African Americans have been responsible for some of
the most significant achievements in all areas of endeavor, from medicine,
science and the arts, to business, law and government. Yet, these
contributions are rarely included in books or taught in the classroom,
thus denying African Americans their rightful place in a complete and
accurate picture of our country's history.
Joan
Potter has mined old document, records, letters, family histories and
government files, and compiled a wonderful resource book that showcases
the wide range of accomplishment among African Americans, often despite
poverty and discrimination. Here are leaders in government, entertainment,
education, science and medicine, the law, military, and in the business
world. The entries, arranged by category, include brief biographies and
are often accompanied by a photo or illustration.
“It is black women who are able to see out of their
blackness, out of their womanness, often out of their poverty, and
sometimes out of their privilege. So I believe it is going to be black
women who will find the answers to many of the problems we face
today.” —Johnnetta Cole, educator and former president of Spelman
College.
Their names are familiar, yet their importance is
often overlooked. These women are former slaves, housewives, college
professors, Nobel and Pulitzer and National Book Award and Olympic Gold
winners. And they are all survivorsand women who emerged from
servitude and discrimination to change the world. The vivid and
inspiring portraits inside tell the story of each of these AfricanAmerican women’s personal journey and her monumental
contributionsto oursociety.
The Divine Nine
The
History of African American
Fraternities & Sororities
by Lawrence C.
Ross Jr.
America's black fraternities and sororities are a
unique and vital part of 20th century African American history. Since the
creation of the first fraternity in 1906 at Cornell University they have
provided young black achievers with opportunities to support each other,
while serving their communities and the nation. From pioneering work in
the suffragette movement to extraordinary strides during the Civil Rights
era to life-changing inner-city mentoring programs in the 1990s, members
of these organizations share a proud and vital history of brotherhood,
sisterhood, and service.
Today, America's nine black fraternities and
sororities are two and one-half million members strong and among the most
powerful and influential groups in African American society—with chapters
at major universities and colleges across the country, including Stanford
University, Howard University and University of Chicago. Many of America's
most prominent business leaders, scientists, politicians, entertainers,
and athletes took their first steps toward making a difference in the
world in a fraternity or sorority. This extensive yet very accessible book
celebrates the spirit of excellence shared by these and other renowned
African Americans in brief, inspiring profiles.
Fully illustrated with photographs,The Divine
Ninechronicles an important yet previously neglected subject in
African American history, making it the first book of its kind, and one to
be treasured for generations to come.
Discovering Black
New York
is the book that takes you on a fascinating, off-the-beaten-track tour
of the Big Apple. From the world-famous Apollo Theatre to the
respected Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to the many
excellent soul food restaurants, this unusual city travel guide covers
all the hot spots, including historical sites, museums and art
galleries, shopping, tours, nightclubs, and other attractions related
to African American history and culture.
A dramatic account of the Underground
Railroad, used by as many as 100,000 runaway slaves in their flight to
freedom, this book also serves as a guide to more than 300 Underground
Railroad sites, most of them open to the public. Some still contain the
ingenious hideaways residents used to conceal fugitive slaves from
pursuing slave hunters. These sites are located in the South, Canada, and
all of the Northeastern and Midwestern states.
Most major cities, such as Boston, Philadelphia, New
York, Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland, have existing sites, but many
smaller cities or villages, such as Xenia, Ohio; Farmington, Connecticut;
Williamsport, Pennsylvania; and Grinnell, Iowa, figured prominently in the
Underground Railroad. Some of the underground houses are now offices or
private homes, but others are museums, and many have been turned into
public restaurants, often with false doors, hidden rooms, and trapdoors
showcased for visitors.
The book is divided into regional sections with
listings of local tourism offices and historical societies for further aid
and offers easy-to-read maps. It also includes a comprehensive history of
slavery and the development of the Underground Railroad—the freedom
train—which helped change the course of American history.
Here is a plentifully illustrated guide to the
most powerful and socially significant movies made for, by, and about
African Americans. The films are presented by decade, from 1900 to the
present day, with introductions to each section connecting the movies
to the social currents of their time.
Evocative stills accompany the enlightening coverage of well-known
movies such as Body and Soul, The Emperor Jones, Carmen Jones, A Raisin
in the Sun, Shaft, Blacula, Malcolm X and Eve's Bayou, as well
as lesser-known but important films such as The Birth of a Race,
Countdown at Kusini, and To Sleep with Anger.
More than just a collection of descriptions, The 50 Most
Influential Black Films includes industry and popular reviews of each
film and incisive interviews with Hollywood greats, among them legendary
actor Ossie Davis and acclaimed directors Euzhan Palcy and Ivan Dixon.
Here, too, is information on the availability of the movies fully covered
in these pages, as well as suggestions about where to find and see the
other films listed.
As a
lawyer and criminal court judge, Bruce Wright has seen, first-hand, the
disturbing truth about how fundamentally unfair our judicial system is
toward African Americans. In this important book, he takes a hard look at
these inequities, documenting them with numerous cases drawn from his
years of experience in the courts.
With unflinching honesty, he tackles such
controversial subjects as the deep-seeded societal prejudices of white
judges, the lack of black judges, the long history of excluding blacks
from law schools and bar associations, the practice of setting higher bail
for black defendants, the anti-black biases of white jurors, and the black
defendant's limited access to quality legal representation.
Judge Wright also addresses the abuse of police
power against blacks, the dehumanizing conditions in jails populated
primarily by blacks, and the way that death penalty convictions
discriminate against blacks. Finally, he proposes remedies that must be
taken if the courts are truly to become a place of justice for all.
Timely and relevant,Black Robes, White Justiceis a book that every American should read in order to understand one of
the most important issues of our time.
In their heyday, the Negro Baseball Leagues were an
important part of black America, with games played between black teams
drawing as many as 40,000 fans in some large cities, and casting its
players in the role of celebrated heroes.
This concise history masterfully
evokes these long-gone days with portraits of such Hall of Famers as
Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and Cool Papa Bell, who played for teams like
the Kansas City Monarchs, the Chicago American Giants, and the Pittsburgh
Crawfords.
This book provides a window into the black culture of
the times, reflecting the pride and the dreams of a people living under
the shameful burden of segregation. It offers the story of this great
American epicone that continues to fascinatetoday.
“For more than two hundred years African Americans have fought
for their own personal freedom as well as that of their fellow
Americans. Blacks contributed to the success of the revolution
that gained the country, but not its slaves, their independence.
Blacks played a significant role in preserving the union in the
Civil War and securing their own freedom. From the expanse of
the American West to the heights of San Juan Hill, from the
trenches of France to the heartlands of Germany and Japan, from
the icy mountain ridges of Korea to the thick jungles of Vietnam
and the sands of the Persian Gulf, African Americans have
performed loyally and bravely.” —From The African-American
Soldier
In this moving and revealing account, Michael Lee Lanning brings
to life the battles in which African Americans fought so
courageously to become full citizens by risking their lives for
their country. This updated edition includes analyses of
African-American soldiers’ involvement in recent U.S. conflicts,
including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
African-American
literature is rich with classic works of social and historical
merit—yet these books are often overlooked on mainstream lists
of “must-read” titles. Noted scholar Clifford Mason showcases
fifty of the most significant books that both document and
celebrate the bravery, spirit, and tenacity of the
African-American people from before the Civil War to the present
day. The result is a series of essays that recognize the social
and political contributions black men and women have made to
America.
The
African-American Bookshelf provides a deep and telling
commentary on each work’s exalted place in our history. Clifford
Mason explores the impact each has had on our culture, while
explaining how it rose above other stellar works to be selected
for this special volume. Leading the way is J. A. Rogers’s
extraordinary The World’s Greatest Men of Color. Other
entries include Ralph Abernathy’s And the Walls Came Tumbling
Down; The Negro in the Civil War by Benjamin Quarles; The
Guardian of Boston: Monroe Trotter by Stephen Fox; and
Calvin Hernton’s Sex and Racism in America. The life
stories of such luminaries as Harriet Tubman, Frederick
Douglass, Malcolm X, and W.E.B. DuBois round out the list of
these superlative titles.
Edgy and
insightful, The African-American Bookshelf is a peerless
study of the greatest, most influential, and culturally
significant books written by and about African-Americans. The
selections are certain to provoke discussion and dissent by
scholars and lay persons alike, while providing an essential
reading list for all Americans who wish to learn more about
where we’ve been as a nation—and what our future might hold.
Who are the most influential African-Americans that ever lived? After extensive thought and research, author and educator Dr.
Columbus Salley has selected the one hundred most influential
African-Americans of all time and ranked them according to their
contributions to the struggle for equality.
The Black 100 is not a debate on the most talented or most
famous black Americans but a listing—and a ranking—of those who have had
the greatest impact on the progress toward complete participation in our
society. Here are the one hundred who have fundamentally altered the ways
in which millions of Americans—-of all races—live today.
The names in The Black 100 read like a history of
African-Americans over nearly four hundred years. They include Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Zora Neale Hurston, Paul Robeson, Muhammad
Ali, James Baldwin, Jackie Robinson, Toni Morrison, Marcus Garvey,
Thurgood Marshall, and Arthur Ashe.
Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr., wrote of W.E.B. Du Bois, “History cannot ignore [him]
because history has to reflect truth, and Dr. Du Bois was a
tireless explorer and a gifted discoverer of social truths. His
singular greatness lay in his quest for truth about his own
people.” Du Bois was the first African-American to receive a
Ph.D. from Harvard (1896).
A brilliant
writer and speaker, he was the outstanding African-American
intellectual of his time. His lifelong active struggle for
racial equality and civil rights resulted in the founding of
both the Niagara Movement and the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As editor of the NAACP’s
magazine, The Crisis, Du Bois presented the literary
genius of many of the Harlem Renaissance’s most compelling
voices; and his own works—the sociological study The
Philadelphia Negro and his famous 1903 treatise, The
Souls of Black Folk—eloquently delineated the
African-American struggle for identity in America.
During his
lifetime, Du Bois was a powerful force in academia, literature,
civil rights, and the peace movement. Using excerpts from his
many books as well as from articles, essays, poems, letters, and
speeches, The Wisdom of W.E.B. Du Bois provides a telling
portrait of the man and his groundbreaking ideas. It is a
tribute to a voice that would not be silenced and to a pioneer
who, in his passion for justice movingly declared, “the cost of
liberty is less than the price of repression.”
Seventh
Child: A Family Memoir of Malcolm X
Rodnell P. Collins
with A. Peter Bailey
This is the most important book on Malcolm X since
publication of the Autobiography. In
African mythological culture it is believed that the seventh child will
emerge as a leader of his people. Malcolm X was his father's seventh
child. Seventh Child: A Family Memoir of Malcolm X is a valuable
contribution to our knowledge of a great and controversial figure. No
other book about Malcolm X—and there have been more than forty, in eight
different languages—provides such enlightenment on the man, except, of
course, his own autobiography. Told by loving sister Ella Little Collins,
who knew Malcolm X better than anyone else, and her son, Rodnell P.
Collins, to whom Malcolm X was a much-loved and admired uncle and mentor,
Seventh Child adds immeasurably to our knowledge of the man.
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was loved; he was hated. He
was admired; he was vilified. Few who heard this Congressman's fiery
oratory or read his impassioned writings will forget him. Now a whole new
generation will discover the fascinating life of this flamboyant,
controversial, and wildly popular figure.
With colorful details, Powell recounts his childhood in early 20th
century Harlem, his education at an all-white college, his years preaching
gospel and his rise in American politics. He takes readers inside the
halls of Congress, where he served as Chairman of the powerful House
Education and Labor Committee and was instrumental in the passage of Civil
Rights legislation. And with his superb skills as a raconteur, he tells
vivid stories of the influential people he'd met along the way, from
celebrities to presidents to kings.
With a foreword by his son Adam Clayton Powell III--one that offers
a richly perceptive explanation of what made his father the man he was--Adam
By Adam reveals the heart and soul of a true original who remains
among the most influential black politicians in our nation's history.
Many remember Paul Robeson for his magnificent singing voice and for
his stirring interpretations of Othello and The Emperor Jones. But how
many are aware that forty years before Alex Haley’s Roots, Robeson
wrote and spoke about African culture; thirty years before “black is
beautiful,” he described his pride in being African American; and twenty
years before détente, he wrote and argued against The Cold War?
Paul Robeson—all-around athlete, All-American football player,
Rutgers University scholarship student, Columbia Law School graduate,
internationally acclaimed actor and singer—made a choice. Leaving the
“heights of purely individual achievement to enter the day-to-day,
rank-and-file struggles of my people,” he placed himself squarely on the
side of those who fought against imperialism and racial discrimination.
In this volume, Professor Philip S. Foner has brought together a
stirring collection of Robeson’s speeches and writings, as well as
interviews, newspaper reports and photographs. It is a vivid portrait of a
towering African American, told in his own unforgettable words.
Born in slavery in Maryland in 1817,
Frederick Douglass escaped from servitude twenty years later, joined the
ranks of abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips
and John Brown, and devoted a long and fruitful life to the winning of
freedom for his people. A fervent integrationist, Douglass believed that
true freedom could not come for him until all blacks were free and equal,
and he gave voice and direction to the movement to achieve this goal. Told
in Frederick Douglass's own words, this volume stands as one of the most
important chronicles of one man's courageous fight to end slavery.
Harriet Tubman was the greatest “conductor” on the
Underground Railroad, the organized network of way stations which helped
black slaves escape from the South to the free states and as far north as
Canada. For more than 10 years before the Civil War, she made 20 trips
from the North to the South, rescuing more than 300 salves.
Harriet Tubman, The Moses of Her People, is the fascinating
story of a remarkable woman who fled slavery, then courageously guided
runaway slaves to freedom—while a $40,000 bounty was put on her life. It
is also the story of her days serving as a nurse, soldier, spy, and scout
for the Union Army; her vigorous fight for women’s suffrage; and her later
years when she continued to work for the rights of blacks and women.
“I was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia. I
am not quite sure of the exact date of my birth, but at any rate I suspect
I must have been born somewhere and at some time. As nearly as I have been
able to learn, I was born near a cross-roads post-office called Hale’s
Ford, and the year was 1858 or 1859. I do not know the month or the day.
The earliest impressions I can now recall are of the plantation and the
slave quarters—the latter being the part of the plantation where the
slaves had their cabins.”
Thus begins Booker T. Washington’s fascinating autobiography, an
important milestone in American history.
"Michael D. Davis and Hunter R. Clark offer a masterfully
written tale of an American legend." — Gannett News Service
"Filled with the same fire, passion and humor that drove
Marshall’s life, Thurgood Marshall is a revealing portrait of a
pioneering lawyer." —National Black Review
"Well-written, informative and lively." —People
"This important work, ably chronicled by Davis and Clark, is
impressive. Highly recommended." —Library Journal
"As a guide to the legal struggles of this American leader
this book is written clearly and with obvious affection and
admiration for Marshall, and the law for which he fought." —Booklist
"Michael Dais and Hunter Clark have crafted a thoughtful,
carefully researched and focused biography." —USA Today
Born into the
kind of crushing poverty that can either snuff out the spirit or
ignite the soul, Dick Gregory chose the latter, using his
razor-sharp intellect and boundless energy to become a
headlining comic, a pillar of the civil rights movement, a
pioneering nutritionist, and an uncompromising voice for social
activism and human rights around the world. He’s counted among
his friends Dr. Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and John
Lennon. He’s designed a pre-fight nutritional program for
Muhammad Ali, run for President against Richard Nixon and George
Wallace, and bargained—successfully—with Iran’s Ayatollah
Khomeini for the release of the American hostages from Tehran.
In Callus On
My Soul, Dick looks back through his extraordinary life,
recalling friends and adversaries, battles waged—both personal
and professional—while offering his unique perspective on race,
fame, politics, and so much more. At once provocative and
controversial, insightful and utterly fascinating, Callus On
My Soul presents a gritty, no-holds-barred account of a life
that continues to influence the world around us in powerful and
remarkable ways.
Janet Langhart
Cohen’s life has always seemed to defy the naysayers. She’s an
African-American Democrat married to the white, Republican
former Secretary of Defense; a poor girl from the projects who
grew up under the crushing legacy of segregation to become a
respected journalist and the wildly popular “First Lady” of the
Pentagon; a woman whose heart hears the whispers of her slave
ancestors; an American patriot who is not afraid to tell the
truth about our country, warts and all. Now, in this candid,
moving, and inspiring autobiography, Janet Langhart Cohen writes
with soul and rage, love and pride, hope and clear-eyed honesty
about the remarkable life she’s lived, the hard lessons she’s
learned, and the America that has come of age with her.
Here in her own
words are Janet’s personal stories of overcoming the odds in her
often-turbulent rise to one of the most visible positions in the
nation. From the thrill of meeting her mentors and heroes,
including Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks,
and Muhammad Ali, to the difficulties and triumphs of her
interracial marriage; her encounter with “The Terminator”; why
F. Lee Bailey came to her defense; her creation of the Military
Family Forum, which allowed her to improve conditions for
enlisted men and women; the lasting wounds of racism today; and
her hopes for the future even as America faces hatred from
outside its borders. For the big-dreams girl who wanted to prove
that she was “more than just a color,” From Rage to Reason is
more than just a personal history. It is a journey into the soul
of one woman that also stands as a powerful testimony to the
country she loves and serves.
In these pages, black women from all walks of life candidly reveal
how they overcame challenges just like the ones you're facing now. From
Ilyasah Shabazz, Sonia Sanchez, and Patti LaBelle to single moms and
spiritual leaders, these diverse females have two things in common: the
color of their skin-and the prevailing will to overcome adversity.
Here, for the first time, African American women have bonded
together in print to discuss the issues that have touched their lives.
Their powerful, provocative, and ultimately uplifting stories relate, with
raw honesty, the experiences only their sisters can truly understand-from
abortion, AIDs, and date rape to love, sex, racism, and money.
Feeling lost and alone? Convinced nobody knows how you feel? Certain
there's no way out? You're wrong! Your sisters have been in your shoes.
With their help and your own inner strength of faith, you'll soon be
taking the first precious steps toward healing from within-and liberating
the magnificent woman you've always dreamed of becoming.
As President of the National Urban League, Hugh B. Price
understands the challenges that await our children as they enter
the mainstream of American society. In Achievement Matters,
he tells us to reject the self-destructive mindset that teaches
our children to accept academic mediocrity. A highly respected
writer and public speaker, Mr. Price gives practical tips on
improving children's literacy and achievement levels, while
instilling a lifelong enthusiasm for education as a reward in
itself. He provides a framework for change, offering practical
tips for parents to help their youngsters become good readers
and high achievers, describing the benchmark skills required of
students in each grade, and explaining how to make sure your
child isn't being steered away from courses essential for future
success. He recommends proven techniques for cutting through the
educational bureaucracy to create an environment conducive to
learning, and where teachers and the school systems themselves
are held accountable.
You will also discover the keys to becoming an effective,
informed advocate in the educational community, as well as
strategies for communicating with teachers and administrators
for the maximum benefit of your child, and African American
children in general.
From getting the latest technology into your child's
classrooms, to providing after-school and summer programs to
give our youth direction and keep them away from the drugs and
violence that have claimed so many, this book offers real help
for making a powerful, positive impact.
This vital resource for parents and caregivers ties into the
National Urban League's ongoing Campaign for African American
Achievement, a broad based public awareness and community
mobilization movement designed to close the academic gap between
black students and their counterparts. Filled with insightful
personal stories, fascinating anecdotes from successful
students, and valuable contact information for parents and
caregivers, Achievement Matters is a critical tool for
guiding your child to improved academic performance, and their
brightest possible future.
In this
groundbreaking, candid, and necessary book, the man New York
magazine calls "The Untouchable" delivers his manifesto for
change and puts forth a startling, often controversial, and
wholly inspiring vision of a new America--one that is inclusive
of all Americans, not just a chosen few. While serving time for
his act of civil disobedience in Vieques, Sharpton stepped back
and looked at America. Now, he's ready to empower America and
get the country talking about things that matter to us all--from
the economy to foreign policy, family values to the hip hop
movement, the war on drugs to the conflict between Palestine and
Israel. Sure to ignite a firestorm of debate, Al On America
is a old new vision in a time when vision is needed more than
ever. It is a stirring call to action delivered by a man who has
faith in the future of America and the passion, knowledge, and
foresight to take her there.
In this revealing
new book, Lawrence C. Ross, Jr., author of the Los Angeles
Times bestseller The Divine Nine, profiles men and
women from diverse walks of life, economic backgrounds, and
cultures, with one thing in common. Here, such figures as New
York Times bestselling author E. Lynn Harris; poet Nikki
Giovanni; Dave Matthews Band musician Boyd Tinsley, and Member
of British Parliament David Lammy are filed side-by-side with
everyday brothers and sisters living through similar challenges
and triumphs. They allow the author, and in turn the reader, to
walk in their shoes…and the results are as unique and
unforgettable as the black experience itself
Each profile
chronicles a day in the life of a diverse group of people who
speak of the current black experience. Doormen, lawyers,
students, artists, and even prisoners raise their voices along
with those of the rich and famous, including celebrities such as
Jeffrey Wright, Cornel West, Sonia Sanchez, and Nikki Giovanni.
With different languages, different world views, and different
standards of living, all of these people has their African
heritage in common...but what else? What beliefs, values, and
everyday activities unite a Jamaican Rastafarian, a British
soccer star, and an American welfare mother? The answers
discovered by author Lawrence Ross become a rich compendium of
shared experience and astonishing revelations.
Illustrated with
forty photographs, The Ways Of Black Folks is a
provocative overview of a people, one that will inspire dialogue
and controversy while it celebrates a unity that neither
circumstances nor geography can divide.
Dr.
Don Elligan, a clinical psychologist working in Chicago and
Boston, was looking for a way to connect to the angry young
black men in his office. Abusing drugs and alcohol and making
poor choices about their future, they desperately needed help in
changing their lives. But when Dr. Elligan spoke to them in his
language, they tuned him out. He had to learn to understand and
communicate in theirs—the language of hip-hop, or rap. To do
that, he developed his widely praised program called Rap Therapy
Now,
he makes Rap Therapy accessible to all concerned adults—parents,
guardians, teachers or counselors. In a clearly written,
straightforward guide, Dr. Elligan explains how to reach out to
today’s young people by developing an understanding their
culture: why the pants have to be bigger, the lyrics raunchier,
and the music raw and throbbing like their troubled world. He
shows how rap artists such as Salt-n-Pepa, Outkast, Dr. Dre, and
LL Cool J comment on sex, drugs, politics, society, and family,
influencing urban kids in a variety of ways, from clothing to
language. And he explains why the movement and the music so
appeal to teenagers who use the slang and rhyming lyrics to
express their emotions, challenges, and dreams, as well as to
shock and exclude adults.
Along with compelling real-life stories from his practice, Dr.
Elligan provides selected pro-social rap songs to use in Rap
Therapy, and specific curricula for various issues from anger
management in young men to improving self-esteem in young women.
A book of hope and real help, Rap Therapy is an essential
tool for using the sound that has captured troubled kids’
imaginations to make a difference in their lives
Embodying the best qualities of education pioneers Joe Clark
and Jaime Escalante, Salome Thomas-EL is a black man dedicated
to changing the lives—and dreams—of inner city kids. Born in
1964, one of eight children, Salome grew up in the Philadelphia
projects. But identified early as “gifted,” he had doors opened
to him that are closed to most. In a media-related job, talking
with superstars such as Julius Erving and Maurice Cheeks, he was
on the fast track to success. But he couldn’t forget his roots,
or the children of the inner city.
In the late 1980s, he went back into disadvantaged
neighborhoods and into the classroom. As teacher, mentor, and in
most cases, the only positive male role model in these
children’s lives, Salome Thomas-EL would do something
extraordinary: he would lead the girls and boys of his school to
victory as they competed in three major championships. Chess
championships.
Reviving the chess club, the Mighty Bishops, Salome taught
his pupils to resolve conflict with their minds instead of their
fists. They went into regional competitions, to the nationals in
Tennessee, and to the U.S. Open in Orlando. Not knowing they
were expected to lose, they won. In the years between 1996 and
2000, Mr. Thomas-EL helped scores of other schools begin similar
programs. But in the same years, twenty of his students were
murdered.
Clearly, chess wasn’t enough. Now in this compelling memoir,
Salome Thomas-EL tells of what else needed to be done, from
implementing the 100-book challenge program, to Saturday
tutoring and in-school breakfasts. As his efforts began to have
a citywide impact, the offers began pouring in for promotions,
for advancement, for his going elsewhere.
He chose to stay, and the results are an inspiration to us
all.
What’s black,
white, and “red” all over? The old riddle has a new answer:
Dexter Jeffries, the youngest son of Communist parents—a Jewish
mother and a black father—growing up in 1950s America.
Too light to be
black, too dark to be white, from a very early age Dexter
wondered where he fit in. Finding his place in a changing
country would be a journey filled with anger, turmoil, pain, and
enlightenment. In a loving, racially mixed home where being
progressive meant not only having radical views, but acting on
them, Dexter helped break the color barrier at nine years old
when he was among the first group of black children bused to a
white Queens neighborhood. But it was much earlier—at the age of
five—that he had his first identity crisis, caught in the limbo
between black and white.
Therapy, a name
change, a stint in the U.S. Army, and jobs ranging from cab
driver to filmmaker and English Professor all played a part in
forging his character and beliefs. While his brother became a
rebel bent on self-destruction and his sister emulated Richard
Wright as an expatriate in Mexico and Europe, Dexter followed
his own path, discovering conflicts that had as much in common
with Kafka as Ellison. In literature he found a window into
truth, and the message—conveyed by Joyce, Thoreau, and
DuBois—that would change everything. Create yourself.
Alive with the
rhythms and riffs of the jazz that helped a struggling young man
through the toughest times, Triple Exposure is a
provocative, moving and often hilarious memoir that deftly
examines questions of identity, race, and family from an
unforgettable perspective.
African-American single mothers can raise children
who are self-assured, happy, and healthy. Single Mamahood, a
down-to-earth, sister-to-sister guide, teaches women that they can
realistically challenge the obstacles before them. It teaches them to put
their energies into taking care of their children's needs and shows them
how to develop healthy relationships with their children's father, their
peers, and extended family.
The author acknowledges that many children of single mothers engage
in criminal activity, score on the lower end of standardized achievement
tests, and are most likely to become single parents themselves. This book
helps to break the cycle.
Complete with real stories of single mamas, Single Mamahood
offers suggestions on how to deal with work, school, child support,
discipline, dating again, and more. Women who follow this approach to
parenting will be given an alternative to feeling victimized or desperate.
And their children will no doubt feel totally loved and self-assured,
knowing that they can do anything—just like their mothers.
Kelly Williams, a single mother, is a health and lifestyle reporter
at a television station in Tampa Bay, Florida. She lives in St.
Petersburg, Florida
Donald Thornton, a ditchdigger in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, decided
to do the grandest thing he could think of: make a success of his
daughters' lives. With the help of his equally remarkable wife, Tass, who
worked as a cleaning woman, he cajoled, prodded, and inspired his girls to
hit the books while steering them away from the kind of trouble that would
keep them stuck in a life of poverty. And all the while, Donald Thornton
worked two full-time jobs to keep a roof over their heads, food in their
bellies, and proper clothing on their backs.
The Ditchdigger's Daughter is an inspiring portrait by a
loving daughter of a father whose pervasive common sense, folk wisdom, and
untutored but right-on insights gave his children their road map to a
better life. It is the story of a man who dared to dream that his black
daughters would someday become doctors—and who guided them to achieve the
seemingly impossible goals he set for them.
It is also the story of an astute businessman who formed his bright
and talented girls into a rhythm-and-blues band that played Harlem's
Apollo theatre and won a recording contract, which Donald tore up when he
discovered it required his girls to leave school. Instead, the Thornton
sisters played colleges on weekends, earning enough money to pay for their
education, yet not allowing their music to interfere with their studies.
Today, all six of Donald Thornton's daughters are successful,
independent, accomplished woman who've risen to stand on equal terms with
anyone. Two of the Thornton sisters are indeed doctors; one became a
dentist, one a lawyer, one a nurse, and one a court stenographer—a tribute
to a remarkable man whose strong values and fierce love for his daughters
gave them a lasting belief in themselves and the strength to overcome the
many obstacles they faced on their astonishing road to success.
