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i see the rhythm celebrates the rich history of African American music. From the first slave chants to contemporary hip hop, African Americans have raised their voices in song against the oppression they have faced. i see the rhythm traces the story of the resilience, resistance, creativity, and spirit of the African American communities in the United States.
Artist Michele Wood and author Toyomi Igus worked together to identify critical periods of African American music. Michele's paintings reflect the rhythm of the music they illustrate; Toyomi's words capture the ideas and events underlying the music. A timeline running across each spread traces the historical developments–musical, political, and cultural–from which the music springs. Together, the book's words, art, and chronology illustrate the intimate relationship between the development of African American music and African American communities in the United States.
Students will “read” the rhythm of this book in many ways: they will see it in the color and imagery of the paintings, feel it in the emotional tone of the poems, and understand it in the historical details of the timelines. i see the rhythm provides classrooms with entry points into studies of African American history, contemporary African American communities, and it encourages cultural and historical perspectives on music, creative exploration through poetry, music, and painting.
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African American
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Music:
Rhythm; the Role of African American Music in American Musical Development; Key Musicians; Jazz
African American History:
The Middle Passage; Slavery; Reconstruction; the Great Migration; The Harlem Renaissance; the Civil Rights Movement
African American Communities:
Resistance to Oppression, Family Histories, Popular Culture
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Michele Wood is an artist, educator, and visual historian.
By creating complex images of the African ancestors she never
knew, Michele transports herself back in time to witness their
struggles and celebrations. Through her work, Michele says, she
becomes “a seeker of knowledge, a creator of visions, and a
keeper of my family's history.” Two books by Children's Book
Press, Going Back Home and and i see the rhythm, document her
journeys. About her paintings for i see the rhythm, Michele says,
“There is no present without the past. That's why it's so important
for young people to learn about their heritage.” Other work, which
spans social, cultural, and geographical boundaries, has
been exhibited across North America and Africa. Michele lives in
Savannah, Georgia.
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Toyomi Igus, the daughter of a Japanese American mother
and an African American father, recognized at an early age the
value of both diversity and universality. Her parents, supportive
of her interest in writing, encouraged her to pursue her vocation
in college. Toyomi is the author of several award-winning books
for children, including Two Mrs. Gibsons, Going Back Home,
and i see the rhythm. In addition to her writing, she has been
actively involved in Children's Book Press Community Programs.
Toyomi sees her workshops with students as an essential part of
her work as author. She says, “If I can motivate children to put
their experiences into words–to talk about our similarities–
then I, in turn, become motivated by their individual perspectives.”
Toyomi lives in Los Angeles, California.
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