Crave

CRAVE

SOJOURN OF A HUNGRY SOUL

© 2015 by Laurie Jean Cannady

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher.

The author has attempted to recreate events, conversations, and spaces from childhood memories and memories recounted to her by family members and friends. Some names have been changed.

Etruscan Press

Wilkes University

84 West South Street

Wilkes-Barre, PA 18766

(570) 408-4546

www.etruscanpress.org

Published 2015 by Etruscan Press

Cover design by Laurie Powers

Cover photo by Rachel Eliza Griffiths

Interior photographs courtesy of Mary Carter

Interior design and typesetting by Susan Leonard

The text of this book is set in Goudy Old Style.

First Edition

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cannady, Laurie Jean, 1974-

  
Crave : sojourn of a hungry soul / Laurie Jean Cannady. -- First edition.

        
pages cm

  
ISBN 978-0-9903221-4-6

 
1. Cannady, Laurie Jean, 1974---Childhood and youth. 2. Cannady, Laurie Jean, 1974---Family. 3. African Americans--Virginia--Biography. 4. African American families--Virginia--Biography. 5. African American families--Social conditions--20th century. 6. Virginia--Social conditions--20th century. I. Title.

  
E185.97.C25A3 2015

  
306.85'08996073--dc23

2015002581
                                      

Please turn to the back of this book for a list of the sustaining funders of Etruscan Press.

This book is printed on recycled, acid-free paper.

To those curvy, unnerving, twist walking, body talking, get-all-up-in-your-face women. Ones who don't take no crap, even though it's often tossed at them. Ones making ends meet, when no ends exist. Those ladies can't nobody stand, 'cause no one understands them. Not many things are dedicated to you. This book is.

“If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult.”

—Maya Angelou,
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

“A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.”

—Proverbs 27:7