author, speaker, and consultant Janet Cheatham Bell Bell, however, had reached a point in her life where she was no longer willing to engage in the ceaseless struggle of living up to external expectations of family, friends, or society. She determined to live her life on her own terms. And that is exactly what she has done since 1984. In that period she published twelve books including two self-published titles that were later licensed to Warner Books. Her most recent title is The Time and Place That Gave Me Life published in 2007 by Indiana University Press. She has spoken to large audiences and small groups encouraging others to live their dreams. She is especially proud of the fact that her own son, W. Kamau Bell, the comedian, listened to her encouragement and followed her example to pursue his dream of performing and directing. After settling in Chicago, her favorite city, Bell pursued her dream of creating and publishing books. She established Sabayt Publications in 1985 and published Famous Black Quotations and Some Not So Famous and Famous Black Quotations on Women, Love and other topics, in 1986 and 1992 respectively.
Operating alone out of a spare bedroom, Bell sold over 90,000 copies of her first two titles. Warner Books combined the two books into one volume which they published in 1995 under the title Famous Black Quotations  . Warner also published Bell’s Victory of the Spirit: Meditations on Black Quotations in 1996. She also wrote the copy for the National Council of Negro Women's best selling Black Family Reunion Cookbook published in 1991. Bell's other titles include The Soul of Success: Inspiring Quotations for Entrepreneurs published by John Wiley & Sons in 1997. Stretch Your Wings: Famous Black Quotations for Teens , published by Little, Brown and Company in 1999. Her four small gift books Famous Black Quotations on Mothers, …on Sisters, …on Love, and … on Birthdays were published by Andrews Mc Meel in 2002 and 2003. Bell's brief history, Till Victory Is Won: Famous Black Quotations From the NAACP  was published in 2002 by Simon & Schuster’s Washington Square Press. Bell's consulting clients have included Charlie Nelms, Provost, North Carolina Central University, and author of Start Where You Find Yourself; Prather Enterprises, an online business; Baker & Taylor book wholesalers, and a number of textbook publishers. EXCERPT from Chapter 4 "Priceless, But Not Material" in The Time and Place That Gave Me Life
When I was eleven years old there was a revival at church. Week long revivals were held periodically to revive the church’s spiritual focus, and in particular, to save lost souls. A dynamic preacher from another church, or perhaps from out of town, offered fire-and-brimstone sermons every night and encouraged the congregation to shout their joy and loudly amen their approval. Mama came home from the revival on a Tuesday night and accosted me. “Rozzie joined church tonight.” Rosalind “Rozzie” Trabue was in the same grade as I, but she was a year older because I started school when I was five. “You need to start thinking about your soul’s salvation. Tomorrow night you’re going to revival with us.” I think Mama was distressed that Dorothy Mae’s daughter had found the Lord before her own daughter had. After all, the Trabues were not the pillars of the church that the Cheathams were. I knew what I had to do, not only to please Mama, but also to keep her from nagging me until she got what she wanted. The following night [my younger siblings] Rosie, Reggie, and I joined Mama and Daddy at the revival service. When the minister asked all sinners to come up front to the mourner’s bench, I went. When he opened the doors of the church and asked who wanted to join, I stood and stepped forward. When he asked why I wanted to join, instead of admitting that I was trying to satisfy my mother, I repeated what I had heard others say, “I want to be saved.” My decision for Christ elicited several loud amen’s from the church sisters and deacons, then I heard Mama’s joyous shout of approbation. Ironically, Jesus saved all three of us the same week: Reggie and Rosie joined church the very next night. Mama’s first-born, James, had been a member for several years, having joined when he was about six years old. He said Reverend Poole called the sinners up front and opened the doors of the church right after Sunday school services. James knew what to say when he joined because he had seen and heard many other converts. Mama could relax now; her whole family was saved.
|
|
