The Honorable John Lewis, the noted civil-rights leader who served in the U. S. House of Representatives from 1987 until his death earlier this year, tweeted in June 2018, “Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
Rep. Lewis is not included in Daneen Akers’s 2019 book published under the title Holy Troublemakers & Unconventional Saints, but perhaps he will be included in the second volume already planned.
Introducing
Holy Troublemakers
Some
of you may know of Mike Morrell. He was the sub-author of Richard Rohr’s book The
Divine Dance: The Trinity and Your Transformation (2016). Among the many hats Mike wears, he
curates the Speakeasy network, which is a collective of bloggers, who among
other things review books.
I
have received and reviewed a few books for Speakeasy, and that is how I came to
read Akers’s book about “holy troublemakers.” I didn’t know when I requested it
that it is a book for young readers, but the stories of 36 “troublemakers” were
of sufficient interest to this old man, although I didn’t need the 16-page
Glossary at the end.
Akers’s
attractive book tells the story of a wide variety of people, beginning with
Alice Paul and ending with Wil Gafney. (After a bit I caught on that the people
are introduced in alphabetical order by their first names, and later I found
out that Rev. Gafney is a former student of Thinking Friend Michael Willett
Newheart, a former student of mine.)
Some
of the “holy troublemakers” and/or “unconventional saints” included are some of
my favorite people about whom I have written about in this blog—people such as
Francis of Assisi, Florence Nightingale, and Gustavo Gutiérrez.
The
book also includes many people whom I learned about for the first time, such as
Ani Zonneveld (a Malaysian Muslim), Irwin Keller (a Jewish rabbi), and Lisbeth
Melendez Rivera (a Puerto Rican active now with Rainbow Catholics).
As
described on the HolyTroublemakers.com website, “Holy
Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints is an illustrated children’s
storybook featuring the stories of people of diverse faiths who worked for more
love and justice in their corner of the world, even when that meant rocking the
religious boat.”
Introducing
Akers
Many
of the people introduced in this book grew up as conservative Christians, as
did author Akers herself, who says on page two that she “grew up in a deeply loving
family with five generations of roots in a conservative Christian denomination,”
which I found out elsewhere was the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Akers
quite apparently grew into embracing a broad ecumenical religious worldview and
a warm, accepting attitude toward other people, especially those who suffer
discrimination or societal mistreatment.
As
we are informed on the website, Akers’s book “emphasizes the stories of women,
LGBTQ people, people of color, Indigenous people, and others too often written
out of religious narratives.”
Two-thirds
of the people introduced in Akers’s book are women, and just over half are
people of color. Moreover, even though she is a white Christian, Akers includes
Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists in her book—and also a chapter on Valarie Kaur, a
remarkable Sikh woman.
At least ten of the 36 troublemakers/saints are LGBTQ people, and six or more others are allies. Akers informed me that there are so many profiles of LGBTQ holy troublemakers and unconventional saints in the book because that's “a demographic that's too often been excluded from religious narratives.”
Recommending
Akers’s Book
This book may have too much emphasis on LGBTQ
people for it to be broadly recommended. On the other hand, maybe for that very
reason, it needs to be recommended for a wide reading public. After all,
LGBTQ LIVES MATTER
In particular, I especially recommend this book
to two types of families: to those who have family members or close friends who
are LGBTQ—and to families who harbor negative feelings toward LGBTQ people.
The book is a bit pricey, but it is a beautifully done and valuable book. It could certainly be a good investment for parents to purchase and to read/discuss with their children over 36 days.
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I appreciate you introducing this book. I want to read it before you give it to our church library.
ReplyDeleteThinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago sent me an email a few minutes ago with these brief comments:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy, for bringing Akers's book to our attention. I should read it as it appears to be a really good book. I have recommended it to the pastor at Wicker Park Lutheran Church."
Thanks for your response, Eric--and thanks for recommending the book to your pastor. As June mentioned above, I plan to give the book to the library of the church June and I are members of, and it would be a good addition to any church library.
DeleteA local Thinking Friend wrote, "Good to know about this book. What age child would benefit? Is a smart 5 year old too young?
ReplyDeleteI replied:
The book's website says, "The book is written for middle grade age children (and their adults) ages 8 and up," and I think it would probably be a bit challenging for even a smart 8 year old--but, of course, an adult reading it to a child could add explanatory information. I am out of touch with young children now, but it seems to me that perhaps even 8-year-olds are too young to talk with about what it means to be a gay or a lesbian. So, I think that it would be best for middle school children on up.
Sometimes our best discoveries happen by accident. Your experience accidentally reading a children's book reminds me of a record club order I made long ago. I thought I ordered a double album by Joan Baez, but I received a double album of great bluesmen. Well, I read the cover and decided to give it a try. I am glad I did. That album stretched the limits of my music appreciation. Now I still love the music of Joan Baez, but that order mishap still did me a favor. We think we know the good that we want, but sometimes the best just comes and takes us by surprise. It sounds like Akers has written a great book!
ReplyDelete