Blessings and Disasters: A Story of Alabama

Blessings and Disasters: A Story of Alabama by Alexis Okeowo

This book will not change any stereotypes of Alabama. The author was raised in Alabama by African parents. They were "outsiders". They were culturally very different from the slave-descendant African American population, though that was the group they most closely resembled on the outside. Alabama had been controlled by a small group of wealthy white plantation owners for a the past few centuries. The Creek tribes, poor whites and blacks were relegated to a lower position. Though the poor whites were elevated a bit higher than the others to help keep things in order. The Creek had managed to stay through aligning themselves with various groups in power, but have had to struggle to remain relevant. The author tells stories of authority figures that would abuse their power and individual people. There are struggles to be heard along with a strong, conservative religious environment that makes change slow and hard to come by. Alabama continues to be Alabama.