Tradition of Inspiration

When I was a small child, there was a little booklet that was as much a part of my life as Dr. Seuss or Golden Books. It was everywhere -- on kitchen tables, on top of telephone stands, in the bottom of ladies’ purses, especially beside Bibles. When I reached out to touch the landscape- or floral-covered issues, I was scolded and told not to touch “the enticing kid-sized” pages by obsessively neat and religiously zealous adults. Consequently, for years I negatively associated the Daily word with doily-covered living rooms, musty Bibles, and scary, elderly aunts who spoke of and to Jesus as familiarly as a next-door neighbor. It wasn’t until I was an adult in search of a little inspiration in my daily life, “a little perspective when I wanted to gnaw the leg off a co-worker,” that I began to see the wisdom of that little book of meditations, whose pages I would sneakily thumb through when the grown-ups weren’t looking. One day, as my long-ago child self looked on in horror, I bought a Hazelden book of daily meditations for dieters; at some point I even took out a subscription to the mysterious book of my childhood. I found them illuminating, reassuring, like a piece of my past reconstructed in soothing words and images.

Today no special-interest or demographic group (substance abusers, victims of sexual abuse, men, women) is immune to the ministrations of these little books of wisdom. For almost three years, African Americans and other people of color have been the beneficiaries of no less than five perpetual daily inspirational books, all with varying inspirational objectives, originality, and degrees of success.

At one end of the spectrum are two books by Eric V. Copage, the first author to publish an ethnically-focussed daily guide. In his introduction to Black Pearls: Daily Meditations, Affirmations, and Inspirations for African-Americans (Quill/William Morrow; 1993; $10), the author set forth his goals and distinguishes his effort from the Hazelden-style guides: “not a religious book, but a book of inspirational sayings and practical advice that stemmed specifically from our heritage and our people.” Consequently, both the extremely popular Black Pearls and its sequel, Black Pearls for Parents: Meditations, Affirmations and Inspirations for African-American Parents (Quill/William Morrow; 1995; $10) are firmly goal-oriented, perfect for those who prefer their inspiration in metered doses, say at the desk at the office, or over a morning cup of coffee.

For those who have been around the Hazelden/Daily Word block a few times, an option with more spiritual as well as African American wisdom is Dennis Kimbro’s Daily Motivations for African-American Success (Fawcett Crest; 1994; $5.99), originally in hardcover, but now at a more user-friendly size and price. Kimbro, author of the successful Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice, brings the same upbeat, accessible inspirational message and some great anecdotes to Daily Motivations.

Then there are those spiritually-oriented books, designed not just for African Americans, but all people of color. Beautifully designed and thoroughly researched, Walk Tall: Affirmations for People of Color by Carleen Brice (RPI Publishing; 1994; $9.95) draws its quotations not only from African American but Native American, Latino, and various Asian cultures, and draws inspirational lessons from the lives of such diverse people as Carl Jung, Yo Yo Ma, Sojourner Truth, and Gloria Estefan. A feature that also distinguishes Walk Tall is the conscious inclusion of healing meditations to combat racism and its often-debilitating consequences. Iyanla Vanzant’s Acts of Faith: Daily Meditations for People of Color (Fireside/Simon & Shuster; 1993; $9) is the most inclusive of all cultures, drawing on teachings of the Bible, Paramahansa Yogananda, Taoism, the Baha’i faith, Yoruba priests, as well as the words of Will Rogers, Henry Ford, Erica Jong as well as a healthy dose of quotes by people of color. With its seasonal meditations on Self, the World, Others, and Money and Abundance, Acts of Faith can and should be enjoyed by anyone.

One hopes that future books hold to the high ideals of the best of the current selection and resist the “dumbing down” of an idea so often found when books, like movies, are market-driven rather than address a deeply-felt need; the unfortunate bromide-riddled Black Folks’ Little Instruction Book: by Denise L. Stinson (Main Street Books/Doubleday; 1995; $6.95) comes to mind; no one should aspire to “Make your bed every day” or “Sit in the front of the church” as wisdom for the ages.

Eric Copage says, in his Introduction to Black Pearls for Parents, “you needn’t be shy about letting the youngster(s) around you know you are reading this book.” Indeed, with the colorful and inviting array of meditation books now likely to be seen in hundreds of thousands homes, offices, backpacks, and purses, no child should feel the sense of foreboding mystery I did decades ago, nor should they be excluded from the words of wisdom that can positively influence their young lives, too.