That’s just the way it is is what Ben Sims heard throughout his life when he questioned why he was treated differently from white children or coworkers. It was a sentence that did not sit well with him, and he kept that inquisitive mindset throughout his career in the Air Force, his university education, and his jobs with the Department of Veterans Affairs. He has encountered racism in various forms but vowed not to yield to its principles and limitations, and he has always found a way to expose and denounce it. In this book, Ben Sims tells how he experienced racism and other -isms from childhood to the final stages of his working career. And how he manages to keep looking life in the face with a smile.
From growing up in the woodland ghetto of Cleveland, Ohio, his complex relationship with his father and a loving relationship with his mother and siblings, having his heart broken twice and being accused once in elementary school because of the color of his skin, getting stabbed, joining the Air Force and the Freemasons, starting a music career in San Francisco in the late 1960s, playing basketball and singing in the Vietnam War, being stationed in Germany and facing a discharge hearing on false charges, and meeting people like Malcolm X, Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, Janis Joplin and being sacked from Isaac Hayes’ band, Ben Sims’s story is about a truly eventful life and one that resonates in 2021 because it shines a light on how Black people have to navigate society and succeed in spite of it.
As Ben Sims shares his stories, we see how the events and experiences throughout our lives are stitched together to form the fabric of who we become. As you follow the story of Singing Rumplestiltskin, you’ll be inspired to look through your own family photo albums, talk to your older relatives, and think back on the words and actions of others that made a difference in your life. This book is Ben’s story of family, race, relationships, and the making of a man while living a full life. It will make you want to start writing your own story. - Michele Odems, CEO and Managing Broker
Singing Rumpelstiltskin by Ben Sims is the most enlightening book I have ever read about what it is like being Black in America. The racism that Ben Sims experienced while growing up in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1940s and 1950s and later joining and serving in the US Military in the 1960s and 1970s is heartbreaking. But he overcame it with his indomitable courage and fighting spirit. Racism still exists, but Ben Sims is an outstanding role model for fighting against it. This is also a story of a loving extended family of various backgrounds and a great story of the music that he has pursued all his life. I really enjoyed reading the book and highly recommend it. - Ako Shichiji, Manager Administrative Services, WABG Radio International
It is a book worth reading and it will help you to better understand the current discussions about racism and the development of the Black Lives Matter movement. Hopefully, with the help of this book, that discussion can be placed in a somewhat broader historical perspective by, and for, current and future generations. - Jan Rodenburg, Clinical Psychologist, the Netherlands
