When Is a Colored Girl Not Colored

About the Book

The book is a narrative by a grandmother to her grandchildren as they visit her childhood hometown in Arkansas. My love for the place where I grew up and for its beauty and my unforgettable memories of school, church, black and white cultures, and racial disparity were an inspiration in writing much of the story. Although fictional, I was able to draw on memories of small-time life in an era that was racially divided to use as the basis to create characters and their lifestyles for the story.

About the Author

Ms Lola was born in rural Arkansas in the mid 1930’s in the midst of the depression era, the sixth child of ten. She was raised in a loving, Christian home with loving mother and father to guide their children. She attended an all Black school. Books were not affordable so there was little reading material in the home. As a precocious child, listening to older siblings recite alphabets, and do their homework, she learned as they did. She caught on fast, sounding out words from Sears’s catalogs, seed packages, Almanac or anything that had print on it. Long before she started school she amazed her mother by spelling and sounding out the word pajamas. By the time she started school she was a champion reader, She worked in white homes from age 14 until she graduated from high school. Upon graduation from high school, with no intentions of being a domestic worker forever, she moved to Wisconsin to seek better employment. She married and became mother of seven. The marriage ended in divorce. She gave up her maiden name when she married; refused to acknowledge her married name after divorce so she became just MsLola. Her love for books, reading, Christian upbringing and sharing childhood memories with her grandchildren, inspired her to pen a story of her own. While her book is fictional, fond childhood memories and love of the place where she grew up allowed her to create a perfect setting for her book. Proud mother of seven, grandmother of nine and six great grandchildren, a true believer in quality education, she spends much of her time encouraging her grandchildren to stay in school and reach for the highest goals possible. She is a devoted Christian and is proud to show it in her writing. Her youngest son had kidney failure and was on dialysis for several years. With much prayer and faith he recently received a kidney transplant which was a success. He is doing quite well and remains an advocate for organ donations. He has created his own non-profit organization, www.myhoda.com. He wishes to raise money as well as awareness and the need for the cause. A percentage from book sales will be contributed to his organization. He is also a striving musician.