'I Aint Noways Tired: Grandma Hands' Shows the Times of Segregation and Jim Crow

The times of Jim Crow and segregation were turbulent and dangerous for Americans of African descent, and author Brinase Merritt's forebears were no exception. During these times, her grandparents and their children would survive by farming the land, picking cotton from sun up to sun down along with her grandmother's midwifery which enabled them to persevere despite all the hardships ones family had to endure even with the odds set against them. I Aint Noways Tired: Grandma Hands is the tale of the Martin and Barrow families' history, a true story as the author gives an account of her families' humanity, love, loyalty and the compassion they exemplified in their community. This story demonstrates how, humility and courage can beat the odds in a time and place that was neither economically or morally fair to the African-American community as a whole. It also shows how two families from different backgrounds and races could coexist together amicably.

"When walking those red dirt back roads of Tuskegee, Alabama, those red dirt roads seem to run forever, as far as the moonlight through the pines and as far as the stars in the sky," Merritt writes in her book, her prose poignant and reflective. Those roads were not safe for most southern Negroes, for there was always a concern and a chance of a tragedy striking someone you loved or knew due to the climate of the times. It was difficult for any Negro family to feel completerly safe because of the injustices they had suffered for over four hundred years. The Negro race was still experiencing far too many prejudices and injustices because of the color of their skin.

However, despite their lot in life, they continued to endure and persevere, and amidst this backdrop of struggle, oppression and separate and unequal treatment, Merritt recounts how her grandmother worked diligently as a midwife. Elvira delivered one baby at a time into a world of unknown possibilities while raising a family alongside her husband. Her busy hands helped to support their family and a community where she was needed, loved and respected. If cotton was King, the granny midwife was certainly Queen.

The selfishness of the midwife served as the author's inspiration, and aside from her grandmother, her mother also served as a source of knowledge while writing this book. Merritt now wishes to share the legacy of her grandmother with her readers nationwide with I Aint Noways Tired: Grandma Hands. "I want the reader from all backgrounds to take from my story that you can make it if you try, you can make it through the toughest times with faith and belief just as our ancestors did, when the odds were not favorable and the cards stacked high against them, they made it." Merritt shares, "Never give up on yourself or your dream."

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About the Author
Brinase Merritt is a former member of the East Technical High School Alumni Association. She is a lecturer on African American women, a freelance writer of published articles, and was interviewed on Let's Talk Education on WABQ Radio. She has met distinguished personalities such as Jesse Owens, four time Olympic gold medalist and alumni of East Tech High, as well as Curtis Mayfield, Alex Haley, and Muhammad Ali/ She sang for the Honorable Congressman Louis Stokes, spoke at the Smithsonian on her grandmother, Elvira Barrow Martin, interviewed Guion Buford, the first African American to fly in space, and met Clarence Jamison, an original Tuskegee Airman.

I Aint Noways Tired: Grandma Hands * by Brinase Merritt
Publication Date: May 30, 2013
Trade Paperback; $19.99; 284 pages; 978-1-4836-3451-7
Trade Hardback; $29.99; 284 pages; 978-1-4836-3452-4
eBook; $3.99; 978-1-4836-3453-1
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