Stories of survival.(African American on folklores)

Folklore is an important part of African American society. Folklore includes folktales, legends, proverbs, riddles, poems, sermons, and songs that have been passed down orally from generation to generation. Whether in the form of animal tales about Brer Rabbit outwitting Brer Fox or ballads about John Henry, the steel-driving man, folklore has helped African Americans survive in the New World.

In From My People: 400 Years of African American Folklore, editor Daryl Dance points out that folklore is a valuable "cultural record" that captures the true essence of African Americans. Folklore, he continues, provides an account of the lives of people who often have not been …