Oakland’s First Baptist Church held yesterday the 19th Annual African-American Read-In Chain… Oakland’s First Baptist Church held yesterday the 19th Annual African-American Read-In Chain in front of a gathering of 50 people who wanted to expand their knowledge of black literature.

The event was coordinated by Ogle Duff, emeritus professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education, and included Larry Davis, dean of Pitt’s School of Social Work, who was the keynote speaker.

The read-in chain was part of a nationally coordinated effort sponsored by the black caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English. At social gatherings across the nation, people read black American literature for one hour at the same time.

The emotional highlight of the event occurred when Davis opened his presentation with a story of how, as a 10-year-old growing up in Michigan, he was denied a seat next to a white girl on a Ferris wheel because he was black.

He described how the incident is still imprinted in his memory, and he had his youngest son read a poem that paralleled the incident. Davis then read three selections by W.E.B. Dubois about segregation and education.

A slide presentation displayed individual stories of black families who moved to the Pittsburgh area during the Great Migration from 1914-1950, and the First Baptist Church Choir performed a prelude of spirituals.

Members of the audience contributed individually by approaching the podium and reading personally chosen selections.

The first reading was a letter sent by the abolitionist Frederick Douglass to the First Baptist Church of Oakland, a selection that connected the history of the abolitionist movement to the church’s social activism.

The readings were taken from a wide swathe of viewpoints, ranging from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to two powerful poems written by Pittsburgh-area high school students.

Beatrice Vassar, who traveled to Ghana in 2006, read an excerpt of her own impressions of the slave castles she toured there, while Robert Smith read an excerpt from “Letter to a Black Boy” by Robert Teague, a letter written to his 2-year-old son about what he sees as the insanity of some black men when confronted by racism.

After his reading, Davis fielded questions from the audience and talked at length about the difficulties experienced by black middle class families to maintain their middle class status.