Read The Strivers' Row Spy Online

Authors: Jason Overstreet

The Strivers' Row Spy (37 page)

“Is that all?” I asked, looking down at James and Ginger.
“
Oui
,” he said, handing me back the paper.
“Thank you, Jean.”
“
Merci
. You do the shopping now?”
“Yes.”
I began pushing the carriage, my mind now in a different place. I'd been in Paris for two years and had done my best to shield myself from all that had occurred back in America. The only news I'd read had been a snippet about how Du Bois was successfully continuing the growth of the NAACP. It had left me feeling good, enough to continue moving on without stopping to analyze the past.
But now, hearing this about Garvey brought back all of the details. I couldn't help but ask myself a question:
Had the work I'd done been worth all that it had cost me?
I waited for an answer to come to me as I pushed my babies toward a bin full of potatoes. I thought about their futures. Then I thought about their own children's futures. If and when any of them decided to return to America, what kind of life would be awaiting them? It was then that I knew the answer to my question. It had indeed been worth it because any one man's life had to be worth risking for the good of an entire people. I needed to believe that.
And now that Garvey's separatist movement had been delivered a blow, Du Bois could make some serious gains. The NAACP's dream was alive and well. I'd helped it survive. Integration had a fighting chance.
“Daddy!” said baby James, looking up at me with a big smile. I shook the carriage back and forth a bit to soothe them both.
“That's right,” I whispered. “Daddy's right here. Daddy loves you. Daddy loves you. Daddy loves you.”
A READING GROUP GUIDE
THE STRIVERS' ROW SPY
Jason Overstreet
 
 
 
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
 
 
The suggested questions are included
to enhance your group's reading of
Jason Overstreet's
The Strivers' Row Spy.
Discussion Questions
1.
If the Bureau had not taken the action that they took in 1919, how might the current state of black America be different?
2.
If Du Bois and Garvey had had a different relationship, how might their outcomes have been different?
3.
If Loretta had been politically curious and aware, how could she have changed the course of the story?
4.
Was the risk worth the reward for Sidney?
5.
Is there hypocrisy in considering Sidney a sell-out while white agents are not thought of as traitors to their race?
6.
Why is being a black agent in the story about race but being a white agent is not?
7.
Considering what happened in the story, would James have forgiven Sidney if he'd learned the truth?
8.
Why was it necessary, at least in Hoover's mind, to hire black agents?
9.
What historical facts fed the Bureau's paranoia regarding communism?
10.
Give two possible reasons that Hoover would think Garvey and Du Bois were like-minded on communism.
11.
Which of the following do you think are factual, fictionalized, or both?
• The Harlem setting
• Young J. Edgar Hoover's role in the fledgling Bureau
• The Bureau agents in the story
• Du Bois's and Garvey's roles in U.S. and world history
• The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill
• James Eason's trip to New Orleans
• President Warren G. Harding's stance on racial issues
12.
Name some historical black Americans who emigrated to Paris.
13.
Why might Garvey have been enthralled by pomp and ceremony?
14.
Discuss Du Bois's philosophy of the Talented Tenth.

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