Black History Month: PUSH, a novel by Sapphire
Grant Simpson, Dean
West College of Education

         In honor of Black History Month and in the spirit of learning from diversity, I would like to offer for your consideration a special book.  PUSH is a novel by Sapphire, an African-American performance poet.  Its heroine is Precious Jones, an illiterate sixteen-year-old, pregnant with a second child by her father.  She has been invisible: invisible to her rapist father, her mother who batters her, and to those who dismiss her as another of Harlem’s casualties. But Precious finally meets a determined teacher who believes in her ability to learn and succeed.  Through her guidanIce, Precious learns how to write about her own life and to begin to take control over it. 

            The story of Precious Jones is a gut-wrenching, brutal account that is written in the vernacular of the ghetto.  The language and experiences make the reader wince and flinch.  It is hard for middle class readers of any ethnicity to swallow, and yet within a few pages Precious becomes an incredibly compelling character. You ache for her and yearn for any shred of light or hope in her miserable existence.  That begins to happen with “Miz Rain.”  Experienced and aspiring educators will find encouragement and inspiration in Miz Rain’s commitment and mission.  She uses the life experiences of her students as a bridge to learning.  She does not judge them but continually challenges them to want and do more.

            PUSH is not for the faint of heart or easily offended.  The first chapter assaults senses and sensibility; the despair of Precious’ life is relentless.  It’s stuff we don’t want to look at, much less experience, but it’s what Precious got dealt, not what she chose. The gauntlet for the reader is to find the strength and hope in her diversity.  For the educator, first and foremost, Precious is a learner who has been shortchanged for many years.  Life’s cruelest blows have not snuffed her flame; her teacher kindles, feeds, and fans it.  The artistry of Sapphire’s writing is in making the repugnant also deeply moving.  It will make you shudder, but you cannot put it down, and “Precious” takes on new meaning.

            Can you resist it?  Buy it; find it; or borrow my copy!

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