Questions for Discussion

1. Why was Saint Augustine important in the lives of the Delany sisters?
   
   
2. What about the sisters’ use of language helps the reader to better understand who they were and what their lives were like.
   
   
3. What forces, events, experiences, great happenings in American history are reflected in the lives of the Delany sisters?
   
   
4. There are many theories about the origin of prejudice. How do the Delanys explain this phenomenon?
   
   
5. How did the sisters’ philosophy of exercise influence their lives?
   
   
6. How did the educational philosophy of their parents and educational environment they grew up in help to shape the sisters’ views of education and achievement?
   
   
7. What evidence is there that the Delany family cherished and passed on family oral history?
   
   
8. Why was the relationship between the sisters’ grandfather (James Miliam) and their grandmother unusual?
   
   
9. What are some of the major contrasts in character and some major differences in how the sisters have handled similar experiences including dealing with Jim Crow laws and "rebby boys."
   
   
10. What factors caused the sisters to overcome racial prejudice and to succeed in a world that was often hostile to people even of their background; hostile to people, like themselves, with educational credentials, backbone, and good character?

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