A segregated train ride is only the beginning.
The Julia Street Series spans the early 1940’s through today, and takes the reader down memory lane as Sara and Ben Jameson move their young family from the south side of Chicago to Berkeley, California. The family lands in red-lined South Berkeley, the only part of town where Black people can live and own homes. The Jamesons settle nicely into an all Black working-class neighborhood where their neighbors are friendly, kind, and welcoming. They are homeowners and many own local businesses as well.
For their convenience, just steps away from their new home is a shoe repair, jeweler, cleaners, creamery, diner, two beauty shops, and a charm school. There is a family medical office, pharmacy, tiny night club, liquor store, pool hall, barber shop, variety store, and a small grocery store, all within two city blocks and all Black owned.
The Jameson family couldn’t have been happier with the move; Ben and Sara found new jobs, they all made new friends, and fit nicely into their new community.
But every silver lining has a cloud. The hairline cracks in Sara and Ben’s marriage widened, exacerbated by issues within the community and the country. Like everyone, the Jamesons were buffeted by wars, economic downturns, racial unrest, and neighborhood and societal changes.
Sara had thought the cross country move, leaving behind people and places she loved, was the hardest thing she would ever do. Was she wrong? $0.99 each on Kindle
