Black Books

As a former Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice Correctional Officer myself, I love how Tim Hampton tries to pass the message that others that have been inside these walls should be passing themselves. Great read!

Riveting and thought provoking!Tim's experiences bring to the forefront a topic vastly under adressed in our society, yet with 2 million americans incarcerated and the crime rate showing little sign of slowing down-we MUST contemplate the punishment versus rehabilitation issues..most of these young men and women will resume a place in our society and sadly they return more violent and angry than before.

Still Holding My Own is they type of reading material that can really help today's young people see what it is really like behind bars. I am so happy that Tim Hampton had the courage to Tell-It-Like-It-Is. I think his experiences will help others chose a different path in life.

Once you pick it up, you can't put it down. It's addictive. This book is written in a way that makes you feel like your best friend is telling you a story. You feel like you just have to know how it ends.

Holding my own is a excellent book,it really touched me.It's deep. Once you start reading you won't want to put it down.

If you like McMurtry, you'll like this book. Sometimes the plot gets a little thin, and there are one too many coincidences for me, but it moves forwards so quickly you overlook any minor flaws. There was some very nice character development -- you can tell the author is doing a good job when a character's death gets to you.

A wild ride with a satisfying ending.

I have not read a western since "Shane" in the 7th grade so I was nervous when my book club picked this book. Despite my fears, this book was terrific--full of wonderful imagery and surprising characters. I would recommend to anyone who wants to travel back in time and be carried away by Spring's glorious storytelling. I cannot wait for her next book!

Edward Turrentine Bayard III is one character that truly comes to life from the pages. For about the first 50 or so pages, I just enjoyed the humor of the story and the witty writing style. Then the book really started to set in. Behind the humor, the wild & interesting characters and circumstances, one begins to see a view of American history from a new angle. The trip down the coal mine, the "marriage" of Avelina and Tilfert, the stay in the Chicago slums, and the brutal time on the frontier provide a compelling panorama of this time in America's history. At times, I just had to shake my head with "this is just too over the top" -- but then it all seemed to fit.

And, I so agree with other reviewers that the last chapter pulls everything together in such a satisfying way. As someone who has heard many a story told by an elderly person, the author sums up memory perfectly: "Never is being so permanent as in yesteryear, when...soft memory solidifies into story, and in that solid form, rejects the anguish of reality..... If we exist at all after we are gone, it will be as a story."

Turpentine is funny, interesting, and just a wild ride that will make you smile and think.

I am normally in agreement with the old saying "you can't judge a book by it's cover." Spring Warren's Turpentine is definately an exception to that rule. I knew the minute I saw the cover of this book with it's majestic buffalo head staring out onto a golden plain that I had to read it. I bought the book without a second thought. I was not dissapointed. What a page turner! Spring Warren's novel is full of interesting characters and is anything but predictable. I highly recommend this fantastic novel.

Turpentine is a novel that embodies many happy surprises: colorful characters, language so beautiful, shimmering and skillful that it seems almost water painted onto the canvas of the page, and a final chapter that not only concludes the story of Edward Turrentine Bayard, but somehow deepens it.


The unique characters Warren has developed and the outrageous circumstances that they find themselves in make this book a page-turner from start to finish. The reader cannot help but reflect through the hardships of Ned "Turpentine" the impacts that our choices emboss on our lives and on the lives of those we are entwined with. Even if the reader is not a fan of the Western genre, this is a novel that embodies the best of the Western while transcending it further to an exploration of the best and worst in the human condition.

This book is a masterful combination of historical research and party analysis that will reshape the way we think of political parties. Frymer argues convincingly that party institutions have generally sought to marginalize the issue of racial injustice in American politics. A major contribution to the literature from a young scholar and excellent teacher.

It is great that now everyone can see what a brilliant mind Paul Frymer is. I took three classes with him at UCLA and he really turned me onto American politics. He showed us what was wrong and how we could go about making it better. The focus was not here is what I think and you must like it, the structure allowed for free thought and contemplation. This is something that is obvious in his writing.

I took 4 classes that Prof. Frymer taught at UCLA and was quite impressed with his teaching methods. Prof. Frymer's book, I believe, eloquently summarizes what he tried to convey in those lectures. Written on the level as that of Lani Guinier's work, I hope that Prof. Frymer's book will be able to open the eyes of the typical politician who seems to be disconcerned with such issues and only to win big. Thank you Professor Frymer.

Prof. Frymer has written a book that many different audiences will find useful. Political scientists will appreciate his skill in demonstrating a counter-intuitive, and yet ultimately convincing, account of race and party politics. Those from other academic fields will be grateful for Frymer's decision to eschew political science jargon, and will find that the book makes contributions to our understanding of history and law. Finally, non-academics will find the book both accessible and informative. I highly recommend "Uneasy Alliances."

This is one of the best books I've read on race in America. It shows why racism persists, and how our political leaders collude in its persistence. It takes on conventional wisdom among intellectuals and political leaders, and it does so in a way that is accessible to an average reader. I can't praise it too highly.

A very sad commentary involving the killing and mutilation of many thousands of innocent people. A book that must be read although at times it will be difficult to continue due to the very nature of the material presented.

The Black Book, is a book incredibly great writen you will in enjoy it from the first page to the last!!!

In this amazing and original history we learn, finally, the first person accounts of the Nazi genocide perpetrated in Belarus, Ukraine and the Soviet Union by the Nazis during the Second World War. This part of the Holocaust has been only touched on elsewhereOrdinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. Despite the fact that Holocaust Museums such as Yad Vashem have documented the Nazi road of terror and death in the Ukraine, few histories have examined this from the point of view of the people involved.

This book bridges this gap, taking the reader deep into the land that was once flowing with Jewish Shtetle life. Soviet eye-witnesses such as Vasily Grossman, one of Russia's most celebrated journalists, show us the eyewitness accounts of Nazi atrocities and reminds us that almost half of the victims of the Holocaust were murdered here.

An amazing story that turns the heart and will shock the reader and one that fills in this gap of history.

Seth J. Frantzman

It's a rare reader who'll be able to get through The Unknown Black Book without having to walk away from it several times. The tragedies it documents are just too horrible to bear except in small doses. Both text and photographs stun the imagination and freeze the heart.

The UBB is a narrative history of Nazi atrocities against the Jews in the German-occupied Soviet territories (Ukraine, Belorussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, The Crimea, and Russia) during WWII. It contains 93 documents, almost half of which are written by eyewitnesses. The rest are compilations of various eyewitness accounts by the editors, a couple of Soviet Jewish journalists, Ilya Ehrenburg and Vasily Grossman, who began collecting material as early as 1942. The eyewitness accounts include diaries, letters, and testimonies of those Russian Jews who managed to survive the wholescale exterminations carried out by the Eastern Front Einsatzgruppen (one of which was commanded by a direct descendant of the composer Franz Schubert).

What can one possibly say that makes sense of the horrors described by the survivors? Tsodik Yakovlevich Bleyman, the sole survivor of the shtetl of Utyan, tells of being driven into the forest with dozens of men and women, who were then sprayed with machine gun fire by Lithuanian fascist collaborators (p. 310). Yevgenia Shendels tells of her father, a physician, being gunned down in the streets of Kursk because he resisted the Nazi murder of medical patients (p. 401). Tatyana Taranova, a student, remembers that one Jew was ill and in seclusion when an Einsatzgruppe exterminated everyone in his village. When he was told of their fate, he was simply unable to believe the fantastic tale. "He decided to ask the German commandant for help because he did not believe that they had shot the Jews. The commandant smiled and called over a soldier with a submachine gun, and the naive Jew was shot right there" (p. 209). Tales such as these defy comprehension. but they need to be told and heeded.

The UBB's own fate is almost as sad as the stories it documents. In 1942, just a few months after the German invasion of the USSR, the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee was formed to document German atrocities, publicize them throughout the world, and garner aid for the Soviet war effort. A parallel Jewish committee in the U.S., chaired by Albert Einstein, promised to publish an English version of the book when it was completed. The American "Black Book" was eventually released. But the Stalinist regime eventually decided that the Russian version was too "Zionist." In addition, the government was upset that the Russian version documented numerous cases of Russian collaboration with the Nazis, thereby revealing the extent of anti-semitism in the Soviet state. So the publication of the Russian Black Book was squelched, even though the manuscript was complete, and in 1952 Stalin executed some 13 "Zionist" Jews who had collaborated on the project.

The book surpressed by Stalin, the "Unknown" Black book, is finally available thanks to the efforts of the editors of this edition.

Amazing story of the German and Romainian occupation of Russia and Lithuania during the invasion of the Soviet Territories during the second world war and the attrocities perpetrated on their populations especially the Jewish population and the brutality they endured at the hands of the occupiers.

An incredibly insightful and powerful book that examines the history of race in America - charting the knotty path toward racial equality, and exposing the many contradictions and setbacks upon it. Most importantly, the book can help us all look at present-day race relations in a more progressive way.

Highly interesting and useful book with a simple but effective history: put the whole history of civil rights struggle in one line, since the Revolutionary war. The result shows immediately the tiding of the struggle for racial equality, and the correlation of eras of advance with the periods of major war, the Revolutionary, Civil, and Second World Wars to be exact. Too often we see the efforts of abolitionists in the generation before the Civil War without seeing the similar history during the Revolutionary period, and then the falling away of advance into retrogression in the early nineteenth century. And then again after Reconstruction. The rise of the Civil Rights movement after the Second World War, next also to the need to repair the image of the American system in the Cold War, falls into place therefore as the next incremental advance in an undertow of resistance, backsliding and the Jim Crow curse. We seem to be, or have entered, another of the doldrum eras, and the prospect seems alarming, although each period of advance maintains some portion of its gains. At a period of neo-liberal machinations made in Texas we need hardly bother to wonder why affirmative action is under attack, etc...
One has to wonder, finally, at the botched legacy of the Constitutional era. It seems less than fully convincing all at once that the founders were unable to resist compromise. The results have been a horrendous series of obstructions.
As the dot.gov goes into action in Iraq, it is worth wondering if they are qualified. American history shows one way to blow it. Vigilance.

When I read this book, I was surprised to find a almost completely accurate depiction of the African-American experience and race relations. Klikner and Smith validate the claim of Black separatist groups such as the Nation of Islam that the Black man is considered a citizen during wartime and tax time. Their analyzing of race relations during The American Revolution, The Civil War, World War II, and The Cold War show that the status of African-Americans was changed by each war. However the nation took 2 steps back when the attitudes of the White majority changed during hard economic times and developed a reluctance to expand the social revolution that was spurred by the war. The book offers a challenge to all who desire racial and economic equality to continue a unfinished social revolution.

Civil Rights leaders supposedly described their achievements in these terms and thus give the authors the title for their book. Such footwork can only be described as THE UNSTEADY MARCH. Klinker and Smith highlight the periods of progress and retreat through a broad sweep of US history. Beginning with the era of slavery (1619-1860), chapter 1 titled "Bolted with the Lock of a Hundred Keys" obviously describes a period of zero progress. According to the authors there have only been three periods of progress and each can be identified by the presence of specific factors. The thrust of their argument throughout this book is that the special circumstances and the effort, energy, and enthusiasm associated with these factors has both a beneficial and deleterious impact on black progress. Beneficially these are not short-run periods of gain. Indeed the third era of progress beginning with WWII and covering the Cold War (inclusive of Vietnam) from 1941 to 1968 "framed an extraordinarily prolonged period" of gains.

It's not coincidental that this period included WWII, the Cold War, and Vietnam because progress has come only "in the wake of a large-scale war requiring extensive economic and military mobilization of African-Americans for success." This statement by the authors made me think about the message of AMERICAN PATRIOTS: "The Story of Blacks in the Military from the Revolution to Desert Storm". If gains by blacks is conditional on wars the treatment of blacks in those wars is a high cost to pay for progress as Gail Lumet Buckley shows in her book. Gaining support for these wars usually means invoking our inclusiveness, egalitarianism, and democratic ideals; elements which the authors identify as another precondition for progress. The third critical factor is that a political protest movement must emerge and be "willing and able to bring pressure upon national leaders to live up to that justificatory rhetoric by instituting domestic reforms."

Progress has been a continual dance of advances and retreats but in their penultimate chapter "Benign Neglect?" the authors express concern over the current climate of complacency. Rather than a threat from any direct action or program of retrenchment, acceptance of present trends is a far greater impediment to continued progress. Through a series of parallels with periods of increased segregation they make a compelling case for overturning the historical pattern and replacing it with a movement towards sustained economic justice and racial equality.

About six months ago, Klinkner's book fell into my lap having been dropped off by my brother who knew me to be an avid reader. My initial thought was that this book was another attempt to recycle the old liberal ideas of the 60's. Liberalism, for all intents and purposes, has been discredited, relegated to the scrap heap of forgotten history-along with the Edsel, leisure suits, 8 tracks and E.S.T. Later that evening, I sat down to read the introduction. After completing the introduction, I wanted to call my brother to thank him for delivering such a find. It is imperative to read the introduction before tackling the main body of the book. Also, try not to read the book too quickly, it is better digested in small pieces. As a historical document, there is no more scholarly or analytical a treatise out there. It stablizes the argument in favor of reconsidering the issues surrounding the way we--as a country--have in the past and present continue to treat the progeny of former slaves. The issue is not reparations for the effects of slavery, but rather the institutional structures in place that perpetuate the superior/inferior relationship between Americans separated by the color of their skin. In short, if we could eliminate the current effects that became ingrained during the 300 or so years of slavery, we would gladly forego any compensation we may be arguably entitled to. This book is a must read for anyone grappling with the issues of equality-or inequality--in it's present transmuted form.

I purchased several copies of this book to give to the women in our family, and friends. I feel it is a must read.

This is an excellent book and necessary for each one of us to read to better understand who we are and why we make the choices we have made and continue to make. If we want something different for our lives, this book introduces us to ways to examine the lives and choices of our mothers, grandmothers, etc., in an effort to make different choices......

I have never read a book that revealed more about black male female relationships. I've read this book three times, and I've given as a gift to other sisters in the struggle just as many times. I recommend this book highly to anyone on a search to understand themselves intergenerationally.

This book is an absolute MUST for any black woman (or man for that matter) who wants to deal with intergenerational scarcity beliefs which prevent us from truly experiencing love in our lives. Richardson and Wade do an excellent job of explaining how the slavery experience impacted every facet of black life and remnants of that impact are played out in our relationships with our family, friends, and mates. For instance, many of us can look back in our family tree to locate where different behavioral patterns (i.e. alcoholism, sexual abuse, obesity, etc.) developed and now play out in our own lives. The authors have you do a series of exercises, such as a genogram which lists the scarcity beliefs and self-destructive behaviors members of our families have developed and passed on to us, to help you begin to understand those internalized beliefs and behaviors which prevent us from experiencing real love. The book doesn't just focus on love relationships with mates but explores love relationships with ourselves, our family, and our mates. Personally, I found the chapter on anger to be the most provocative and enlightening. So much so that I have begun using the information I learned about my anger issues in my individual counseling sessions. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to deal with the pain of slavery and its reprecussions on our present day lives.

I cound not put this book down! I was amazed of the imact black slavery has on us today.The entire truth was never taught to me in school. I'm glad this book tells it how it is(or how it use to be)!This book taught me how to heal deep emotional scars that have been pasted down from one generation to the next. I had no idea what a profound impact past emotional abuse has had on my personal life and love relationships today. Don't live in the dark, buy this book and be enlightened to the abudance that was ment for you...

This novel was a masterpiece. I grew up with Marc and we shared most of the same friends through High School, and we competed viciously to be recognized and loved by our peers. I hope through time and experiences we all have learned to be better people and more so better adults. This book will slam you back into the past and hopefully deliver you into the future. I really had no idea about the situations you witnessed as a child and young adult. I know your book made me realize the good and bad that I brought into peoples lives back in High School. Although we did not keep in touch after High School I am very proud of your accomplishments and I wish you well

I read this extroadinary novel and I am overwhelmed. I grew up with Marc and although we shared most of the same friends. This book is a brilliant piece that makes us all think of the good and bad we have brought into our fellow peers lives. I thought the book got right to the point in many ways. This novel made me realize that many people were not happy in our High School although we faught viciously to be the best and most recognized. Now that we have all grown and gone our own ways hopefully this novel can help people accept and appreciate people as a whole. We were all diffrent and very much the same in many ways and this brilliant masterpiece will definately make one think and hopefully bring closure to wounds that were inflicted by ignorance. This book is obviously a product of your growth. Best Wishes.

I found this book very interesting because it gives you a point of view of prejudice and rejection from all possible sides, sad but true. Hopefully this book will make people think and open up their minds to except all people as just human beings instead of black, white, asian etc.

It is said that a good piece of literature occurs when the words of a writer leap from the pages and land directly into the reader's heart. Words that evoke emotion, captivate the audience, and commence a journey. Marc accomplishes each of these feats with ease, as he takes the reader on an autobiographical tour and welcomes everyone to understand, to learn, and to grow. This text is written with a passion to overcome the darkness in the world and to see through the light in our own eyes. Everyone should read this book. Whether you are searching for a great piece of literature, or are willing to discover an incredible individual, Marc's talent brightly shines.

Devan Marc is a certainly a voice of his generation. I found his book simply riveting, for lack of a stronger word. Being Jewish I didn't think that I could much relate to anything about the black experience, but "White Boy" is so much more than that. This is a book that speaks on such a deeply human level, and it has something to say to all people. The voice of Devan Marc soon becomes the voice of us all, someone searching for his place in the world, and struggling to maintain his human dignity. Cheers to Marc for accomplishing this and for sharing with the world his stunning voice. Every once in a while a book comes along and just reading it changes your mind in such a profound way that you never look at life or at people the same way again. Devan Marc has written that book. It's called "White Boy".

If you're looking for clues on how to solve your people problems at the office, Work it Out may provide just the help you need. Hirsh weaves workplace difficulties into mini mysteries to illustrate our different communication, data gathering, time management and decision-making styles. Written with humor and candor, Work it Out is sure to provide you with valuable lessons learned from easily recognizable workplace situations.

For an independent free-lance consultant like me, Work it out is a must ! It is an extremely useful book providing case studies which are clearly laid out and diagnosed in a comprehensive and enlightening way. They are great guidelines for professionals. Furthermore, Sandra Hirsh offers some useful guidelines on the team-building and coaching processes that are also extremely interesting and practical.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who is not only involved in the Human Resource field, but for those who are responsible for managing teams or for the curious among you who find the human complexities fascinating.

If you're looking for clues on how to solve your people problems at the office, Work it Out may provide just the help you need. Hirsh weaves workplace difficulties into mini mysteries to illustrate our different communication, data gathering, time management and decision-making styles. Written with humor and candor, Work it Out is sure to provide you with valuable lessons learned from easily recognizable workplace situations.

For several years I facilitated workshops using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and found them very rewarding. When I picked up a copy of Work it Out, it greatly broadened my scope. This book gives wonderful, real-life examples of situations that we can all relate to and understand. Sandra discusses many different cases and scenarios in the text that will shed light for many of those who are stuck and wonder what is going on in a relationship with a fellow worker. There are valuable sections on team-building and coaching that have been especially useful to me and "type clues" throughout the book that are great "aha" moments for even a seasoned MBTI user. Wonderful text to understand and appreciate differences in anyone we work with! Should be on the shelf of every MBTI user.

I employ 10 folks in a computer development "geek" shop. A long-time student and user of Temperament or Type -- I was pleased with this book in that it presents the premise of Type in an easy to read style that represents realistic work environments; situations that I believed my staff would understand. I bought a copy for each staff member -- and as a team, we are working our way through the book chapter-by-chapter; one chapter each week. 30 to 45 minutes of each Monday morning Staff meeting are devoted to discussion of the issues in the "current" chapter; what each person's "type" value is, and how those values contribute and frustrate the values of others. We are six weeks into this project. Conflicts issues between staff that used to cause friction and frustration are simply melting away as the chapters drop away. Staff openly discuss disagreements as conflicts in Type; and allow each other to have different views. Staff that would never read anything ... are reading this book in advance, usually over the weekend on their own time, to be prepared for Monday staff meetings. Team members that were often late to staff meetings in the past ... are "on-time". Whether the excitement will sustain itself after the book is completed is clearly a "management" issue -- but this book has captured the interest of a diverse group of computer "geeks", administrators, and managers. And while the company's profits are determined over sustained selling and development cycles ... the productivity output of the staff is up and we've not missed even an internal delivery commitment in the past three weeks; a virtual impossibility in years past. The book is proving to be a very powerful tool for my company.

\\ Richard Eastman
The Eastman Group, Inc.
www.eastmangroup.com

Hi Reader! I wrote 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History because our children need to know so much about the past in order to move forward into the future. This book not only teaches children about the lives of Frederick Douglass, Phillis Wheatley, Dr. Charles Drew, Benjamin Banneker or Buffalo Soldiers, but it also allows seasoned readers and Black historians to reflect on the lives of Black people in America in "Reflections Eternal," "After Katrina," "Fredom Without Revelation," and "The Sounds of Blackness."

This book also includes poems paying tribute to the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mrs. Rosa Parks, and Mr. Ossie Davis. In addition, this book displays the best of Black life, and it will encourage children and adults to press on. "We Shall Because We Must." This book brings to life reflections on Black history from the Middle Passage through the Civil Rights Movementand brings us all into the present.

I hope that you will get a copy of this book for your collection. Better yet, pick up a few copies for the young readers in your life no matter what the age, race, ethnicity, or gender. We all need to learn, appreciate, understand, and embrace the history of America. Purchase this book because it's motivating, educating, and liberating! Thanks for reading 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating "Our" History. Be on the lookout for Volume II in 2008.

We all know the familiar names: Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglass, Langston Hughes, all readily recognizable for the high profiles of their lives, as well as their contributions to the rich legacy of African-American culture. But, who can really say they know much about Charles Drew or Ossie Davis? Or just how much the Buffalo Soldiers really accomplished during their years of service?

28 Days Of Poetry is an impressive mosaic of the kaleidoscopic African-American experience. In it, Latorial Faison has breathed new life into the usual retellings of Black history that have often been reduced to quaint clichés and trite sound bites. The breadth and depth of her compositions are so comprehensive that 28 Days can - and probably should - replace most of the textbooks and other outdated materials currently serving as ersatz representations of the American Black experience.

The broad-based appeal of 28 Days will certainly endear it to individuals from all walks of life, but the focus of most of Faison's offerings is clearly on the young. She repeatedly implores the leaders of tomorrow not only to remember the struggles of their forebears that forged the freedoms they currently enjoy, but also to continue the fight to preserve those freedoms for posterity's sake. Witness the second half of the poem "B.L.A.C.K. H.I.S.T.O.R.Y.":

"Hope ran through their veins
In search of rights and freedom trains
Sons and daughters still dying a million deaths
Trying to be free of the chains
Others pressed their way across the
Racial divide of prejudice and hate
Yesterday"

And this moving section of "Slave Questions":

"Why use the whip
And change my name,
Tell all the world
That I've been tamed?

Why teach me words
And give me things
But give me not
What freedom brings?"

Passages such as these should strike today's youth with the same conscientious impact that Alex Haley's ROOTS had on a generation of young viewers in the `70s.

Faison's opus is not just a treatise on cries in the night and cracks of the whip, though. She provides refreshing insight on the lesser known names of some our culture's greatest contributors, such as Phillis Wheatley and Charles Drew. Even the unsung inventor Benjamin Banneker gets the star treatment in "Who Was Benjamin Banneker?":

"If you visit the nation's capital
Or hold a watch in your hand
Think of Benjamin Banneker
Another great African American"

Such tributes serve as reassuring reminders of the towering giants on whose shoulders we stand.

But make no mistake: just as easily as Faison seeks to soothe, she also seeks to stir. Many of her pieces are brashly unapologetic, like this passage from "After Katrina":

"Horrific, embarrassing,
A travesty it is...
When a government waits
To aid its own citizens.

And where was America's
'Great White Hope'
Securing the Middle East
From dictatorship's scope"

Or this one from "Irreconcilable Differences":

With their played out and pimped out politics
Washington is filled with a sad lot of lunatics
So I speak to and preach to my fellowmen
About the need to politically be "born again"

Polemic stances such as these, of course, won't surprise anyone familiar with Faison's other works - namely her contributions to the anti-war (Iraq) movement, "Poets Against The War." In fact, many of the pieces in 28 Days can easily serve as revolutionary fodder in their own right. Consider this passage from "A Slave's Revolt," detailing Nat Turner's insurrection of 1831:

"they bled a dark people of life running through
their veins, mocked them with husbands, wives, and
mulatto baby cries until it was, to no surprise,
a justified rebellion, a righteous revolt, a song
of silent amen's."

At its heart, 28 Days Of Poetry bravely continues the ongoing task of reminding us all that African-American history and American history are one and the same, conveyed most effectively in these lines taken from the opening poem, "Celebrate":

"Acknowledge Black history on any day.
Allow freedom to ring in the noblest way."

While she may only have intended for it to be celebrated during Black History Month, Faison's collection is a treasure that MUST be hailed every day of the year.

28 DAYS OF POETRY CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY, reminds me of a Reader's Digest version of a stirring novel. It houses an eclectic collection of poems celebrating the legacy of gifted, charismatic, African-Americans. With added accounts of slavery and the civil rights movement, Ms. Faison paints vivid pictures of the south during a time when America was split in half. Readers will be able to lose themselves in biographical poems that highlight Black inventors, innovators, and leaders. The poems are varied in how they inspire; 'B.L.A.C.K. H.I.S.T.O.R.Y.' fills the heart, 'S.L.A.V.E. Q.U.A.R.T.E.R.S. fuels the mind, while 'Buffalo Soldiers' gives a prideful account of some of the first men of color to fight for America's freedom.

Ms. Faison uses the short biographies to capture the attention of young readers. From noted celebrities of yester-year: Benjamin Banneker, Charles Drew, Frederick Douglass, Langston Hughes, and Phyllis Wheatley to more current names: Dr. M.L. King and Rosa Parks, readers are given a treat. This is an empowering collection that adds value to the endurance and stamina of a people who have transcended and continue to rise.

Kudos to Ms. Faison for such inspiring poems that give honor to whom honor is due. Persons desiring a succinct accountability of African-American history will regret not having a copy.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

I too am an author who likes to write poetry about Black History and I could not put this book down. It even taught me a few things. This book should be distributed amoungst schools, especially during Black History Month (February) and Poetry Month (April).

As you read each poem, you can feel Faison's pride as an African American come through. In this book, she cover's topics like Hurricane Katrina, and The Million Man March. She also teaches us about the accomplishments and achievements of people like Phillis Wheatley, Benjamin Banneker, and Charles Richard Drew just to name a few. If you don't know who these people are, I suggest you pick up a copy of "28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History", and prepare to be enlightened.

My favorite poems were, "Slave Questions", "Buffalo Soldiers", "Riding the Bus with Rosa Parks" and "I Thought I Was Free". Here are a couple of stanzas from my favorite of all, "Reflections Eternal".

"We built our hope on nothing less
Than God-given rights and His justice
Now we can stand proud and free
As we vividly reflect on our history

We've come so far, yet the road is long
As the struggle continues, we must stay strong
For each reflection etched in our minds
Is hope and power to survive these times"

Many times we try to find a way to remember important things that happened in the past; what better way than in verse? Latorial Faison's 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History, helps to remind us of the important people that contributed to the African American history.

Each verse carried a piece of history, whether it was centuries ago, or a few years ago. Can you say that you know about Fatou, Benjamin Banneker, or Fredrick Douglass? After you read Faison, you can say that you do. The great thing about this selection of poetry is that it can be equally appreciated by children of all ages.

Faison's 28 Days of Poetry Celebrating Black History will give families something to enjoy together. I recommend this to anyone that really has a passion for poetry, and to parents that want to expose their children to new things and the people of African American history and poetry.


Jennifer Coissiere
APOOO BookClub

This is one of the best film review books out there!!! Very funny and on point with their analysis of movies. Laughed out loud many times during the course of reading the book.

I highly recommend this book! It is as insightful and funny as their popular web site. Very nice to see movies reviewed from an African-American point of view.

I saw this title in a Book Club I belong too&something told me too just go for it&I did.this Book is fun&Informative as well.very detailed& i dug the Honesty&presentation...

I bought the book just because... I wasn't really *expecting* that much to come if it, although I do have the authors' website bookmarked for me to read before I visit the movies (about 3 times a week myself). Still, I bought the book, and in two days, the edges were all messed up. I had read it that much. Every person I showed the book took had to have the book snatched from them, since they were so into the book, and would just go from movie review to movie review.

The reviews are not stuffy or stodgy... like someone saying 'I'm so intelligent and I know better than you do what you should like or not like'. Instead, with the 3 Chicks (that just *happen* to be Black), it's like sitting across a card table or else at the family picnic and talking about what we like, don't like, and it's so easy to find 'Yeah, that's what I liked about it, too... and what I didn't like that I couldn't put my finger on'.

People reading the book were like me: they were hooked, quickly! I have just bought five more copies of the book to give as gifts - I want MY book for me.

.... my foot is tapping. I'm ready for the next volume, Ladies!

If you love movies, you'll love "3 Black Chicks Review Flicks." Besides being funny and presenting a great rating system, these women are intelligent and able to express themselves perfectly in talking about movies. Their reviews are honest and real and cross the boundries of sex and race, thus presenting valuable insight. This is 1 white chick who loves those 3 black chicks!