What are Ersula's Essays about? There is good soul to be found in them blended with a beautiful, melodic flow of artistic words akin to the most delicate, yet powerful waterfall. Brimming with soul and insightfulness, Ms. Odom takes us on an empathetic, often nostalgic journey to explore deeper the heartbeat of humanity. She pulls out her weapons against mass discrimination of historical proportion and aims straight for racial stereotyping, busting it wide open. She illustrates how to take adversity and morph it into opportunity through her profound observations of life. After reading these fine essays, you can't help but realize that Ms. Odom has forced you to understand that one person's perspective on events cannot stand alone. There must be a mix of different perspectives, or else compromise is impossible, and the society is doomed to eternal chaos. Thank you, Ms. Odom ... thank you for your insight.
By Dana Palladino "Dana", May 28, 2011
Other reviews by Dana
Today we would say that 1970 was a game changer for me. In reality, my world changed. I moved from the safety of my grandmother's back yard and my segregated school into a world where I had to talk to people who didn't look like me. I put my feelings to paper about "The Impact of School Integration on Black Students" and won a much needed college book scholarship for my freshman year.
A few years ago someone spoke the words "Rite of Passage" to me and off I went into a world of possibilities about what I had heard and what I know.
What a blessing it is when someone sees in you what you don't see in yourself. A friend literately badgered me into applying for the Florida Humanities Council's "Road Scholar's" program portraying Dr. Bethune. Now a legend guides me with her words and "Through Me She Lives".
Through it all, what my foundation for joy is my beloved "Rhythm Memory."
