Joe

About the Book

The book “Joe” was written by Janice Freeman two years ago as a sequel to her previous book titled “The Family Secret”. The book “Joe” like “The Family Secret” is about racial injustice and is based on true events learned from the Civil Rights Movement under Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other African American leaders. Both books illustrate how racial segregation was practiced and how it not only affected African Americans but also Whites who believed that their behavior was acceptable. The cruelty evolved in racial segregation brought the African Americans to the point that they were not taking it anymore. Their past in the South had included slavery and mistreatment. Even though the Civil War was fought to correct this situation the mistreatment continued for a hundred more years by Southerners who wanted to keep African Americans down for their cheap labor. This continued to keep the wealth in White people’s hands. This generation of African Americans insisted that the Federal Government intervene until Whites changed. Some Whites gradually changed and finally believed that African Americans should not be held in racial contempt and inferiority that they were held in for so long. This was brought about by the intervention of the Federal Government with the use of Federal troops. Whereas, some Whites tried to cooperate, others had a die-hard mentality to hang on to racial injustices. Joe and members of his family didn’t want to abandon their bigoted lifestyle of hatred and intolerance. Because of changing circumstances in the economics of Whites they gradually saw the light. They married women who knew the Lord and who began to show them the wrong in racial injustices. In time, with patience and kindness they were able to show their husbands the errors of their ways. Joe’s change caused him to see such a wonderful difference in his life.

About the Author

Janice Freeman was born in New York City in 1936. She is now the last person living in her immediate family. She grew up in the Bronx with two older brothers, and her parents were Ben and Mattye Watson. The family moved from New York when Janice was 11 years old. Their move was to a lovely community in Verona, New Jersey. The three children finished Henry B. Whitehorne High School which was academically excellent and considered to be one of the finest schools in the Nation. From this school, Janice learned to read classical novels which she loved. This encouraged her to appreciate good film and artwork especially the Masters. Janice married after her second year of college. After graduating college, she went into a banking career, never thinking about writing. She later had two children, a son and a daughter. Janice earned a master’s degree from Fitchburg State College, Fitchburg, Massachusetts. She also became a Pastor later in life and pastored her own church in the state of Massachusetts. Janice was in her early 70s when she decided to retire. She wanted to write a book at least by the age of 80 and had gained enough knowledge to help her in this endeavor. She wanted the book to show a different side of the affects of racial injustices on White life in America opposed to only seeing how African Americans were affected. This was started in her first book “The Family Secret” and finished as a sequel in this second book titled “Joe”.