Is Luck Really a Strategy? A Book Review of The World According to Fannie Davis
Is Luck Really A Strategy? Book Review of “The World According to Fannie Davis”
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Everything you take in of the world runs through filters of your personal biases. As I read “The World According to Fannie Davis,” a #reallivesbookclub selection, I faced some of mine, including preconceptions about racism and how it manifests in society, the understanding of access to opportunity, and even the belief that one can channel good luck.
The story of Fannie Davis begins with the bigger history of the Great Migration, of African Americans fleeing the Jim Crow of the South and heading north for a better life. She and her husband John T. head to Detroit and jobs in the auto factories.
Already a family with a couple of children, they soon realize what others before them have discovered: The North has its own version of racism; factory work isn’t steady; and the auto industry has begun a retraction that will alter the city in the decades to come.
With no regular income and John T.’s health suffering, Fannie looks for something more for her family. Like many others, particularly within the African American community, Fannie plays the numbers and places regular bets on 3-digit figures she believes are signs of good luck.
Each week she plays her favorites and wins little bits now and then. In 1961, in a stroke of fortune, Fannie lands a windfall. She then decides to use some of her winnings to buy a beautiful home in a fashionable white neighborhood.
Even with the cash on hand, Fannie has to finagle her way around the redlining obstacles of the day. African Americans could not secure loans at competitive interest rates or use banking services like their white counterparts.
It was one of many ways the system of racism blocked people of color from owning property, and also built hurdles between their ability to live in white neighborhoods.
For a fascinating look at the system of redlining in the United States, I recommend this interview of author Richard Rothstein by Terry Gross over at Fresh Air. There, he discusses his book, “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How our Government Segregated America.”
Harder still than being a person of color was being black and a woman. Fannie had to work around the many restrictions of the day, which did not permit her to own a home in her name.
Through hoops with a man’s name on the contract and an agreement with the former owner, Fannie and her family finally moved into 12836 Broadstreet. But for decades the contract was one that could blow up at any time should those in the arrangement decide to cheat her.
The house, and the subsequent years of the Davis family’s life detailed in the book, describe a middle-class world that most African Americans could not realize.
The house was a three-story, four-bedroom New England-style Colonial red brick mansion with a big backyard that lived on a wide, tree-lined avenue. It was the solid symbol of the lifestyle afforded to the family due to Fannie, and in particular opened doors to greater education and a brighter future for Bridgett.
With her nest egg from the winnings, Fannie then lands on the idea to start a business and run a numbers game of her own. With time, she not only takes the bets from customers, but is her own bank. Fannie ran a clean game which meant if someone hit big Fannie had to pay. Bridgett describes how the numbers game worked and the process by which Fannie made her business a success.
This is the story of an entrepreneurial journey, but within it is the experience of Bridgett’s childhood and the revelations of a daughter grappling with her relationship with her mother—and its meaning to the trajectory of her life.
A BELIEF IN LUCK
Beyond dealing with racism—which as a white older woman I can’t ever fully understand—is the subject of gambling. The story Davis tells is about people who gamble and believe in the force of the supernatural. I don’t understand the allure of wishing or a banking on mysticism, myself.
Nothing happens without natural causality. Life manifests based on the impact of one thing to another occurring in the world where we live. That’s how I see it. And as I’ve aged, I’m less interested in notions that delve into folklore and myth. Life is wonderous enough without rationalizing it away to primitive notions I see no logic in.
But luck and attracting it are a very big part of Fannie’s life and this story. As you read further and realize the challenges faced by people in their daily life—the lack of opportunity, the inability to create a financial reserve let alone wealth—is it any wonder they entertain the notion that luck is something you can bring based on signs from the universe?
And more, what I did not know is how communities created these systems, such as the numbers game, as a way to address their lack of access. It turns out the numbers permitted people to win money to buy a car, finance an education, or purchase a home. And often, the money was invested right back into the communities where the people who played the numbers lived.
By the late 1970s, the state of Michigan who had deemed gambling illegal up until then realized there was revenue to be gained in gambling and created their first lottery. As the state games became more prevalent, they eventually muscled out the small private operations such as Fannie’s.
In a world fraught with dark realities, is there any harm in dreaming and hoping for a bit of luck? Of course not. But as Fannie’s life reveals, no amount of good luck can keep all misfortune at bay.
And yet, Fannie was extraordinary, and beloved by many for sharing with others when life favored her. As Fannie’s youngest daughter, Bridgett was by far one of her most significant beneficiaries.
The irony of the concept of luck is that’s Fannie’s was largely driven by the exceptional and complex woman that she was in life. And in the end, Bridgett makes some peace with realizing she is her own woman, and her mother would be happy with that outcome.
Postscript: One comfort is a clean space. If you need help getting going on organizing your home check out Get Organized Gal’s courses for support.
I used her course to organize my office, and it is in pretty good shape these days. Success in one space has lead to cleaning channels to other rooms and photos as well. Check out he courses here.
Sherry and Alexandra Borzo together in Lima, Peru
Sherry is the founder of Storied Gifts a personal publishing service of family and company histories. She and her team help clients curate and craft their stories into books. When not writing or interviewing, Sherry spends loads of time with her grandchildren and lives in Des Moines, Iowa.
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