Surviving King Cotton: Cotton Pickin Po

This book is a brief oral history account of an African American family who survives the harsh conditions of sharecropping and being farm hands in the cotton fields during the 1940s thru the 1970s south. Through some of the memories are dimmed by time, the brothers and sisters telling their stories give accounts of the hardships they endured while growing up in the cotton fields to the best of their recollection. It is told through the eyes of 13 of the 14 children who started work at six, or seven years of age chopping cotton for $1.50 per day working from 6 am to 6 pm. They tell what it was like to pick cotton from Can’t see to can’t see for .02 cents a pound. They tell about experiencing racism first hand, and not understanding why things in the south were the way they were. Most importantly they tell of a momma and daddy who loved them, nurtured, disciplined, and directed their lives to become good citizens,