Are you the greatest? Do you strive to be the
greatest? I remember (years ago) seeing a commercial on
TV of The Greatest, Muhammad Ali.
A little boy asked him, “What if you had not been a
boxer? What would you have been then?” Ali’s
response was, “I would have been the greatest at
something else. If I had been a garbage man, I would
have been the greatest garbage man in the world. I
would have emptied more garbage cans in 10 minutes than
any other man in the world.” That’s the power of
positive thinking.
It has been said that the whole world is a stage, and
everybody plays a part. Do you have a vision? Do you
have the drive, the “stick-to-it-ness” to be what you
want to be what you want to be? Can you believe in
yourself, even when others try to deny you or destroy
your dreams? Because that’s what it takes: a strong
belief in yourself, a clear vision of who and where you
want to be, and once you get started, you have to have
the stick-to-it-ness to get the job done. It means
staying with the books to get the studying done for
promotion test. It means staying with the class work to
get the college degree. It means confidently and
proudly going to the boss or prospective employer’s
office and showing them how much you bring to the table
and why you will be a integral part of the team. In
other words, it takes work, and lots of it.
And once you’ve climbed that mountain and achieved one
goal, can you muster up the get-up-and-go to do it
again? The Greatest use to say of all the
things associated with boxing, the one thing he really
dreaded was training. The constant, monotonous sparring,
exercises, restrictive diet, and roadwork regime was
extremely hard to stick to. Most folks go through
similar tribulations in their search for success. And
most folks that have succeeded in anything in life will
tell you that, looking back, the climb to the top was
much easier, than what it takes to stay on top. It’s
tough sticking through years of study, writing papers,
and attending classes, when so many of your peers are
living in the now. The question you have to ask
yourself is, are you living for them, or are you living
for you.
The great poet William Ernest Henley, in
his poem Invictus, wrote, “I am the master of my
fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Almost everything
worth having in life requires some sacrifice. Can you
stay sharp? Can you keep that edge? Who controls your
fate; your destiny? Greatness can be achieved, but not
just because you believe. Greatness has to be
visualized, worked for, and grasped. There is a great
line in one of my favorite movies Dead Poet Society
that urges the characters to, “Gather ye rosebuds while
ye may; seize the day!” There will never be but one
Muhammad Ali, but each of us has our own capacity
for greatest. Will you dare for greatness? Will you
seize the day, or let the possibility for greatness slip
away? Think about it.
About The Author
MacArthur
Burton
is President & Chief Executive Officer ofBurton’s
Training.
Mr. Burton’s company is dedicated to enlightening,
encouraging, and empowering people to discover and
unleash their true talents, share their God given gifts
and improve their quality of life personally and
professionally.
Accents!,
Incorporated (LLC),
which is a minority owned speaking/consulting/
training/coaching & mentoring business, focused on
organizations within the federal, state, and local
government. Burton's Training Accents is based in
Waldorf, Maryland
Mr. Burton is the author of
“Management Out of the Blue,”
which won
the coveted Editor’s Choice Award from iUniverse, Inc.
The stories are written in an easy to read, often
humorous, one-page format that offer insight to
different ways of dealing with work place situations.
Each story ends with a challenge to the reader
to “think about it” in terms of how they deal
with both internal and external customers. He has also
authored numerous newspaper articles, which were
published here in the U.S. and in Europe.
Mr. Burton has over 20 years experience in the public
speaking arena, both in the military and in the private
sector. He is a graduate of the prestigious Bill Gove
Speech Workshop and has been awarded the "Corporate
Speaker" designation in
accordance with the guidelines of the International
Association of Corporate Speakers. He joined
Toastmasters International in 1999 where he studied
under the direction of some of the finest motivational
and inspirational speakers in the world.
Through dedication and hard work, he has achieved the
status of Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest rating
within Toastmasters. He has completed a 30-year career
in the United States Air Force, worked for General
Motors Corporation
as a Production Manager, and the Department of Defense
Civil Service Commission.
Mr. Burton earned a Masters degree in Human Relations
from the University of Oklahoma, and a Bachelors degree
in Business and Management from the University of
Maryland. His passions for building trust relationships
and positive
communications have inspired the minds, hearts, and
actions of women, men, and youth nationwide to greatly
improve interpersonal communications in their
professional and personal lives. Additionally, he has a
love for inspirational poetry. His recent poem,
“I Blame No One But Me,”
was recognized by the International Society of Poets
with their Editor’s Choice Award.
Genaro Patterson
Of the many popular urban novels being
published, one wonders how many are by
an author who has actually lived the
adventures. By holding a mirror up to
his riveting life story, and reflecting
the lives in the streets he grew up
around, Genaro Patterson delivers on a
promise: To keep it real.
If you’re tempted to think of his novel,
PROMISE: Never Make A Promise You
Can’t Keep, as the typical street
story because so many urban settings are
the same, you’ll soon see what makes it
stand out from the pack. Patterson
explains:
“The thing I hear from most people is ‘it’s
the way you tell the story. You get the
people to see the vision and you’re
moving fast. Everybody’s interested in
the characters, the chapters are short.
You’re able to just continuously keep
the reader into the story.' People
say I never can figure out what’s going
to happen. It’s like a magnet--no
matter where you’re at, you’re drawn
back to the story. Maybe it’s my style
of writing or maybe it’s because I
really have lived it.”
The California native sites the
atmosphere of his youth for what
influenced his later mishaps. Being
devoid of any true mentors, he was
offered mostly local drug dealers and
pimps to imitate. It did what that life
often does -- took him down the many
turbulent paths that crime and violence
on the streets provides. The simple
hustling led to his becoming a huge drug
dealer with a tumultuous lifestyle that
eventually led to a murder charge.
Though acquitted, after one year, rock
cocaine and the stringent new crack law
led him to ten years more behind bars.
However, time inside prison walls gave
Patterson an edge on creative discipline
that many others on the outside can’t
get:
“I feel like out of all the things I’ve
done, this is what I was supposed to
do. I try to take any negativity and
turn it into a positive. Although I was
doing time, I started to look at time
like it was an opportunity, something
precious, because not everybody gets
this kind of time.”
In prison, Patterson first cultivated
his rap and musical talents, then later
developed his literary skills with
penning books:
“In prison, I learned to rap and wanted
to be like Tupac and form a Death Row
Records like Suge Knight. After Suge
was incarcerated, I became known to him
from my music that was being played in
prison.”
Thereafter, Patterson’s musical
connections continued to grow:
“I had started just on GP Records and
put out a CD before I then signed to
Death Row. But by then, they got
stripped of distribution and could no
longer put out any artists. I looked up
to Cedric Singleton, who ran Black
Market Records, and began to imitate the
label’s marketing as much as possible,
with wrapped vans, trucks and flyers.”
Having finally locked into something
that looked like success, the old street
hustle was surpassed by the creative
talents that Patterson possessed.
Through all of the pain and prison,
reality and reinvention, he continued to
let his abilities lead him away from
trouble…even as trouble continued to
chase him:
“At the height of my career, after
seeing the music market get crowded, I
started doing DVD movies and put out ‘Mackramento.’
But soon after, I was sent to prison
again. Now after being so close to
being a success, it all ended. With
failure deep in my mind and defeat in my
heart, I felt I’d failed. I was now
older and felt it was all too late, with
a fresh ten year sentence. I lost it
all again...house, money, and wife…”
Instead of letting this period defeat
his spirit, he rebounded with the
attitude of using his time inside as an
ally:
“I decided how I could turn a negative
into a positive. After deep thought, I
realized I would be too old to rap and
couldn’t do movies, so I decided to use
my time to write books. I first started
with children's books and then went to
urban books, after seeing people in
prison read them. I wrote PROMISE
in 30 days, doing 10 pages a day for 30
days.”
The book is a hit in prisons, where
convicts are true critics of the genre.
This inspired Patterson, who reasoned
that if the products of the street life
he wrote about loved his books, they had
to be real and they had to be good. For
those who didn’t even like to read, once
they read one of Patterson’s books, they
became converts. He was sold and now he
wanted to sell books, and he had plenty
of them ready.
After being released, Patterson found
that he had at least fifty books--15
urban books, 27 educational children’s
books and 7 “how to” books. When he
published his first one, he got a small
buzz and many accolades. This opened up
the possibility to publish and promote
his ultimate expression in urban
literature. By taking his life and
thinly but craftily disguising real
characters from his past, alongside
actual events, he offers up PROMISE.
Genaro Patterson is a seasoned writer
now (as well as the CEO of American
Gangsta Publishing), having honed his
craft and pulled out his clearest, most
detailed recollections in a space and
time where his focus was uninterrupted.
The intensity and truth shines through
and keeps it real from the very first
sentence, all the way to its page-turner
ending. It’s raw reflection with a
no-holds-barred reality. That’s a
promise.
Visit
www.Infoaccess.biz for more on the book
PROMISE: Never Make A Promise You Can't Keep,
Genaro Patterson and a full catalog of his available
works.
“Sunday Morning: A Testimony of Life”
By
Richard Brown
EAST ORANGE, N.J. – In his book,
“Sunday Morning:
A Testimony of Life” (ISBN 1463700768), Richard
Brown shares his personal testimony on life as a gay
African-American Christian. Brown hopes to shed
light on the world of gay Christians and the
struggles they face from the organizations and
churches that have challenged the idea of who is
worthy to serve the Lord. “Sunday Morning” attempts
to stand as a contrast to the developed practices of
today’s churches and asks for a change to solidarity
at all costs.
Through personal experiences and scriptures, the
author seeks to show the reader that God loves all
people, including homosexuals. He expresses that the
growing interest and coverage of same-sex marriage
has allowed Christian organizations and churches to
express their disdain on the topic of homosexuality.
In
“Sunday Morning,” Brown uses the same tools as these
organizations to show the readers that it is
possible to be a homosexual and Christian at the
same time. He shares his personal experiences of
living as a gay Christian and his times of prayer
and communication with God to show readers how he
made it through life’s struggles.
“After I look at what God has done for me, I now
have to testify as to His power and love, and how He
accepts me for me,” Brown says. “I believe my
message will be better served by suggesting and
supporting that every individual has the ability to
hear from God on their own through study, fasting
and prayer.”
Brown hopes “Sunday Morning” can be good news for
homosexuals who are constantly the focus of
Christian scrutiny. He hopes that all Christians
will be able to worship God together, and use his
work as a source of hope and relief.
“Sunday Morning: A Testimony of Life” is
available for sale online at
Amazon.com.
About the Author
Richard
Brown now belongs to many groups that are
active in Civil Rights, Mentorship, and Faith.
His organization Positive Gay Black Men of NJ
was founded in 2003 and is moderated on Yahoo!
Mr. Brown can be contacted via e-mail at
richard.brown221@verizon.net.
MOMMA’S A VIRGIN
By:
Travis Hunter
Zola Zaire didn’t grow up in an
ordinary family. She had the displeasure of growing up
with an abusive mother named Sarah, a step father who
raped her, and never knowing who her real father was.
Ravon, her brother, was the only one she could trust.
Zola didn’t have the one thing she wanted most in her
life, Jason, her only son. He was temporarily adopted by
Chad and Carmen Benjamin who just happened to be
Caucasian.
Because Zola was so used to being
abused, she began dating Andre who also physically
abused her even though he allowed her to live a posh
lifestyle. That is how she unknowingly met Ian DeMarco.
Ian was facing his own struggles. His wife and daughter
had been murdered in front of him and his son,
Christian, months prior. Ian witnessed Zola being beaten
by Andre and he stepped in to rescue her. She didn’t
know who this man was and why he would help her.
While recovering from Andre’s drastic
beating, Zola’s mother was murdered. Zola appeared to be
the prime suspect. Her brother, Ravon, was just released
from prison and he walked in on the murderer and killed
the murderer. Ravon was following up on leads to his
mother’s murder and it leads him to Ian. Ravon realized
Ian wasn’t involved after they both became the target of
whoever had hired the murderer.
Zola now knows that the Benjamin’s
plotted to set her up. They hired Andre to woo Zola
until she would commit a crime for him, get caught, and
go to jail. They didn’t realize Andre would accrue real
feelings for Zola so they then offered him 1 million
dollars to kill her or have her killed. Andre just
couldn’t do it. The Benjamin’s wanted this just to be
able to keep Zola’s son Jason to themselves. Zola’s
mother was also involved. Prior to Zola losing custody
of her son to the state, Sarah asked the Benjamin’s to
step in and get custody or she would expose some of
their dirty secrets. In order keep their secrets under
wraps, the Benjamin’s had hired someone to murder Sarah
and attempt to murder Ian and Andre.
Zola & Ian finally met on more
pleasurable terms and they began dating.
I enjoyed this book. This book is a
fast and exciting. Travis Hunter did a great job of
going into the minds of the characters. You won't be
able to put it down.
The Hood Health Handbook
- Volume One Edited by C’BS Alife Allah and Supreme
Understanding Foreword by Dick Gregory Supreme Design Publishing Paperback, $19.95 480 pages, Illustrated ISBN: 978-1-935721-32-1
We got this book in our office
several months ago with a request to review it. The
book was passed around from one staffer to another
and finally resurfaced last week. After talking
with just about everyone, here is what we’ve
determined.
The Hood Health Handbook
- Volume One is a compendium of health
experts from communities throughout urban America.
The book offers practical health solutions. The
Hood Health Handbook features contributions from
over 20 experts in fields ranging from diet to
hygiene to exercise to psychology to massage to
reproduction to money management to pollution and
beyond. The contributors include fitness gurus,
dieticians, personal trainers, and holistic
practitioners from around the country. The
completion of the text was supervised by a panel of
licensed physicians.
The Hood Health Handbook
is a complete guide with information and insight on
almost every health issue faced by people in the
hood. What makes “The Hood Health Handbook”
unique is a series of “hooks” and attention
grabbers, that urban America can relate to. This
same “hook” strategy was successfully used by the
authors of the book, “The Little Black Book Of
Success,” though their use of “Mamaisms.”
For example, the chapters have titles such as:
Teefus, Keep Your Coochie Right, Junk Food Is
Crack, K.O. the B.O. and Chump.
The Hood Health Handbook
features over 120 informative and practical
articles, including contributions from hip-hop
artist and nutritionist Supa Nova Slom;
physician and medical fraud expert Dr. Scott
Whitaker; vegan chef Bryant Terry;
hip-hop artist and fitness expert Stic.man;
chef and holistic health counselor, Afya Ibomu;
expert on law and healthcare disparities Dr.
Vernellia Randall; hip-hop artist and activist,
Wise Intelligent; detox expert and educator
Dr. Nancy Williams; naturopathic doctor and
skin care consultant, Dr. Kanika Jamila and
famed nutritionist Dick Gregory.
Speaking of Dick Gregory,
here’s what he had to say about the book: “In
all my world travels, never have I picked up a book
with the kind of love, concern and information that
I’ve seen put into this book... Information is
power. The power in this book is unimaginable. I thank the
editors for taking the time and effort to teach the
masses the truth about how important diet and
nutrition are… Some of you aren’t even aware that
you’re eating badly or living unhealthily… On every
page, there’s something you must know. When I look
at the state of health in America, particularly
African-Americans’, I say, ‘My God, we need a shift
in the wind.’ I believe this book is the shift in
the wind we’ve been waiting for.” -Excerpted from the Preface by Dick Gregory
(pgs. 3-4)
In summary, The Hood Health
Handbook might be the best 480 page book you can
buy. It is a life-saving game changer for urban
America. You owe it to both your mental and
physical health and that of your family and friends
to purchase this book. For more information on this
book and more visit: http://supremedesignonline.com.
“If you want your
young black men to be successful, you must
help them to develop character from the
inside out. In order to do that, you must
have character yourself.”
--Kevin D. Barnes, Sr.
“Successfully Raising
Young Black Men”
By Kevin D. Barnes, Sr.
Reviewed by Mike Ramey
It is rare when an author
allows for his wife and family to have a chapter
each of their comments included in his book. But
then, Kevin D. Barnes, Sr. is not your
run-of-the-mill author. A pastor and a parent, he
has an excuse-free inside track on Black parenting
through his book: “Successfully Raising Young Black
Men” (151 Pages, 2007, Torch Legacy Publications).
By the way, the book has the designation of being an
Amazon.com Bestseller.
Rest assured, you can dive
into this book in a weekend, and start applying it
daily. Why? First, the book hits upon the need for
BOTH parents and children to have a firm foundation
in Jesus Christ (change from the inside out).
Second, Barnes lets the reader take a good look at
his family, his successes and bumps in the road.
His walk squares with his talk…and this, in his
view, is the only way in which parents--single or
married--can raise their sons right in the African
American community, and general society. The road
for successful children runs right through the home,
period.
The fifteen chapter line-up
explains biblical training and discipline, showing
and growing our young men in the home without
excuses and how husbands and wives can show their
love and respect for each other which will--in
turn--lead to stronger young Black men.
“Successfully Raising Young Black Men” is worth your
investment.
Now, in spite of the success
keys Barnes has placed in plain view, he has found
resistance to his solutions and biblical wisdom.
“The transformation; the change has to come from the
inside through Jesus Christ,” said Barnes during a
phone interview from the famed Abyssinian Baptist
Church out of Oakland, California. “And, don’t
expect society or even your city to be ‘glad’ about
this truth--but it WORKS!”
Prolific Author Gets The Party Started with New
Literary Offering
Dr.
Peter John's New Book "SEARCH ME" Encourages
Communication
(New York, NY).....Popular nationally
renowned author Dr. Peter Q. John, JD, MBA, aka
P'Ta Mon, has released his latest tome, a real
conversation starter called SEARCH ME: The Art of
The Question.
SEARCH ME
is a fun book, chock full of thought-provoking
questions designed to get the party started, and
engage people in lively conversations about a number
of interesting topics. Not merely a philosophical
offering, the book encourages dialogue and the open
exchange of ideas.
Also a well-known practicing attorney
and aviator, the prolific Dr. John, who hails from
St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, also hosts a
talk radio show in the Gulf South region, called
Talk CALM` (Communicate And Learn through
Meditation).
Anyone at a loss for words or
reticent to strike up a conversation with others
should be armed with SEARCH ME as their ice
breaker. In this technological age of texting,
tweeting, instant messaging and Facebooking, it's a
welcome change to actually share interpersonal
exchanges, by answering various questions with
others. Talking is the antidote to impersonal
social media.
Dr. Peter John is the
Mixmaster of getting people talking to each other
again, with SEARCH ME: The Art of the Question.
Find more information log on to his website
www.talkCALM.comand follow
him on twitter at @YouSearchMe.
THE LITTLE BOOK OF COACHING
BY KEN BLANCHARD AND DON
SHULA
Good books are
worth their weight in gold. Not only do they serve
to motivate you towards the upright road of success;
they serve to keep your skills sharp for the
journey. A few years back, football coach Don Shula
and business author Ken Blanchard teamed up on: “The
Little Book Of Coaching” (2001, HarperBusiness, 118
pages). This was a natural follow up to their
earlier work “Everyone’s A Coach.”
“The Little Book
Of Coaching” has a straightforward style, with a
twist of faith. Shula and Blanchard ‘tag-team’ the
various sections of their C. O. A. C. H. acronym,
taking care to load the table with plenty of
personal and professional examples.
C. O. A. C. H.
is broken down into five areas:
Conviction-Driven: Never compromise your beliefs.
Overlearning:
Practice until it’s perfect.
Audible-Ready:
Know when to change.
Consistency:
Respond predictably to performance
Honesty: Walk
your talk.
What makes the
work a standout from some of the current field of
business success works is that it takes the complex
and makes it simple. Where Tom Peters was with “In
Search Of Excellence” back in the eighties, “The
Little Book Of Coaching” makes the march into the
high-tech business arena of the 21st century. It
would make a great addition to the quiver of any
fresh young graduate. Some of us ‘old timers’ can
also learn a few things from this work. The book
makes for easy, weekend reading and even quicker
application via uplifting motivational inspiration.
As always, you
can find this work at your favorite on-line book
source.
Ramey is a
freelance media, movie and book reviewer who lives
in Indianapolis, Indiana. He can be reached at
manhoodline@yahoo.com. Used with permission.
Introducing her first
published work of Fiction, Black Child to Black
Woman. Available now online and in stores.
Black Child to Black Woman is a 'live diary'
experience that will grab your attention right from
the start. Tara Walker speaks directly to the reader
as she adds entry after entry into her Journal. She
documents her experiences, her family life, her
triumphs, as well as her interpretation of life and
the world as she saw it. As she grows, so does the
language and tone of the diary, which matches her
maturity and speech patterns as the time passes.
Experiences are mere images engraved in our minds
that we recall when future events occur such as a
tragedy or even when a song is playing on the radio.
Tara has captured those moments in time in her
diary, even the painful ones. Although she came from
a loving home with both parents, she struggled to
come to grips with siblings addicted to drugs,
molestation, attempted rape, broken hearts, and so
much more.
Her diary experiences will make you laugh, cry,
scream, sigh, and gasp aloud. As Tara struggles to
keep her head above water and fight through the
tribulations of her life, she continues to smile,
continues to grow as a person, continues to be
successful in her career, and continues to survive.
Through it all and through her daughter, she
eventually discovers the true meaning of
unconditional love.
Come discover life
through the eyes of Tara as she grows from a black
child to a black woman.
About the Author:
Cheryl McNeil (pen name,
Cheryl D. Bannerman, her birth
name) is CEO of a small
virtual training company based out
of
Central New Jersey. She works out of her home office and
creates classroom training
materials, e-Learning modules, job
aides and much more for corporate
employees and their clients. She
holds a Bachelors in Business
Management and a Masters in Project
Management. She is also the
(divorced) single mother of a
beautiful twelve year old girl. In
her spare time she loves to read
murder mysteries, watch movies, try
new restaurants and cuisines, shop
with her daughter, and in the
summer, walk the boardwalk and take
in the sun on the beach. Although
her works are fiction, she has
incorporated many of her life's
experiences into her stories.
In my travels, I
constantly hear about the ‘lack’ of encouraging
books for young men. I believe that the lack of
such books rests with large publishers. Somehow
there is a ‘mistaken’ impression that such books
won’t be ‘read’. Nevertheless, such books are out
there and are worth the search AND are worth
reading! Therefore, when I happen across a
game-changing book like Robert Jackson’s “No More
Excuses: Black Men Stand Up!” (2008, Lavelle
Publishing, 179 Pages), my faith in solid authors
with something worthwhile to say has been renewed.
Jackson, a
motivational speaker and former school teacher, has
a well-organized work that knocks out the excuses
that young (and not-so-young) brothers manage to
‘float’ as to why they aren’t further along with
their lives. This book is not for those who are
‘squeamish’ when it comes to commitment, personal
growth and change. “No More Excuses” weaves you
through Jackson’s upbringing, the lessons that he
has learned on the way up, and how he has helped to
share those lessons to other young men from a
Christian perspective. He doesn’t spare neither
practical or biblical wisdom. This is the type of
book where the Scriptures are clear and
unapologetic, and a godly stand by the author is not
an accident.
Jackson believes
in transparency of one’s life--ups as well as
downs. After having spent a sizeable amount of his
young life invested in sports, it came time for him
to take a shot at the NFL…which did not end well.
Fortunately, his back-up plan was a diligent focus
on his education.
The rest?
You’ll have to read about it!
One of my
favorite chapters centered upon the need for
discipline in a young man’s life, and how--by having
it--an ascent to successful manhood was guaranteed.
Other chapters include: ‘Why You Being A Hater’,
‘Consequences of Living a Thug Life’, and ‘Are You A
Man Or A Boy?’
By James Villarreal, M.A. Psychotherapist,
Author, Teacher, TV Host
Like an “I”-surgeon with his literate
scalpel, Dr. Neal Hall M.D. cuts into our
communal myopic cataract exposing racism, subtle
to oblivious, odious and insidious (on any
level). America, no, the World, had been hiding
from a book like this. In the epilogue he
reveals the genesis of his almost two hundred
daring poems: “Written in black and white, this
is a revealing look inside an awakening mind…as
it painfully gives birth to full consciousness
of what really is.” There is blood on every
page, anger, rage, frustration and
finger-pointing in many directions. Such
repression and upsurge, like the present overdue
circumstances in North Africa and the Middle
East, scream for action, reaction, revolution
and evolution. At last someone is screaming,
“FIRE!” in a building smoldering and burning for
centuries.
If Christ spoke in parables to get his
message across to the “simple folk,” Dr. Hall
uses examples in parodies of pain, as the
smelling salts for an urgent revolution.
In Haiti we just witnessed scenes of
300,000 dead, but in America he sees ethnic
genocide, “dead black souls piled knee deep,
wearing ‘freedom’ as an odorous, second-hand
garment.” Such dramatic, almost apocalyptic
descriptions, come from a man betrayed by a
vision and promise rewarded with a withered
carrot. Deeply frustrated with things as they
are, and not wanting to be anyone’s “voice
crying in the wilderness,” he rails against “a
status-quo simmering in a sea of stagnation.”
Black America, he writes, has bought into those
“selling high hope dope to keep black folk
strung out, high on false hope.” Like too many
generations, great grands, grands to parents, to
us, we end up “dated niggers clinging to a
nightmare posing as their dream.” Evidence a
nation of documents declaring White
Independence, Emancipations and Constitutions
that freed blacks to ‘roam’ almost anywhere.
Just stay behind street signs that still read
“PLANTATION.” Yes, there is no “we” in We the
People.
A glowing two-edged sword is one of
Dr. Hall’s searing literary tools. The use of
parody of our sacred documents and hymns shocks
us to historical hypocrisy we cover up with
ostrich-hiding shallow patriotism. A nation
founded on theft and domination of Native
Americans, false Christianity, avowing slavery,
rape and abuse of tortured people of color, lead
by the nose with the endless carrot of materialism and in trampling underfoot of
others rights, creating a split, humiliated
society of poverty giving still-birth to
continuing poverty.
One of the most heart-rending,
rage-producing poems “Between Soiled Sheets”
parodies “stains” that “Star-Spangled Banner” as
it truly is, a past of horror, abusive slavery
infecting us directly into now with the unhidden
shame of racism. “By the dawn’s early light they
raped our shackled black mothers between
kneeling…to that white Jesus the white man told
them would come to save them from him…” Torn
from their eons-old sacred traditions, forced to
swallow a guilt-producing god to cover the mark
of the lash of the un-living-their-faith
Christians, What travesty! What vestiges today!!
A fate of breeding, “laddered mulattos, of
spreading self-hate, and victimization of
dependency and division.” His words of ultimate
angst:
“There beneath that/star-spangled
banner yet wav[ing]/the founding fathers of
liberty/raped us of our mothers’ dreams,/our
fathers’ history,/our human dignity,/our methods
and means,/our manhood, our selfhood…,/ between
those soiled sheets…”
His Janus-headed indictment condemns
not only (passive) acquiescing Black America but
also a hiding ostrich hiding White America
privileged on the backs of blacks.
To those who would challenge the
lumping together of White America as the
antagonist of racism, Dr. Hall insists in his
introduction: “…let each white critic reveal how
and when they have fully relinquished the color
coded social political and economic advantage
their white skin affords them in White America.”
Thus, there are so many egregious entitlements
that go with being white versus black in this
society.
Who dat gonna lead us, save us from
deez troubles? In the “Prayer of Exodus” Dr.
Hall writes, “We have no Moses to lead us.” When
he was recently honored as the first author ever
to speak at the newly opened Black Writer’s
Museum in Philadelphia, Dr. Hall spoke with such
clarity, dignity and vision before hundreds in
the assembly and the influential panel including
Dr. Asante from Temple University, that my mind
easily heard a new, more intellectual Martin
Luther King Jr. with the urgency of a Malcolm.
Leaders don’t die; they are replaced.
In subsequent discussions Dr. Hall
shared with me well-developed economic plans for
the black community. He detailed practical,
hard-nosed ideas to get the African American
community off center, eyes-opened, to move to a
profound spiritual awakening leading to, Yes! a
Racial Rebirth.
There can be no healing if we do not
look squarely at the wound. Nigger for Life is
the painful direct, present and historical look.
The intense look at such pain and the powerful
emotions it evokes lead Dr. Hall to a truly
forceful and positive call for immediate
reaction. If the call of “FIRE!” is an alert to
an almost consuming blaze, then Nigger for Life
(also) not only wants to quench that, but also
to remedy, to build, AMELIORATE. His words, “Are
we not prisoners of ourselves.” “When shall we
come to say…compromise nothing of ourselves…” My
bloody colored skin, “there is life in there.”
“There is always a ray of inextinguishable hope
to guide us through our darkest hour of
despair.” “Don’t want to die without no
answers.” “I only have time for here and now.”
“I’s free, I’s name free.”
The aim, the reachable goal, to be
“Nigger” free with inalienable dignity, no
Nigger for life, human for life.
If you want
a real education on graffiti from someone who
knows the ins and outs of its influence on the
modern gang and hip-hop scenes, look no further
than the Ken Davis work: “Tag 18.3” (100 pages,
2006, Ken Davis Publications). Davis--better
known as ‘Grafcop’--has won more than his fair
share of citations, honors and awards over the
years--including the famed Frederick M. Thrasher
award for excellence.
“Tag 18.3”
is a small, power-packed volume which features a
short glossary, a brief reference section, and a
host of graffiti artwork examples from the
simple to the complex. In some cities and
suburbs, graffiti may be seen as either curious
or dangerous. Davis takes you into the field,
and out into the streets to explain the
differences with black and white AND color
photos of actual urban art, by some of those he
has either arrested, investigated--or
befriended--during his law enforcement career.
Davis, a
graffiti and gang specialist with the Yonkers
Police Department. He also served to oversee an
anti-graffiti program which has put the talents
of some street artists to better use. Through a
very communicative writing style, “Tag 18.3”
gives the casual reader or gang investigator
bottom-line insights into the world of taggers
and street creators, including some definitions
and examples of works in the field.
Whether you
spot artwork on the side of a boxcar…or a slap
tag on a mailbox, Davis introduces you to those
who like to improve their world with a spray can
or magic marker. He takes some of the mystery
out of the examination of the graffiti process,
and provides an afternoon’s reading enjoyment
for young adults or those who like to track the
current gang scene.
Michael Oher, offensive tackle for
the Baltimore Ravens of the National
Football League and the young man at the
center of the true story depicted in the
Academy Award-winning 2009 film The
Blind Side(and the New York Times
bestselling book on which the movie was
based), has become an inspiration to many
Americans. A poor kid born to a drug
addicted mother, he had a burning desire
deep within his soul to break out of the
Memphis inner-city ghetto of his childhood
into a world of opportunity.
Though the odds were heavily stacked against him
he succeeded beyond his wildest imaginings.
While many people are now familiar with his
amazing journey few know his true story. He gave
only two interviews for the book and none for
the movie, and has been largely silent about his
life leading up to his success. Until now.
In I BEAT THE ODDS:
From Homelessness to The Blind Side
and Beyond (Gotham Books; February
8, 2011; $26.00) Oher, collaborating
with New York Times bestselling
author and sports journalist Don
Yaeger, tells his story for the
first time in his own words with details
only he knows.
As so many Americans who
have watched or readThe Blind
Side know, Michael’s mother was
a crack addict and unable to properly
care for him and his siblings. They
know he wandered from foster home to
foster home, often running back to his
mother whenever he had a chance. What
they don’t know is exactly what happened
to him during his years in the foster
care system, the years before The
Blind Side picked up his story.
They don’t know the things in his life
that lead up to it; the way he tried to
fight back; and the emotions that
overwhelmed him and left him confused,
scared, and alone. They don’t know all
the things he needed to forget in order
to not get swallowed up by the hurt and
sadness. They know almost nothing about
the things in his life that came before
the happy ending.
Looking back on how he
went from being a homeless child in
Memphis to playing in the NFL, Oher
talks about the goals he had for himself
to break out of the cycle of poverty,
addiction, and hopelessness that trapped
his family for so long. He recounts
poignant stories growing up in the
projects and running from child services
and foster care over and over again in
search of some familiarity. Eventually
Oher grasped onto football as his ticket
out of the madness and worked hard to
make his dream into a reality. But he
has never forgotten the key people in
his life who helped shape and support
him on his path to success, and what he
had to do in order to stay on that
path.
One of Oher’s goals in
writing this book is his desire to
separate real-life fact from movie
fiction. He writes, “After the movie
came out, there were a lot of people
asking me if my life was exactly how it
was shown on screen. Obviously, the
movie-makers have to make artistic
choices to tell the story in the best
way but some of the details…just aren’t
true. Since so many people seem
interested in these details, I hope that
I can help to make a little sense out of
it all for them.” Much more important
to Oher, however, is his desire to talk
about—and reach out to—the nearly
500,000 children in America living in
foster care, and the adults in their
lives who want to help them. The odds
are stacked against them.
As Oher points out, less
than half the kids in foster care will
ever graduate from high school. Of the
ones who drop out, almost half of the
boys will be imprisoned for violent
crimes. Girls in foster care are six
times more likely to have children
before the age of 21 than are girls in
stable families. And of those children,
more than half will end up in foster
care themselves. The outlook is pretty
bleak for kids like him, says Oher, but
he beat the odds. Determined to stand
up as a mentor for those who are right
where he was ten years ago his clear
message is they can, too.
In the book’s closing
chapters, Oher reflects on the absolute
necessity of seeking out positive role
models and good friends who share the
same values to achieve ones dreams. He
writes about the importance of keeping
an eye on one’s own conduct, being ready
to work hard, and even the need to be
smart about money when one starts to
earn it. He offers up a partial list of
groups and organizations for concerned
adults who would like to get involved
and make a difference in kids’ lives but
aren’t sure where to start. Above all,
Oher extends a challenge to anyone
struggling with situations similar to
the ones he faced as a child: to make
the decision to commit themselves to
something better. He writes, “That’s
the most important lesson I want people
to take from this book. You don’t have
to get adopted by a rich family to make
it. You don’t have to get adopted by
anyone at all. You just have to have it
set in your brain that you are going to
make a better life for yourself and you
have to be committed to making that
happen.”
Sharing untold stories
of heartache, determination, courage,
and love, I BEAT THE ODDS, is a
rousing tale of one young man’s quest to
achieve the American dream that will
serve as inspiration for all those who
want more from life.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Michael Oher
was born in Memphis, Tennessee, where he
made his way through the foster care
system and experienced periods of
homelessness. Oher was eventually
accepted to Briarcrest Christian School,
where he met Sean and Leigh-Anne Tuohy,
who became his adoptive parents. His
story is the subject of Michael Lewis’
book, The Blind Side: Evolution of
a Game, and the even more
popular 2009 film, “The Blind Side,”
starring Sandra Bullock, in which Oher
was played by Quinton Aaron.
Michael Ohercurrently lives in Baltimore, Maryland
where he is an offensive lineman for the
Baltimore Ravens of the National
Football League. Oher played college
football at the University of
Mississippi for the Ole Miss Rebels and
was drafted by the Ravens in the first
round of the 2009 NFL Draft. In his
first year as an American football
player, he was named to the Pro Football
Weekly/PFWA All-Rookie team and to the
USA Today’s All-Joe Team. Oher also
earned NFL Rookie of the Month honors
for December and continues to play for
the Baltimore Ravens today.
Don Yaeger
is a former associate editor for
Sports Illustrated. He is the
author of more than a dozen books and
coauthor of the New York Times
bestsellers Under the Tarnished
Dome: How Notre Dame Betrayed Ideals for
Football Glory, Never Die Easy: The
Autobiography of Walter Payton, You Gotta Believe: My Roller-Coaster
Ride as a Screwball Pitcher, Part-Time Father, and
Hope-Filled
Brain Tumor Survivor, and It’s
Not About the Truth.
Russell Simmons Third Book Talks About
Inner-Wealth and Spirituality
What does it mean to be truly rich? Does it
mean owning planes, yachts, and designer
clothes? Does it mean getting anything you
want at a moment's notice?
According
to the materially and spiritually rich mogul
Russell Simmons, "the ultimate state
of being rich is to honestly be in a state
of needing nothing. To need nothing is to be
super rich." This might sound crazy coming
from someone who can pretty much have
anything he wants, but, amazingly, needing
and expecting nothing and being true to
himself is the reason he is so wealthy.
At
different points in his career, Simmons has
had an estimated worth ranging between $100
and $300 million dollars.
Everyone has unique gifts to share with
the world, but many people have not yet
tapped into what those gifts are and
overlook the key to their personal success.
SUPER RICH teaches how to drown out
the noise and focus to find life's purpose.
Book Review: Surviving and
Thriving: 365 Facts in Black Economic
History
Dr. Julianne
Malveaux
Dr.
Julianne Malveaux's New Book Reveals The
Achievements of Black Business Leaders
By: Kam Williams - December 2010
“In her poem, ‘And Still I Rise,’ Dr. Maya
Angelou wrote, ‘You can write me down in history
with your bitter, twisted lies, you can trod me
in the very dirt and still, like dust, I rise.’
More than a century before she penned her words,
Richard R. Wright, Sr., a man born into slavery…
asked [Union] General Oliver Otis Howard to
‘Tell them we are rising.’
Wright’s
19th C. vision… has currency today. …Tell anyone
who will listen that, while the playing field is
not yet level, African-American people can play
the game, win it, and even change the rules to
make them fairer.
Tell them we are rising, surviving and
thriving.”
-- Excerpted from the Introduction
(pg. xliii)
The accomplishments of African-Americans have
generally been omitted from the history books,
when it comes to the field of economics.
Consequently, most black kids grow up unaware
that despite the obstacles the nation
deliberately placed in the path of their
ancestors during the days of slavery and the
repressive era of Jim Crow segregation,
many miraculously managed to flourish
financially anyway.
While many accounts of the exploits of the
heroes of the Emancipation and
Civil Rights Movements have
been published for posterity, the achievements
of black business leaders have rarely been the
subject of scrutiny. For this reason, a debt of
gratitude is owed to Dr. Julianne
Malveaux, author of Surviving and Thriving: 365 Facts in Black
Economic History.
Her informative text might be best thought of
as a bound version of one of those page-a-day
theme calendars, except that instead of serving
up jokes, words or spiritual reflections, this
features a year’s worth of entries about
African-American companies and captains of
industry. A few of her subjects are familiar
household names, such as BET founder Bob
Johnson and hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons. However, most of the
bios here are apt to be eye-opening intros to
someone you’ve never heard of.
For example, there’s Sarah Gammon
Bickford, a former slave-turned-public
utility owner who moved to Virginia City,
Montana where she came to supply the town’s
water after acquiring a natural spring. Then,
there’s seamstress Elizabeth Keckley, a sister
who owned the largest custom dressmaking
business in ante bellum Washington, DC. Before
the outbreak of the Civil War, she designed
outfits for both First Lady Mary Todd
Lincoln and the wives of eventual
Confederates President Jefferson Davis
and his General Robert E. Lee.
In sum, an inspirational tome design to serve
as a daily reminder of the role that
African-American entrepreneurs have played and
continue to play on the path to freedom and
equality.
Click here to
leave a comment on our syndicated blog:
The African-American Tradition of Giving
By Randal Pinkett & Jeffrey Robinson, Author of Black Faces in White Places:
10 Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and
Find Greatness
African Americans have a long-standing tradition
of philanthropy, or giving back to improve the human
quality of life. It is rooted in the African concept
of family, which formed the basis for social life
and social values in Africa.
In the twenty-first century, giving by African
Americans reflects many of the traditions that have
been established over the years. Modern African
American giving has distinct underlying philosophies
and characteristics, namely:
A broad conceptualization of family and
kinship ties that include not only blood
relatives but also distant relatives, friends,
neighbors, and long-time acquaintances. This is
embodied by references to other African
Americans-even when they are not related to
us-as "brothers," "sisters," "cousins," and the
like.
A relative preference for giving directly to
individuals as opposed to nonprofit
organizations.
A higher value for contributions of time
than money. The church is the single greatest
beneficiary of African-American monetary
donations. More than two-thirds of
African-American charitable dollars are
contributed to churches.
A deep feeling of obligation to help members
of the Black community and others in need or
crisis as a result of being helped by others. To
the extent that someone is known or perceived to
have abandoned this obligation they may be
labeled as a "sellout" or an "Uncle Tom.
A sense of responsibility to not leave
anyone behind, and success alone is insufficient
without helping others to also be successful.
Helping any part of the community is interpreted
as helping the entire community.
One of the major challenges you'll face as a
successful and busy individual is making decisions
about the approach you'll take toward your giving.
What is your strategy for giving? "Strategic giving"
is a phrase we use to describe giving in the
right way at the right time for the right reason,
cause, or issue.
We believe the four foundations of giving are time,
talent, treasure, and something we refer to as touch.
It is our personal responsibility to find ways to
give back generously in each of these areas. It's
been said that we should all donate 10 percent of
our time, talent, and treasure to worthy activities
and organizations that make the world a better
place. The basic principle here is an ancient one
called tithing - a concept that both of us
wholeheartedly endorse. The idea of tithing has
biblical origins. The people of God were required to
give 10 percent of their earnings back to God. The
priests received the tithe on God's behalf, and
their responsibility was to distribute this money,
as well as other goods and in many cases livestock
and crops, to widows, the fatherless, strangers, and
the homeless and destitute, and keep some for the
operation of the house of God - the temple or the
church. Clearly, this practice had positive
ramifications throughout the community.
The above is an excerpt from the book Black
Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies
to Achieve Success and Find Greatness by Randal
Pinkett and Jeffrey Robinson. The above excerpt is a
digitally scanned reproduction of text from print.
Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional
errors may appear due to the scanning process.
Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.
Adapted from Black Faces in White Places: 10
Game-Changing Strategies to Achieve Success and Find
Greatness by Randal Pinkett & Jeffrey Robinson with
Philana Patterson (AMACOM; October 2010; $24.95
Hardcover; 978-0-8144-1680-8).
Author Bios Randal Pinkett, Ph.D., coauthor of Black
Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies
to Achieve Success and Find Greatness, was the
winner of season four of The Apprentice
and
the show's first minority winner. He is the
co-founder, chairman, and CEO of BCT Partners, an
information technology and management consulting
firm. Dr. Pinkett is based in Somerset, New Jersey.
For more information please visit www.randalpinkett.com
and follow the author on Facebook
and Twitter. Jeffrey Robinson, Ph.D., coauthor of Black
Faces in White Places: 10 Game-Changing Strategies
to Achieve Success and Find Greatness, is a
leading business scholar at Rutgers Business School
and lives in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Book Review - The Conversation by Hill Harper
By: Janice Wilson
Oh my! What an outstanding
book! I have read a lot of books and I can say
with certainty that this is ONE OF THE BEST
books I have ever read! Period! Hill Harper has
a jewel here. He managed to put real information
from real people about a real topic in one place
and made it a real page turner! I loved this
book! This book is a MUST READ for
everyone. It does not matter if you are in a
relationship, just got out of a relationship,
want a relationship or feel that you never want
a relationship again……YOU HAVE TO READ THIS
BOOK! The book started out talking about the
importance of Friendship in a relationship and
how important it is to build a friendship.
Powerful! Hill Harper was honest, truthful and
insightful about his own fears of establishing,
building and maintaining a relationship with
Nichole. His section on marriage was
particularly intriguing to me. I learned some
things from reading this book and I have been
married over 40 years. The book brought real
life issues to life about the lack of solid
communication in relationships, the difference
between men and women, and the importance of
addressing your fears. There were a few
passages in the book that I will never forget
like “Time cannot guarantee the growth of
something that does not exist” and “Most of us
are addicted to our patterns.” This book was
well thought out and put together and absolutely
a wonderful read. I also loved his references
to his father, grandfathers and others who
helped to shape his life and view of what real
relationships should and can be. Hill Harper
helped me to see things from a different
perspective and helped me to re-focus on things
that I knew before but forget to use in my own
relationship. I can’t wait to try out some of
the tips I found in his book. I found the
Conversation Party inspiring and can’t wait to
host my own! I loved the three (3) mantras and
my favorite of the three is “Laugh, Dance and
Let Your Feelings Show.” This book helped me to
feel even sexier and I can’t wait to share it
with friends and family. Every Black person in
America who aspires to wanting to build and
maintain a solid relationship should read Hill’s
book with interest! Thanks Hill Harper for a job
well done! Great book, great insights and great
truths!
Click here to check out our Q & A
with Hill Harper.
About The Author
Hill Harper is an
accomplished film, television, and stage actor
currently starring in the hit CBS drama series
CSI: NY. A volunteer for the Big Brothers
Big Sisters organization in Los Angeles, he
frequently speaks to schools and youth groups.
Harper graduated magna cum laude from Brown
University with a B.A.; cum laude with a J.D.
from Harvard Law School; and earned a Masters in
Public Administration from the Kennedy School of
Government.
Reviewed
September 25, 2009
Hands on the Freedom Plow:
Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC
Author:
Edited by Faith S. Holsaert, Martha
Prescod Norman Noonan, Judy Richardson,
Betty Garman Robinson, Jean Smith Young,
and Dorothy M. Zellner
An unprecedented women's history of the Civil
Rights Movement, from sit-ins to Black Power
In Hands on the Freedom Plow,
fifty-two women--northern and southern, young and
old, urban and rural, black, white, and
Latina--share their courageous personal stories of
working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (SNCC) on the front lines of the Civil
Rights Movement.
The testimonies gathered here
present a sweeping personal history of SNCC: early
sit-ins, voter registration campaigns, and Freedom
Rides; the 1963 March on Washington, the Mississippi
Freedom Summer, and the movements in Alabama and
Maryland; and Black Power and antiwar activism.
Since the women spent time in the Deep South, many
also describe risking their lives through beatings
and arrests and witnessing unspeakable violence.
These intense stories depict women, many very young,
dealing with extreme fear and finding the
remarkablestrength to survive.
The women in SNCC acquired new
skills, experienced personal growth, sustained one
another, and even had fun in the midst of serious
struggle. Readers are privy to their analyses of the
Movement, its tactics, strategies, and underlying
philosophies. The contributors revisit central
debates of the struggle including the role of
nonviolence and self-defense, the role of white
people in a black-led movement, and the role of
women within the Movement and the society at large.
Each story reveals how the
struggle for social change was formed, supported,
and maintained by the women who kept their "hands on
the freedom plow." As the editors write in the
introduction, "Though the voices are different, they
all tell the same story--of women bursting out of
constraints, leaving school, leaving their
hometowns, meeting new people, talking into the
night, laughing, going to jail, being afraid,
teaching in Freedom Schools, working in the field,
dancing at the Elks Hall, working the WATS line to
relay horror story after horror story, telling the
press, telling the story, telling the word. And
making a difference in this world."
"This amazing book rethreads the
needle of memory with a stronger cord woven of the
testimonies of sisters who never gave up or in. Its
gifts are immeasurable as a historical document and
a blueprint for ongoing national and international
struggles for human rights. We must take our cue
from the lessons they teach and tighten our grip on
freedom's plow, pushing on, regardless."--Darlene
Clark Hine, coauthor of The African American
Odyssey
"The testimonies of these remarkable women are an
indispensable part of the history of the southern
movement against racial segregation. They enable us
to see the Movement up close through essays that are
intensely personal, and at the same time they
thoughtfully illuminate the larger struggle for
justice."--Howard Zinn, author of A People's
History of the United States: 1492 to Present
"Hats off to the Hands On sisters! Each story
is a treasure, each woman a measure of the Civil
Rights Movement's strength. An overdue and
indispensable contribution to the Movement's
historiography."--Julian Bond, Chairman Emeritus of
the NAACP Board of Directors
"This is a splendid, spectacular, stirring book. At
last the long-marginalized women of SNCC tell their
galvanizing, enspiriting stories in their own words.
Everyone concerned about women's rights, human
rights, and the future will want to get, give, or
assign this fabulous collection."--Blanche Wiesen
Cook, University Distinguished Professor, John Jay
College and The Graduate Center, CUNY, and author of
Eleanor Roosevelt, Volumes 1-3
"An extraordinary contribution to historical
understanding of the Civil Rights Movement, this
work illuminates the ground swell that was SNCC.
It's a complex story, well told by the participants,
whose real voices bestow this collection with
remarkable authority. These gripping narratives by
tough, resilient women, these tales of courage,
perseverance, hope, and dedication to a cause,
portray an amazing time in America."--Orville Vernon
Burton, author of The Age of Lincoln
"This marvelously broad and deep collection of SNCC
women's voices gives the reader a rare insight into
the trials and triumphs of the black freedom
struggle of the 1960s. These stories related by
women at the center of the struggle are
simultaneously simple and complex, diverse and
united. At the same time, as they relate their own
personal struggles for freedom, their voices are
punctuated by passion and pain, and frustration and
determination."--Cynthia Griggs Fleming, author of
Yes We Did? From King's Dream to Obama's Promise
"Hands on the Freedom Plow is, quite simply,
a stunning collection. These stories of courage,
hope, and, yes, conflict, will inspire all Americans
who believe in the possibilities of democracy. This
volume belongs on that short shelf of books on the
Movement that must be read."--John Dittmer, author
of Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in
Mississippi
"This collection provides the texture and tone of
that eclectic group of women who joined together in
common cause, still debating and disagreeing along
the way, but united by overlapping values, newfound
courage, and the ambitious dream of changing the
political face of the nation, which, in large part,
they did. A treasure trove of stories and
reflections by an amazing group of women
activists."--Barbara Ransby, author of Ella Baker
and the Black Radical Tradition: A Radical
Democratic Vision
"These women's lives, spent in the freedom struggle,
call to us. Their political insight and creativity
make them American heroines; their strategic vision
allows them to point a better way forward for all,
worldwide, who aspire to equality and
democracy."--Wesley C. Hogan, author of Many
Minds, One Heart: SNCC's Dream for a New America
"A remarkable achievement, sweeping in scope, rich
with detail, and infinitely readable. Without
question, this is the new starting point for
learning about the central role that SNCC, and
women, played in the African American freedom
struggle."--Hasan Kwame Jeffries, author of
Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and
Black Power in Alabama's Black Belt
Faith S. Holsaert,
Durham, North Carolina, teacher and fiction writer,
has remained active in lesbian and women's, antiwar,
and justice struggles. Martha Prescod Norman
Noonan, community organizer, activist,
homemaker, and teacher of history including the
Civil Rights Movement, lives near Baltimore.
Filmmaker and Movement lecturer Judy Richardson's
projects include the PBS documentary series Eyes
on the Prize and other historical documentaries.
She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Betty
Garman Robinson, a community organizer, lives in
Baltimore and is active in the reemerging grassroots
social justice movement. Jean Smith Young is
a child psychiatrist who works with community mental
health programs in the Washington, D.C., area. New
York City consultant Dorothy M. Zellner wrote
and edited for the Center for Constitutional Rights
and CUNY Law School. All of the editors worked for
SNCC.
An
Interview with Writing Veteran Susan Fales-Hill
By Vanessa
Werts
Black is black no matter the hue or
the status. That is the message television writer
and producer and author, Susan Fales-Hill,
shared with me during a very candid interview at the
2010 National Congressional Black Caucus in
Washington, DC.
Fales-Hill started her career writing
for the Cosby Show in the 1980s and
later transferred to A Different World,
the spin-off, and ended up running as head writer
and executive producer along side director,
producer, Debbie Allen. From her early years as an
apprentice writer on the Cosby Show
until now, the author of two books: Always
Wear Joy, a memoir and tribute to her
deceased mother, and her first novel, One
Flight Up, Fales-Hill contends to present a
facet of Black-America disproportionately under
represented on television and in the media.
Too often, the Black experience
portrayed on television and in films is one of
despair and the down trodden. “If you’re on
welfare,” says Fales-Hill, “you get to be on TV. We
don’t get to see a whole lot of anything else except
for the occasional judge on a show or something of
that sort.”
The award-winning writer says her
mission in life is to change that image. She
believes that Black-America should be represented in
proportion to its diversity. “If there are 30
million Black people,” says Fales-Hill, “there’s 30
million different ways to be Black-American, and
internationally there’s probably a billion ways.”
One Flight
Up,
the author’s first novel is another avenue to
continue to advance her platform. The story, which
follows four childhood girl-friends into the wild
and sometimes tricky world of romantic
relationships, exposes the reader to the bourgeoisie
affairs of the upper class. A bubbly, high spirited
Fales-Hill shared details of her juicy new novel
with BMIA.
Vanessa Werts and Susan Fales-Hill at the 2010
Congressional Black Caucus Book Pavilion
The Susan Fales-Hill
Interview
BMIA: Tell
me about One Flight Up?
Fales-Hill:
One Flight Up is my first novel. And so this book is
about three women that all went to the same private
school. Two of them are Black and one is Latina, one
is White. They’ve been friends since they were
children, and now they are adults. The three that
are married are cheating on their husbands, and the
one whose not is torn between two men. And it is
really the range of the world of worlds of New York,
because in New York people do not lead segregated
lives for the most part. And I must say at the
highest levels people don’t lead segregated lives.
People have great jobs that have been to top schools
and are interacting with all sorts of people. And
that’s part of what I wanted to show, and I show the
social range. My main character does pro bona work
for an African immigrant. I wanted to show a
globalized world; an integrated world with its
problems with its tensions.
BMIA: What
are your readers saying about the book?
Fales-Hill:
One reviewer called it a beach-read with a brain
which I thought was a great compliment since that
was kind of the point. So to get to the beach-read
part, because everyone is talking about oh snore,
who cares about social issues, there is some
naughtiness in the book. A woman told me this book
made her tingle in parts she hasn’t tingled in
years. And recently, a lady at a book club told me
this book should come with a warning sticker “must
come with a cold shower.” Since your audience is
mainly male, I had a handsome young brother come to
a reading I did in New York and he came up to me
afterwards and said everything you have to say is
fascinating but I’m a guy, why would I buy this
book. And I said well it’s an insight into the heart
and minds of women. I could tell I was losing him,
so I said do you have a girl-friend? He said yes, so
I said there are a lot of naughty bits in this book.
If you buy her a copy you might get a nice result.
Then he bought the book.
BMIA:
Beyond portraying Black people in a more progressive
light, is there another message in the book?
Fales-Hill:
So, we’re at a time where we have a lot of stressors
in our lives and this book is a release and escape.
The characters go to glamorous places like Paris.
They deal with some serious issues like do you marry
for security or for passion; what makes a marriage
work. But I also wanted to show that fidelity is as
much a struggle for the women as it is for the men.
I mean who are all these men cheating with? They’re
not all cheating with prostitutes who let them keep
their socks on. They’re cheating with quote un-quote
respectable women. And as I said earlier, we may not
have reached gender equality or pay yet, but we are
at parody in terms of our bad behavior.
Statistically speaking, we’re only a few percentage
points behind the men. So it’s really looking at our
humanity and the difficulty of maintaining a
relationship with
BMIA: Do
you see “One Flight Up” on the big screen?
Fales-Hill:
We are in conversation now. There is a producer who
has done very nice work…I don’t want to say who it
is because I don’t want to jinx it. But she’s a very
passionate Black woman who has done very nice work
and she is interested in doing it because it’s not
what we’ve seen before. There’s also the chance of
it being on the small screen. So keep a good thought
and wish me luck.
BMIA: What
would you say to people who limit what Black is and
can be?
Fales-Hill:
Throughout my writing career, it’s been one of my
main stays, or one of my themes is how having a good
education and a good job and even having wealth does
not take away your racial identity. You know, you
can keep it real and be rich. You can keep it real
and speak properly. You can keep it real and have a
great education. All of these things…being Black
does not mean being poor and being down trodden, and
being on the outsides and on the periphery of the
main flow of economic activity.
Co-creator (with Tim Reid) of the
Showtime series, Linc’s, starring Pam Grier, Fales-Hill has had a wonderful run of
17 years in television. Now telling stories in
paperback that in their own way bring equilibrium to
the Black experience, she is at work on her much
anticipated second novel.
When asked what she would be if she
wasn’t a writer, thoughtfully she responded,
“Barring a singer or a ballerina, I would be an
international diplomat of some kind.”
Always Wear
Joy
and One Flight Up can be purchased on
Amazon.com and at local bookstores. Visit Fales-Hill
on the Web:
www.SusanFales-Hill.com.
Jupitervale
is a coming-of-age
young adult novel about the dilemmas four teenage
girls face over their summer break.
Abitha Smith and her sisters were abandoned by their
parents at a young age. Having no desire to be
separated by the foster care system, she keeps a
job, attends school, and raises her sisters while
maintaining a low profile until her 18th birthday
... when she can qualify as their legal guardian.
Kat Brazilson is a new mother who has plans to move
home to Jupitervale to start anew. She knows they
deserve better than the life their headed for ...
but she will have to fight to get it.
Marie Kyle has always been close with her family ...
but she is coping with the death of her mother, a
loving father who's pulling disappearing acts, and a
boyfriend who is an ass. What will she do when a new
face compels her to find her inner strength?
Graciela Sinclair is frustrated from battling
everyday with her older sister and the secret love
she has for her best guy friend. Will she reveal her
true feelings when he comes back?
Reviews for
Jupitervale
“ … a must read for
young adults. They will get so caught up in the
lives of Kat, Abitha, Laurel and the other young
residents of Jupitervale, they won't be able to put
this book down. Here's hoping that [Barnaba] is
working on Jupitervale 2 and 3 because after reading
this book, she is sure to have a big fan club
waiting for her next release!”
Terri Mintz—NewsBroadcast Corporation
“ … [Barnaba] is a
refreshing and captivating new voice on the literary
scene. Her novel will be a companion guide for
young women as she tells a tale they can relate to
in their own voice. Growing up and finding your own
way can be a perilous journey. [Barnaba] knows of
what she speaks and writes. Her characters become
the readers new BFFs (best friends forever)!”
Makeda Smith—Jazzmyne PR
About The
Author
Stashia Barnabá wrote
her first novel Jupitervale. A couple weeks
after her 18th birthday, Jupitervale was
published by AuthorHouse. Currently, Stashia
is employed with American Urban Radio Networks as a
freelance audio journalist and has been putting her
creative efforts to use by writing more books and
lyrics. She is currently a Music and Arts Management
major at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA.
To learn more about Stashia and to purchase your
copy of Jupitervale visit
www.jupitervale.com.
Mama Used to Say
is filled with jewels of wisdom from men and women
across the country celebrating lessons they learned
from their mothers. The book is much needed addition
to the body of work dedicated towards women. The
book features a series of quotes and affirmations
submitted by a diverse group of individuals who were
willing share the wisdom they received from their
mothers.
We believe mothers are often undervalued and
marginalized in society. While we celebrate mothers
each May on "Mothers Day," we owe our mothers so
much more than a one-day holiday. Recently, while
speaking to several groups of mothers who were
incarcerated, I was saddened by the alarming number
of women who fall through the cracks in our society,
whether because of poverty, substance abuse, mental
health issues or lack of a support system. No
matter, we must all do a better job of honoring our
mothers!
RAISING HIM ALONE:Things
Black Women Can do to Raise Black Boys to be
Men
By
David Miller and Matthew P. Stevens
Raising Him Alone
is more than just a book. It is a source of
inspiration for the millions of single mothers who
struggle daily with the challenges of raising
healthy and productive boys to become responsible
men. The book is based on hundreds of interviews,
focus groups and discussions with single mothers who
are raising boys. Additionally, many fathers were
interviewed who desperately want to be in their sons
lives, but are excluded from the process for a
myriad of reasons.
Raising Him Alone
honors the struggles of single mothers raising boys
through providing daily lessons that range from
talking to boys about sex to assisting mothers with
the process of dating.
Many of the statistics on Black men and boys are
painful and are often daunting. For example, the
most recent report on graduation rates among African
American males published by the Schott Foundation
indicates that in many US cities African American
males are dropping out at rates that exceed 65%.
The cities include but are not limited to
Indianapolis, Detroit and Baltimore. With the
lowest graduation rates in the nation among African
American males, Indianapolis and Detroit’s
graduation rates can only be viewed as a public
health concern.
We rarely hear about the countless numbers of
mothers who are successfully raising boys alone.
The book underscores the need for mothers to be more
willing than ever to sacrifice to support positive
Black male development. This sacrifice includes
developing a greater understanding of contemporary
issues that affect Black males as well as getting
mothers and fathers to be willing to reconcile old
wounds.
The book serves as a voice of reason that tells us
how important it is to rescue our boys from failing
communities and failing schools.
Finally, we hope that
Raising Him Alone
compels mothers to band together to address the
challenges of being a single mother. After reading
Raising Him Alone, please make sure you
pass this book along to other mothers who can
benefit from the lessons and the wisdom of others
who have successfully navigated the world of being a
single parent.
Before I begin to provide a book
review of this book, I have to say that I was a
bit confused in the beginning and then
astonished when I caught up with myself.
Confused because the author is male and he
writes from the voice of a female. Astonished
because I could not believe how the author
captured the female voice and spirit throughout
this book. Mr. Fisher did a superb job of
providing the inner thoughts of the main
character in the book and I found this
remarkable. I loved this book! What I liked
about it most was that it covered a topic that
is very real and current. Writing about the
love between an older woman and a younger man
was very interesting, intriguing and educational
for me. Although, the word “cougar” stayed in my
mind while reading the book, I now have a new
found respect for this relationship. I
absolutely loved “Tyriq” and the way he was
portrayed. He seemed so loving, caring, gentle,
considerate and respectful…..all of the things a
woman looks for and wants in a man she is in a
relationship with. I also absolutely loved the
hunger he had for Denise. And, the author made
him believable and not written in a fairy tale
way.
I believe that love between an older
woman and a younger man can work and can last.
In my view, Denise reacted to Tyriq’s advances
the way any woman of a certain age would and
this made this book not only exciting to read
but believable. The book had some steamy love
scenes which I thoroughly enjoyed. Juicy!
I think I’ve read page 98 at least eight (8)
times! This book has me wondering how many men
can actually read a woman’s mind and portray in
writing her every thought as Harold Fisher did
in this book. I found that aspect of the book
intriguing and a bit scary. Having someone know,
understand and portray your every thought is a
bit frightening to say the least. Although, I
must admit it was a little sexy too!
Great job on the visualization too!
Harold Fisher was excellent at providing details
that put the reader right where the action is
and outstanding in keeping the reader interested
in wondering what was coming next. The love
letter on page 206 was outstanding and a welcome
addition to any woman’s collection.
This was a sexy, steamy love story
to be enjoyed over and over again. I must
admit my heart fell into pieces at the ending. I
actually felt sadness and grief on the sudden
loss of Tyriq but happy for Denise because she
had a part of Tyriq that she could hold on to
forever….his son. Thanks Harold for opening my
eyes to the possibilities of finding love with a
younger man and for a well written love story.
About the
Author
Harold T. Fisher (ROSEFOGG),
is a former TV news anchor/reporter. After
earning a B.S. degree from Morgan State
University in 1986, Harold spent three years in
radio as a DJ and eventually a political
reporter in Maryland and Washington, DC.
Harold has worked in television making career
stops in Tallahassee, Florida, Hunstville,
Alabama, Columbus, Ohio, Buffalo, New York,
Kansas City, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland.
Harold has been a writer of short stories and
erotic literature for over 20 years. This
is his first book. Harold is a native of
Washington, DC currently residing in Baltimore,
MD.
Too
Simple To Believe:
The Raw Details Straight from the Male
Mind On Sex, Love and Dating
By: Christopher Dallas
Book Reviewed by Janice Wilson
Click On Book
Cover To Enarge
First and foremost, I want to
thank Christopher Dallas for the TIME OF MY LIFE! This was not just a
book reading for me, this was an event! I
loved this book and could not stop reading
it. The old adage “Truth Is Stranger Than
Fiction” never rang more true than when
I read this book. From the “Hallway lesson”
to “Sluts vs. Studs” I could not stop
giggling. The author was so honest, so
truthful and so funny. This book truly is “Too
Simple To Believe.” The information
shared in this book is powerful and needs to
be read by women and men. The information is
so simple yet I think it gets missed by a
lot of women. Mr. Dallas’ truth telling is
hilarious. I have a few favorite quotes from
the book like “Tons of foreplay is 100%
unnecessary for men.” That had me
laughing out loud. And how about this pearl
of wisdom: “Women can be
sexually aroused by men with personality,
intelligence, style, money, muscle tone,
status, charm etc etc., etc., and men can be
sexually aroused by seeing a woman.”
So simple, so true. This book actually is
“Too Simple To Believe,” yet women over
think and over analyze men and their
relationships forgetting that men really are
simple beings. And for this author to write
this book in such a straightforward, direct
manner made it more believable for me.
The other thing I liked about
this book is that I learned some things. I
have been in a long-term relationship and
would like to think that I know men pretty
well but this book opened my eyes a little
wider. The author’s comment that men
require 11 minutes and 42 seconds to get
ready to go out on a date was hilarious and
so true! His comment about women and how
they pay attention to having their dress
match their shoes and how men really don’t
care and don’t even notice was funny to me.
The author said, “Men don’t even notice
what you are wearing or if your hair is
purple, we are just trying to see women
“naked.” One of the most profound
statements in this book was “Women need
reasons TO have sex….Men need reasons NOT to
have sex.” One of the simplest truths in
this book was the author speaking of men.”We see it….We like it….We want
to have sex with it.” I have sense
enough to know that it really is that simple
for men!
Mr. Dallas is a gifted writer
with the kind of creativity I enjoy in a
book. The book kept my interest from start
to finish and I would love to read more by
this author. Great job Mr. Dallas! I would
recommend this book to my family and friends
and would love to organize a “round table
discussion” around the contents of this
book. It really is “Too Simple to
Believe.” I applaud Mr. Dallas for
having the courage to put into writing what
everyone knows to be true but few are
willing to admit and put into writing. Great
job on this book. I can’t wait to read
the next one!
About
the Author
Christopher Dallas
has been writing since the age of 8. A
Washington DC native; he has cultivated
relationships while living in all parts of
this country including The West Coast, The
Great Lakes and the Deep South. A
Bachelor's degree in Immunology from
Cleveland State University and a Doctorate
degree in Molecular Genetics and
Computational Chemistry from the University
of Georgia led to his current career in the
Pharmaceutical Industry. His hobbies
include circuit-training/fitness, coaching
little league football, and of course, your
local happy-hour.
Through years of
listening, learning, lusting and loving he
has pulled back the curtains on sex and
relationships in the pages of this powerful
yet raw book.
I don’t know where to begin. This
book was by far one of the most intriguing,
educational and scary books I have ever read. Mildred Muhammad's accounting of living with her
ex-husband and who would have ever thought D.C.
Sniper, was astounding. I read this book over two
(2) weeks ago and it won’t leave my head. I can’t
stop thinking about what Mrs. Muhammed did to keep
her sanity and to protect her children. This author
must have been touched by God Himself, there is no
other explanation!
Her stories of how John Muhammad
loved her and her children and how he was so
involved in their children’s lives was heartwarming.
On the other hand, her recount of how he became
distant from her and challenged everything she said
was frightening and scary for this reader. I could
feel his coldness while reading this book. His
involvement with the young Steven in the book and
how he brought this young man to live in their home
and then “training” him to dress in black and
accompany him on “night rides” was at times too much
to handle.
Mildred Muhammad did an outstanding job of relating
her fears and her commitment to her family while
caring for her ailing mother and constantly
questioning herself when confronted with accusations
directed towards her husband at the time. Her story
was so real and totally believable! She poured her
heart and soul into this book and it showed. I
especially liked how she described in detail how
John reacted to her at times during their 12 year
marriage. The words she wrote that John said to her
“You are the enemy so I must kill you,” were
chilling to the bone. On another occasion he
said “I don’t mind because you don’t matter.”
For a husband to say this to his wife, the
mother of his children is ultimate psychological
abuse. I still can’t help but be amazed at this
remarkable, strong and God fearing woman for staying
in this horrible situation. The only way I have come
to understand how she survived this ordeal is to
understand and know that she has a deep, deep faith
in God and she trusts Him with all of her heart.
This was a jaw dropping page turner
of a book. I applaud Mildred Muhammad for
including in her book the Personalized Safety
Plan with the eight (8) vital steps to safety
for anyone living in an abusive situation. Everyone
can benefit from reading this book and sharing the
information. This was a great piece of work and I
would recommend it to everyone.
In Sarah
Palin’s new book Going Rougeit is
repetitively clear who she loves - Alaska. And
America. And God. And Ronald Reagan. And it’s very
clear who is on her enemies list - there’s the
media, good old boys who condescend her, elites.
Oh, and she really hates cynical McCain campaign
staffers who, in her view, sabotaged her
vice-presidential campaign. In essence, Going
Rogue is part reticent spin, part
autobiography, part payback hit job.
That's pretty
much everything you need to know about Going
Rogue, the former Alaska governor's new
memoir. But Going Rogue is really a
book designed to re-introduce Palin as a national
political force, and — though she's coy about this —
to lay the groundwork for a 2012 presidential run.
Palin positions
herself as a populist, but her populism is entirely
cultural. She never misses an opportunity to tell us
how weepy she gets when she thinks about our country
and its military. I wouldn't deny Palin a bit of her
popularity if her populism had any economic or
political substance. Early in Going Rogue
she talks in detail about how Exxon exploited the
people of Alaska in the Exxon Valdez disaster. And
her experience with oil companies taught Palin about
how big business conspires with the government to
create capitalism that harms the common good. And
yet, she's incapable of understanding how the very
pro-business economic agenda she peddles makes this
possible. Palin's overall political agenda amounts
to nothing more than tax-cutting, deregulating and
the endless repetition of GOP talking points. This
is the Republican Party's great populist hope?
In Going
Rogue Ms. Palin talks unintelligently about
fiscal responsibility and a strong foreign policy,
and about the importance of energy independence, and
she is quite up front about the fact that much of
her appeal lies in her “hockey mom” ordinariness.
She doesn’t pretend to have any particular knowledge
about the Middle East, the Iraq war or Islamic
politics — “I knew the history of the conflict,” she
writes, “to the extent that most Americans did.” And
she argues that “there’s no better training ground
for politics than motherhood”. My thought and that
of many Americans on Palin is that she's too shallow
and dangerously inexperienced for the presidency — a
conclusion that early Palin supporters like George
Will came to during the 2008 campaign. For
conservatives in search of a great populist white
hope, there is nothing in Going Rogue
to challenge that conclusion. It's like this: Palin
spends seven pages whining about her appearance on
Saturday Night Live, but just over one page
discussing her national security views.
The
self-portrait created in this book echoes my early
impressions of Sarah Palin just after her
debut as McCain’s VP choice: a gutsy girl who knows
how to field dress a moose who was a former beauty
queen with a George W. Bush-like aptitude for
murdering the English language. (The first paragraph
of the book contains the phrase “I breathed in an
autumn bouquet that combined everything small-town
America with rugged splashes of the Last
Frontier”). What the he****???? Huh?
Ms. Palin’s
planned book tour resembles a campaign rollout —
complete with a bus tour and pit stops in
battleground states — and the latter half of her
book often reads like a calculated attempt to
position Ms. Palin for 2012. She tries to compare
herself to Ronald Reagan by repeatedly conjuring up
his name and record. She talks about being “a
Commonsense Conservative” and worrying about the
national deficit. And she attempts to explain and
rationalize the revealing mistakes she made during
the 2008 race. She says that she was manipulated
into doing that famous series of Katie Couric
interviews (which would do much to cement her image
as well-caricatured blockhead) by Nicolle Wallace, a
communications aide for the campaign, and that Ms.
Couric just seemed to want “to frame a ‘gotcha’
moment.”
Much of the book
doesn’t deal with politics but with Ms. Palin’s life
in Alaska and her family. Sarah Palin is
selling a personality, not a platform. That's not
dumb. She's doing the best she can with what she has
to work with. I think it was her father who said
after Palin resigned from the governorship that she
was not retreating but instead reloading. If this
book is any evidence of that then I think she is
heading into 2012 shooting blanks.
About The
Reviewer
Kelly Alexander is a freelance
political writer based in the Cleveland, Ohio area.
Her work has appeared in the Tennessee
Tribune, Hudson Valley News, Seattle Post
Intelligencer and in various online
magazines. Kelly is currently is working on a
collection of short stories and a novel.
About the Book
Empty Pleasures
tells the story of a sassy, young successful PR Firm
owner who is tired of having her heart trampled on
by the men she loved. Decidedly hurt for the last
time, she changes the game – or so she thinks – by
suppressing her emotions, choosing
no-strings-attached sex instead. But when she meets
that special someone who makes her heart flutter,
their affair comes with a high price; but one she
must pay in order to realize the true meaning of
love.
About The Author
Icen
is a Virginia-based writer with a great fascination
for human behavior. Her tumultuous experiences in
love and relationships inspired her bold debut,
self-published novel, Empty Pleasures.
Encouraging self love and self worth are the premise
of her writings. She strongly believes in the power
of redemption.
What a timely book. The Audacity of
Help by John F. Wasik is one of the
most comprehensive books about Barack Obama's
Economic Plan and his vision for America.
Wasik is no slouch. Unlike many so-called
experts, Wasik is uniquely qualified to write this
book having spent time studying and following
President Obama for years.
Given all of the media attention to the
President's economic plan and the distortions and
misrepresentations about the President and his
policies,
The Audacity of Help is a
comprehensive and yet easy to understand breakdown
of Barack Obama's economic plan and challenges for
America.
The Audacity of Help is like reading a history book. The author provides charts and
blueprints about packages passed by Congress and
allows you to understand the bills and what they
really mean. Wasik also takes a look at how
the President's policies will affect healthcare,
education, the environment and taxes.
Each chapter is clearly structured to show "what
Congress passed," and "who benefits most," on issues
such as Unemployment Insurance Benefits, COBRA,
Home Energy Credits, Early Childhood Education,
and more.
This book is no joke. It deals with issues
that matter to all Americans.
For me the best part of the book are the
thought-provoking questions. These questions
forced me to think about the impact these policies
will have on my family now and in the future.
For example:
How will it stimulate the worst economy in a
generation?
Who will gain?
Who will lose?
What are his plans for reviving public
education, small business, the environment,
credit reform, health care, homeownership and
entitlement programs?
Which industries will benefit?
What new jobs will be created?
This book appears to leave no stone unturned as
it also compares the President's plan with the New
Deal.
Honestly, reading the book I felt as if I was
studying toward an economic degree and liking it.
And I hate math and economics, but I could not put
this book down. The current economic climate
and the author's knowledge about the economic plan
are a great match.
When President Obama took office, banks were
severely impaired, companies were cutting pensions,
and market disruptions and unemployment left more
than 45 million people without health insurance or
retirement security.
The book end asking the $64,000 dollar question:
Who will pay?
The soaring national debt begs the question:
How will this money be paid back? According to
author Wasik, the Obamanomics mission will
ultimately lead to President Obama being judged on
how well his can restore and maintain prosperity.
Or in other words, how will he remake or preserve
the American Dream.
If you want to understand what is going on with
our country's economy,
THE AUDACITY OF HELP: Obama's Economic Plan and
the Remaking of America (Bloomberg Press, August
2009), is a must-buy.
Check out
Get Ready for "Son" of
Stimulus Plan by John F. Wasik, on our "Money Talks,"
page.
About The Author
As the award-winning author of 13 books, John
Wasik has spoken to crowds from coast to coast
on investing, retirement and protecting your money.
As a personal finance columnist for Bloomberg News,
the world's third-largest news service, his columns
reach 400 newspapers on five continents and have
appeared in The Financial Times, International
Herald-Tribune, Washington Post, Orange County
Register and other papers in Canada, Europe, Japan,
South America and Africa.
The Unthinkable -- Reviewed by
Brandon Whitney
You’re on an airplane that has crashed, or a hurricane
is coming towards your home, or your house is on fire.
What do you do? How do you perform under stressful
situations? “The Unthinkable” by Amanda Ripley, is a
book that explores how human beings respond to danger
using anecdotes and well researched neurological studies
to explain how human beings either succumb to the brains
evolutionary response to danger or use this response to
escape danger.
The most interesting part of this book is the
destruction of the myth of panic by large groups. Ripley
shows that there are instances where large groups panic,
but in the majority of cases it seems that people are
calm and helpful in dangerous situations. What seems to
be the problem during disasters is a lack of training
and knowledge of their situation. Public officials tend
to believe that people can’t be trusted with a thorough
knowledge of danger rather. Because of this, people are
often robbed of knowledge that can save their lives.
“The Unthinkable” give details of this problem and much
more information that is of use to readers.
I rank this book a buy. This is especially good for
minorities as they tend to be at risk of danger from
fires, which are primarily a problem of lower earners.
It is one of the best books I’ve read on this subject in
a long time.
Book: Street Judge
Author: Judge Greg Mathis
Reviewer: Janice Wilson
Educational, inspiring and
entertaining are three words that come to mind when I
think about reading Street Judge. Educational
because of what I learned about the court system, the
dangers of working with undesirable characters who come
before a Judge and inspiring to know that Judges like
Judge Mathis exist! I found this book to be so very real
and that is probably what I liked about the book the
most. The author was skillful in relating his own
personal experience with the experiences of others to
tell a story that needs to be told over and over again.
I especially liked the way Judge Mathis talked about his
wife, Linda and the love that they shared for each
other. I was concerned about the many references about
beautiful women and his assistant Maggie. I got a
strange feeling about their relationship but quickly
dismissed it because I did not want to hold a jaundiced
view of the Judge. I didn’t like the part in the book
when his wife walked in on him and Maggie.
Judge Mathis’ accounting of his
relationships with other judges was awe inspiring and an
education for me. I was excited about learning how the
system works and angry about how he was treated at
times. I liked the fact that the Judge could refer to
himself as a thug and keep on keeping on. He did not
miss a beat and stayed focused on his goal of helping
others when they went astray. His program YAAT inspired
me to question how real this is and if there are real
life Judges who participate in programs to help change
the course of young people’s lives. I applaud Judge
Mathis for taking a stand for justice and for standing
up to his fellow judges who seemed to resent the fact
that he was a judge, tried to undermine his good efforts
and worked very hard to engage him in borderline illegal
decision making. I really liked the straight talk, no
bull approach by Judge Mathis. His life experiences made
him believable and served as a magnet for those
individuals who wanted to turn their lives around. He
offered a no-nonsense approach to offering help while
stating upfront to those in need, that they were to
prove that they truly wanted to turn their lives around.
This was a great book and showed how corrupt the system
can really be if we don’t have judges like Judge Mathis
who are willing to do what is right and does the right
thing. I found it shocking to read about the many
references about sex scandal after sex scandal among the
judges. I found the book enlightening and fun to read
and would recommend it to anyone who wants a better
insight into the life and experiences of Judge Greg
Mathis. What I got most out of this book was that “what
kept Judge Mathis going was that he was one of the
people he loved to help.” Excellent reading,
thought provoking and exciting! Thanks for all that you
do in the name of justice!
Book Review by Janice Wilson
Name of Book: Nookie
Author: Anieshea Dansky
August 2009
This book was an easy read for me.
I enjoyed reading it and found it to be quite
interesting and entertaining. Joy made for an
interesting character in the book and one that I will
remember for a long time. After completing the book,
many questions were left unanswered. .What made Joy the
way that she was? Why was she seemingly cold and
heartless? What does “bangout” mean? She seemed to be
highly sexed and lacked the self control that I believe
most humans possess. I am perplexed as to how she got
this way. I do remember reading that she did not feel
loved by her mother or her father. This can certainly
have a detrimental affect on a person’s self esteem and
love for themselves. But, Joy was cold hearted and I
think she lacked the ability to love or be loved. I say
this because she allowed herself to be controlled and
abused by Josh whom she thought loved her. She stayed in
that relationship to her own peril (and his). What I
found astounding in the book was how Joy could kill
Josh, work with Kevin to cover it up and seemed to have
NO remorse at all. She seemed to be “damaged goods.”
When her parents were killed Joy showed no emotion
whatsoever yet she asked about the insurance policy.
Yet, when Shawn was shot, Joy was so upset, shed tears
which left me wondering how she could have such deep
feelings for Shawn who she hardly knew, yet feel no
remorse or sorrow when her parents died. I found all of
this a bit strange. She went from man to man giving
away her body with little to no feeling about what she
was doing. She was not loyal to anyone and seemed almost
afraid to get too close to anyone. I remember reading
that her Uncle tried to hug her and she backed away from
him. I still wonder how Joy got to this point in her
life that she had little to no feeling. I would have
enjoyed reading a little background about Joy so that I
could have had a better understanding of the main
character in the book. Kevin seemed to treat her really
well in the book and I was hopeful that this would turn
her around and get her to a place where she would feel
love and be able to love herself and others. But, this
was short lived. I found it unusual that she could see
a man for the very first time and fall for him without
regard for his age, who he was, if he was married or
anything. This was a true signal that something had
happened to Joy in her life that made her this way. I
wished that the book explained this a little more so
that the reader could have this background information.
All in all, the book was very easy to read, lacked any
real depth and left the reader wondering about the main
character and on a positive note, wanting to know more.
Let Me Exhort YOU!: 365
Inspired Stand Alone Statements
By Jimi Emmons
Let Me Exhort YOU!: 365
Inspired Stand Alone Statements by Jimi Emmons is a
clever book in that it is simply stated, packed full of
mini-wisdoms and easy to read. The author's goal
is to inspire and motivate the reader. Jimi comes
across as a God-fearing man who is determined to use his
gifts to help motivate and inspire others, particularly
those who may be down and out.
Jimi's viewpoint about life is inspiring
and practical. Here's an example: "Balance
is simply the ability to apply the "right" amount of
weight fo time, effort and energy or resources to a
matter, any matter."
Thanks to Jimi Emmons, you can have a
new motivational statement for every day of the year.
This is a
story of life’s complexities affecting the main character
–Harper Montgomery in a you’ll-never-guess way. The author
has entwined believable, reality situations with a bit of
mystery. She alternates segments of this fiction from a
here-and-now venue switching to a place of nostalgia which
in fact reveals the supporting data of Harper’s background.
The content takes him
through many things: there was resentment towards his
parents –especially his mother for he had difficulty
understanding her; he had a crush on the girl across the
street and loved her unconditionally all of his life; he
expresses a God consciousness in his being although quite
confused by his parents aloofness to God, yet his mother set
her course as a civil rights activists; he and his friends
get caught up in a teach-him-a-lesson, racial incident with
brawling, ethnic language and death as a result; the single
parenting void of a clue to techniques and much, much more.
It is clearly an emotional rollercoaster ride for him.
A story [if it be fiction]
set in a fictional town where the prominent waters and a
creek meet –thus ‘Two Rivers.’ Yet figuratively, it
demonstrates how the life we are designed to live is
influenced by environment; trial intersections; and all the
people of the world –regardless of race or country, are
connected someway in full circle meeting at a point never
imagined!
Click On Photo To Enlarge
About the Author:
Tammy Greenwood is the author of BREATHING
WATER, NEARER THAN THE SKY and UNDRESSING THE
MOON, the latter two both Booksense 76
picks. She has received grants from the Sherwood
Anderson Foundation, the Christopher Isherwood
Foundation and, most recently, the National Endowment
for the Arts. She teaches creative writing at The George
Washington University in Washington, D.C., and at The
Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland. She lives with
her husband and their two daughters in the D.C. area,
where she is also an aspiring fine arts photographer.
The Conductor -Truth Unveiled tells the
story of a teenager who is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Through
a series of events, this apparent impediment empowers him to
become a neighborhood superhero and overcome his negative
surroundings.
The author transforms his own real life
experience to his first fiction novel to help our youth come to
appreciate the special talents instilled in all of them. Through
his advocacy to build strong children, he hopes to guide young
African-American males through the love of reading.
There is a recurring theme throughout this book
that is hard to describe. The content of the book is laced
with "hooks" and "metaphors designed to appeal to young people,
particularly young men. Some of the sketches and poetry
have a hip-hop flava that intoxicate the reader with stories
relevant to their experience.
This was a difficult read for me until I
realized that I was not the target audience. Once I
accepted this fact, the book was easier to read and understand.
Author R. Jay Jay Johnson wrote a book that is
series of stories. This book, half comic book is laced
with messages of hope, despair and reality. The stories
are easy to read and each have a message. Johnson is on a
personal crusade to get more black men engaged in expanding
their horizons through reading. Who can argue with that?
About the Author:
R. Jay Jay Johnson currently lives in
Laurel, Maryland and is the father of four children. He is
working on his second fictional novel scheduled for release this
year. For a list of book signings, upcoming events, and to
purchase a book, please contact Toon-Ups Publishing at www.toonthousandad.com.
Hill Harper is an
accomplished film, television, and stage actor
currently starring in the hit CBS drama series
CSI: NY. A volunteer for the Big Brothers
Big Sisters organization in Los Angeles, he
frequently speaks to schools and youth groups.
Harper graduated magna cum laude from Brown
University with a B.A.; cum laude with a J.D.
from Harvard Law School; and earned a Masters in
Public Administration from the Kennedy School of
Government.
Stashia Barnabá wrote
her first novel Jupitervale. A couple weeks
after her 18th birthday, Jupitervale was
published by AuthorHouse. Currently, Stashia
is employed with American Urban Radio Networks as a
freelance audio journalist and has been putting her
creative efforts to use by writing more books and
lyrics. She is currently a Music and Arts Management
major at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA.
To learn more about Stashia and to purchase your
copy of Jupitervale visit
Harold T. Fisher (ROSEFOGG),
is a former TV news anchor/reporter. After
earning a B.S. degree from Morgan State
University in 1986, Harold spent three years in
radio as a DJ and eventually a political
reporter in Maryland and Washington, DC.
Harold has worked in television making career
stops in Tallahassee, Florida, Hunstville,
Alabama, Columbus, Ohio, Buffalo, New York,
Kansas City, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland.
Harold has been a writer of short stories and
erotic literature for over 20 years. This
is his first book. Harold is a native of
Washington, DC currently residing in Baltimore,
MD.
As the award-winning author of 13 books, John
Wasik has spoken to crowds from coast to coast
on investing, retirement and protecting your money.
As a personal finance columnist for Bloomberg News,
the world's third-largest news service, his columns
reach 400 newspapers on five continents and have
appeared in The Financial Times, International
Herald-Tribune, Washington Post, Orange County
Register and other papers in Canada, Europe, Japan,
South America and Africa. 
