Rann Miller’s ‘Resistance’ Book Gets New Life, New Stories
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
SICKLERVILLE — Much like the stories he writes about in his book, Award-winning educator and author Rann Miller is resisting foes who want nothing more than to shut him down.
Instead, Miller is creating his own “resistance” story as he tells some of the most inspiring stories of African Americans and how they resisted and overcame the odds in their own lives — and how those stories can inspire all children.
“Resistance Stories from Black History for Kids, Expanded Edition” takes readers not only through Black history in the United States but beyond to give its young readers a fuller — and more accurate — accounting of people of color. The updated edition has been out since February.
“I wanted to put more stories in,” Miller recently told Front Runner New Jersey, saying that he has added 21 new stories from the original. “With the first book, I had a word limit of about 40,000 words and stretched that as much as I could.”
“Resistance Stories” was caught up in the Right’s efforts to suppress and/or eliminate Black History across the country. Last year, national conservative media targeted Miller and the book, calling him a “left-wing activist” in leveling plagiarism charges against him. Plagiarism is the latest tactic by some on the Right in an effort to try to discredit most work by Black academia and authors.
Miller, a frequent contributor to Front Runner New Jersey.com, rejected the charge and has vigorously defended his work in getting the inspiring stories of Black resistance, much of which is little known to the public.
However, the Ulysses Press, the book’s original publisher, ended distribution and removed it from its website last year. Undaunted, Miller is going the independent publishing route and is taking a more hands-on approach to distributing the book.
“The response has been really good and I have a lot of people in my corner,” Miller said. “As I researched the book, I learned of new information and stories about there. In the expanded edition, I was able to add those stories to the book this time because I wasn’t hamstrung with a word limit.”
Miller said he was able to add more “New Jersey” flavor to the book by adding more resistance stories from South Jersey — Burlington and Camden counties in particular — to the book, as well as some others around the state.
In the end, efforts to silence Miller have led him to produce a more robust book for resistance stories about Blacks for children to learn from.
“Black history is a robust and multifaceted chapter in world history that is often watered down,” said the book’s description on Amazon. “History books tend to highlight whitewashed versions of African enslavement, the Civil Rights Movement, and other ‘safe’ topics that, while important, do not fully encapsulate the experiences of the Black and African diaspora.
“By telling the stories that are often omitted from history, ‘Resistance Stories from Black History for Kids’ sets out to show that the Black experience is not only defined by marching and boycotting, but also through rebellion and resistance.”
“I wanted to cover the gambit of the Black experience, from the United States to the Caribbean and the African Diaspora,” Miller said. “There is so much that is out there and so much history to learn.”
Miller said he hopes the book will not only fill in the gaps of missing history children rarely, if ever, get in schools or even in their own homes, but will find inspiration, meaning and purpose in it.
With Black History under attack in places like Florida and other locations controlled by conservatives, Miller said he hopes the book will be used by educators and others who are mounting a resistance to such efforts.
To purchase “Resistance Stories,” click here.
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