes to expressing his mother's testimony. That's what I really wanted to see.
I don't only love this 'cause I'm mesmerized by cultural oriented literature, but also because of the wholesome spirit added in. Sometimes I get bored with straight forward memoirs or biographies, but James Mcbride adds in not only his mother's
One of my favorite quotes from it is (the one the book is obviously named after):
“A deep sigh. 'Oh boy . . .God's not black. He's not white. He's a spirit.'
'Does he like black or white people better?'
'He loves all people. He's a spirit.'
'What's a spirit?'
'A spirit's a spirit.'
'What color is God's spirit?'
'It doesn't have a color,' she said. 'God is the color of water. Water doesn't have a color.'”
Lastly, this is my other favorite quote:
“'You don't need money. What's money if your mind is empty! Educate your mind! Is this world crazy or am I the crazy one? It's probably me.'”