Sharecropper’s Daughter Proves Poverty, Racism Do Not Hinder Success

Before the Civil Rights Act was enacted in 1964, it’s tough to be both black and poor, especially in the South. Poor black youth had nowhere to go after high school graduation, and the Southern system limited them to menial careers. Gifted black high school graduates like Cleaster Whitehurst-Mims were lucky enough to leave the South and pull off a successful teaching career up North, which she capped off with the publication of her memoir “One Peanut at a Time: Autobiography: One Woman’s Trek of Trials and Triumphs” (Xlibris, 2016).
 
Whitehurst-Mims’ memoir serves as an evidence of a life well-lived and challenges overcome, but more importantly, it is a token of gratitude for the people who helped her in many ways: her parents who taught her the importance of hard work and education; her relatives in Ohio who helped her adjust to life in the city and how not to bow down to racism; her friends who provided her companionship and opportunities; and her husband who supported her when she was juggling between work and studies. Whitehurst-Mims proves grit and determination and love and support from family and friends can help over challenges in life, making it worth living.
 
Whitehurst-Mims’ “One Peanut at a Time: Autobiography: One Woman’s Trek of Trials and Triumphs” will appear at the upcoming 2017 Book Expo America on June 1 to 3, 2017. Get your copy and be inspired by her story.
 
 
“One Peanut at a Time: Autobiography: One Woman’s Trek of Trials and Triumphs”
Written by Cleaster Whitehurst-Mims
Published by Xlibris
Published date: July 7, 2016
Paperback price: $19.99
                                              
About the Author
 
Dr. Cleaster Whitehurst-Mims is an educator, political activist, and philanthropist whose journey carried her from the peanut fields of Enterprise, Alabama to founder and CEO of her own private boarding school, the Cleaster Mims College Prep and International Boarding Schools, which is the first African-American-owned international boarding school for fourth through eighth grade students in Ohio, USA. As a sharecropper’s daughter, she was raised in a unique farm culture where she learned lasting lessons in family and community unity, faith, fortitude, and frugality. She spends her time developing a private archive and a family learning center in honor of her husband, the late Julius C. Mims.

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