Ma, Ma, Um Sweatin: A Grandmother's Compelling Dream (SIGNED FIRST EDITION) by DeRay Cole - 2014

North Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014. A very crisp and clean SIGNED FIRST EDITION; almost new and unread condition; gift quality! Inscribed and dated by the author on the title page! Full-color pictorial wrapper with gray and black lettering. 52 very clean unmarked and uncreased historical and informative pages! "When DeRay Cole was a small boy, hed follow his grandmothers into the Arkansas cotton fields every day. While most women filled a seven-foot sack, Ma, Mas sack held nine feet of cotton. She worked harder than anyone else in the field. Little DeRay would get tired in the hot sun, and hed say to his grandmother, Ma, Ma, um sweatin. She would pause to wipe his face. Sometimes he wasnt really sweating; he just wanted her touch. She was always there, whether he was sweatin from heat, or just from his own nervous energy. So began a lifetime of love and affection between a woman born a generation past slavery and her favorite grandson. Like many black men, Cole modeled his work ethic and dedication to his family on his grandmothers undying strength, faith, and tenderness. While Ma, Ma never earned an advanced degree and spent her life working on a cotton farm, her grandson rose above segregation, earned two degrees, and became a prominent educator. DeRay Cole wrote the story of his grandmothers life, and their special relationship, as a testament to Ma, Ma and millions of other strong black women.........." (SIGNED FIRST EDITION).. Signed by Author. First Edition. Trade Paperback. Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.