African and American Folktales
Many parents and grandparents tell folktales to
the children in their family. Storytellers spin them
for listeners of all ages. A folktale may have:
1. ________ solved
2. ________ of things that are hard to understand
3. ________ for an unkind person
4. ________ learned
5. a ________ for a good person
6. ________ who can overcome anything
7. ________ spells
8. ________ animals
In America, we are
lucky to have folktales from
around the world. As people come here to
live, they bring stories they have
heard and shared before. These
stories tell about life and nature.
African Americans have a wealth
of folklore from Africa to share
with their families and others.
Some also share stories from their
history as slaves and free people
in America. Most slaves were not
taught to read or write, so they
told tales of Africa as well as new
stories of life as experienced here.
Many of these stories have
been collected and written
down. The tales in children's
story books are
beautifully
illustrated for all
to enjoy. Ask
a librarian for
help in finding
some of these
folktales...
you'll be glad
you did!
1 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
heroes
lessons
explanations
reward
talking
punishment
problems
magical
6. tricky, greedy, lazy
7. proud, cruel
8. sneaky, clever
9. honorable, swift
10. patient, plotting
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
C
O
O
O
S
H A
A
I
E
1. stubborn, fearful
2. misleading, gets others
to do what he wants
3. timid, loyal
4. playful, clever
5. wise, brave
warthog
chameleon
crocodile
monkey
tortoise
spider
lion
cheetah
jackal
snake
Folktales often use animals
to make a point. The animals
are used to show what
people are like or
how they behave.
Which animals
may be used to stand
for these traits?
A cat may
be sneaky.
A dog may be too
trusting and get tricked.
What is your
favorite folktale?
Did you hear it
from your parents
or grandparents?
This animal is often
seen in folktales.
Sometimes
he is hiding.
He is small, but
fast and clever!
__ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
U I F U B M L J O H F H H T
Draw another animal often found in
folktales. What is he like?
1. Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale
by John Steptoe.
2. A Story A Story by Gail E. Haley.
3. Anansi the Spider Man by Philip M. Sherlock.
4. Jump! The Adventures of Brer Rabbit
by Joel Chandler Harris.
5. The Tales of Uncle Remus told by Julius Lester.
6. The People Could Fly told by Virginia Hamilton.
7. Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales
by Nelson Mandela.
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5
6
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12
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14
15
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18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
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Bzzz
i n
A West African Tale: by Verna Aardema
4. In the legend of John Henry,
it is said that he was born with
and died with, this in his hand:
John Henry: An American Legend by Ezra Jack Keats
M M H A E R
by Robert
San Souci
Find a Favorite Folktale! B B R A T I
Check out these cool folktales:
o u i o
W +
’
3. This magical folktale has a chicken house full of these.
To find out what, fill in each blank with the letter
of the alphabet that comes before the one given.
1
2
3
11
1. This folktale explains why an insect does what
it does! Study the pictures and letters to help
you fill in the title.
This animal is:
1. ______________________________
2. ______________________________
3. ______________________________
Which Folktale?
Unscramble
the word.
Follow the dots
to see what
John Henry
held:
These animals – but not alligators – live in
#1
#2
Africa. In stories they may be magical or dishonest.
L
C
D I
E
O C
R
O
Newspaper
Fun!
Created
by
Annimills
LLC
©
2021
2. In the tale, Beautiful Blackbird: by Ashley Bryan,
a bird paints a touch of his beautiful
color onto other birds’ feathers.
b
l
a
c k
Annimills LLC © 2021 V17-8
Newspaper Fun!
www.readingclubfun.com
Kids: color
stuff in!
...folktales from around the world.
Contact your library to borrow...
8 The Julian News February 24, 2021
Faith and
Living
Pastor Cindy Arntson
Solution page 11
This time of year, you often
hear people ask, “What are you
giving up for Lent?” They are
referring to the spiritual discipline
of fasting. It most often involves
giving up something you eat or
drink but giving up a creature
comfort or an enjoyable activity
can also be a fast. Lent is the 40
days before Easter not including
Sundays and this year it started
on February 17. Sundays aren’t
included because they are
considered “little Easters” or
resurrection days.
Fasting isn’t unique to
Christians. People of various
cultures and religions have
practiced the discipline of
fasting throughout history. Our
Jewish forefathers practiced
fasting on holy days and at
times of mourning, discernment,
repentance and/or preparation
for a major undertaking.
Though fasting became less
common among Protestant
Christians after the Reformation
and among Catholics after
Vatican II, Christians of all types
are finding that even though
fasting is not required for our
relationship with God, it is helpful.
I have used fasting as a spiritual
discipline for many years, but my
understanding of it has shifted
over time. At first, I used fasting
to challenge myself to give up
something I liked but believed
was not good for me. (I was able
to permanently give up watching
soap operas in this way.) Later,
I used fasting as an opportunity
to sacrifice something and limit
my pleasure. This was especially
true whenever I gave up
chocolate. More recently, I used
fasting to develop self-discipline
and remind myself that God is
the one thing I should desire
most. The “suffering” of a fast is
also a way to remind ourselves of
Jesus’ suffering for our sake but I
have a hard time saying there is
any comparison between giving
up TV and the suffering of Jesus.
My perspective changed
again when I read something
by C.S. Lewis. Writing about
the difference between being
focused on “unselfishness” and
focused on “love” he says, “The
negative ideal of unselfishness
carries with it the suggestion
not primarily of securing good
things for others, but of doing
without them ourselves, as if
our abstinence and not their
happiness was the important
point. I do not think this is the
Christian virtue of love. The New
Testament has lots to say about
self-denial, but not about self-
denial as an end in itself.”
This idea of fasting being about
other people is also expressed in
Isaiah 58:6-7, in which God says,
“Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free, and
break every yoke? Is it not to
share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into
your house; when you see the
naked, to cover them, and not to
hide yourself from your own kin?”
For many years, my fasting
was more focused on self-
improvement than love, more
focused on my personal
relationship with God than my
relationship with others. The
words from Isaiah and C.S.
Lewis call me to a different type
of fast. Whether I give up TV
watching time to write letters
or give up drinking Starbucks
to save money to help feed the
hungry, I now want my fast to be
an act of love.
The surprising thing is that
when our focus while fasting
is on God and others, good
things happen around and within
ourselves. As you draw closer to
others through self-giving love,
may you experience greater
closeness to God and blessings
for yourself in this holy season.
Cindy Arntson is ordained
clergy serving Community United
Methodist Church at 2898 Highway
78, Julian. Direct all questions and
correspondence to: Faith and Living,
c/o CUMCJ, PO Box 460, Julian,
CA, 92036. (Opinions in this column
do not necessarily express the
views of Julian News, its editor, or
employees.)
in 1887.
Montgomery recruited other
former enslaved people to settle
in the wilderness with him,
clearing the land and forging a
settlement that included several
schools, an Andrew Carnegie-
funded library, a hospital, three
cotton gins, a bank and a sawmill.
Mound Bayou still exists today,
and is still almost 100 percent
Black.
Jim Crow Laws in the 20th
Century
Asthe20thcenturyprogressed,
Jim Crow laws flourished within
an oppressive society marked by
violence.
Following World War I, the
NAACP noted that lynchings had
become so prevalent that it sent
investigator Walter White to the
South. White had lighter skin and
could infiltrate white hate groups.
As lynchings increased, so
did race riots, with at least
25 across the United States
over several months in 1919, a
period sometimes referred to
as “Red Summer.” In retaliation,
white authorities charged Black
communities with conspiring to
conquer white America.
With Jim Crow dominating
the landscape, education
increasingly under attack and
few opportunities for Black
college graduates, the Great
Migration of the 1920s saw a
significant migration of educated
Black people out of the South,
spurred on by publications like
The Chicago Defender, which
encouraged Black Americans to
move north.
Read by millions of Southern
Black people, white people
attempted to ban the newspaper
and threatened violence against
any caught reading or distributing
it.
The poverty of the Great
Depression only deepened
resentment, with a rise in
lynchings, and after World War
II, even Black veterans returning
home met with segregation and
violence.
Jim Crow in the North
The North was not immune to
Jim Crow-like laws. Some states
required Black people to own
property before they could vote,
schools and neighborhoods were
segregated, and businesses
displayed “Whites Only” signs.
In Ohio, segregationist Allen
Granbery Thurman ran for
governor in 1867 promising to bar
Black citizens from voting. After
he narrowly lost that political
race, Thurman was appointed to
the U.S. Senate, where he fought
to dissolve Reconstruction-
era reforms benefiting African
Americans.
After World War II, suburban
developments in the North
and South were created with
legal covenants that did not
allow Black families, and Black
people often found it difficult or
impossible to obtain mortgages
for homes in certain “red-lined”
neighborhoods.
When Did Jim Crow Laws
End?
The post-World War II era
saw an increase in civil rights
activities in the African American
community, with a focus on
ensuring that Black citizens were
able to vote. This ushered in the
civil rights movement, resulting in
the removal of Jim Crow laws.
In 1948 President Harry
Truman ordered integration in
the military, and in 1954, the
Supreme Court ruled in Brown
v. Board of Education that
educational segregation was
unconstitutional, bringing to an
end the era of “separate-but-
equal” education.
In 1964, President Lyndon
B. Johnson signed the Civil
Rights Act, which legally ended
the segregation that had been
institutionalized by Jim Crow
laws.
And in 1965, the Voting
Rights Act halted efforts to keep
minorities from voting. The Fair
Housing Act of 1968, which
ended discrimination in renting
and selling homes, followed.
Jim Crow laws were technically
off the books, though that has not
always guaranteed full integration
or adherence to anti-racism laws
throughout the United States.
Jim Crow Laws
continued from page 1
* * *
Faith in God helped blackAmericans
endure slavery and Jim Crow.
— Jesse Lee Peterson
* * *
