Cinco De Mayo & Much More
Happy Birthday, Sis.
With a nod to others who greet this day with Mexican flavors and cocktails, my family and I cheer my sister’s May 5th birthday with cake, candles, appreciation, and deep gratitude for all this brilliant attorney means to us.
“The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving with passion and compassion and humor and style and generosity and kindness.” -Maya Angelou
Birthday Memories:
“A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves—a special kind of double.”–Toni Morrison
“Sisters are different flowers from the same garden.”–Anonymous
“Growing up, I wasn’t aware I was blowing out candles on a day celebrated so festively by others, but I’m not complaining. There are only a few disadvantages to having a quiet natal day morph into everyone’s favorite drinking party,” my sister (now a loving grandmother) said long ago.
Our parent’s four children grew up with frequent lessons about secrets to personal (not material) success. They both explained that life offers wonderful lessons when we pay attention to our journey. Mom and Dad offered the following suggestions: live in the moment; value the people, places, and things at hand.
Instead of wishing for different things, Mom often reminded us to “pause when agitated,” and then “choose what you have.”
Today, while celebrating my sister’s birthday, we’re also looking forward to honoring our ancestor mom on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 10.
This Week’s Great Migration Library Q & A:
This week’s Question: What are the colors of the Mexican flag?
Answer to last week’s Question: After passage by Congress, which American president signed the historic (and long overdue) Civil Rights Act of 1964? Answer: President Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Thank you for joining me in the Great Migration Library. The doors are always open. Your chair is waiting.
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Reader Reminder:
More interesting facts will be revealed by clicking on mustard-colored links.
Great Migration Library website
The Great Migration Library’s highlighted links often connect you to more information, books at AbeBooks, or other independent booksellers, available at the time of our posting. Note: Before selecting from a link, sort through available offerings for desired condition; new or used.
Bookmarks:
Cinco De Mayo: How did the holiday become more popular in the United States than Mexico? By Jordan Mendoza, Maria Jimenez Moya, USA Today (Online 05/04/2022).
A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams (Greenwillow, 2007).
El Cinco de Mayo: An American Tradition by David Hayes-Bautista (University of California Press, 2012).
Coming Together: Celebrations for African American Families by Harriette Cole, John Pinderhughes (Little Brown, 2003).
Funny, You Don’t Look Like a Grandmother by Lois Wyse (Avon, 2000).
Memory of Kin : Stories about Family by Black Writers by Mary Helen Washington (Doubleday, 1991).
Sonia Sotomayor: A Judge Grows in the Bronx by Jonah Winter (Scholastic, 2009).
Contact me for permission to reprint Great Migration Library photos, or photos from the Battle Family Archives.
Please note: I often reference Wikipedia.com as a second source for dates, locations and other information.
Join the Book Search
Please join in my continued search for information regarding From the Plantation to the Doctor’s Office by Dr. H. Roger Williams, published in the mid-1920s. Contact this great-granddaughter with any tips (from libraries, media archives, elders and more — including psychic readers).
© 2026 Donna Battle Pierce and Great-Migrations.com. All photo rights reserved by Battle Family Archives.