Black Books

Folks, the chapter, 'Never Without a Book' is worth the price of the book alone.

Thank you Bro. Haki for the inspiration and the early awakening. Since reading "Black Men", I have been able to properly increase my "education" and it all began with your very important contribution.

Black...on...Black...LOVE!

This book is a must reading for those who are serious about advancement for those of african desecnt. The author hits on several critical points, and he does an excellent job at providing solutions. THIS BOOK WILL OPEN YOUR MIND!

Understand yourself and the world around you in a way that you never had before.

ALL black people need to read this book!

You will not be able to put this down as you read about the simplest differences between you and your white equivelent. Madhabutis' almost poetic language is peaceful to read.

If you're a black person who believes that change is necessary but you don't know what to do about it, the educative source is right in front of you, it's now up to you.

This eloquent, yet hard-hitting book gives a blueprint, instructions and provocative reasoning behind why Black families are in crisis today, and most of his criticsm is leveled at the "men" in the Black community who have yet to step up to the plate and claim their rightful responsibilities in the home and in the world. In often humorous ways, Haki breaks down what the issues are, where the solutions lie and what we should demand of each other in our collective struggle (from our Black mates, children, leaders, etc.). He does all of this without being condescending or pious, but stern and loving, an accomplishment in itself, and I recommend this to any Black person commited to the struggle to make lives better for Blacks in this country as a whole, starting in their own backyards. If more Black men took these word to heart, the world would be a better place for all brothers and sisters. VITAL, CRUCIAL and NECESSARY!!!

Members of Duke University's Sigma Nu fraternity are thugs. At least, one could get that impression from walking by their section and hearing such musical selections as "Baby I'm a Thug" and "Nothin' but a G Thang" that are frequently boom from within. Adopting parts of the gangsta persona for well-monied groups of future investment bankers and may be relatively consequence free but may not be the case for many youths in Chicago's South Side. This is one issue that Mary Pattillo-McCoy addresses in her ethnographic study of the middle class residents of the South Side's Groveland community, Black Picket Fences: Privilege and Peril Among The Black Middle Class.

Black Picket Fences is in part a response to what Pattillo-McCoy characterizes as the research pendulum of socio-economic studies of blacks having "swung to the extreme." That is, despite the large body of research focusing on the black population, the overwhelming majority further focuses on the less affluent portions of the population, having largely other segments the black population. However, research and knowledge of the black middle class is vitally important because, as Pattillo-McCoy points out, these are the people who are supposedly living the lives that our government and society has envisioned for all blacks following the Civil Rights era of the 1960s.

In the book, the author emphasizes the prevalence and importance of spatial orientation of racial communities. Pattillo-McCoy utilizes census data to show that in Chicago and most other metropolitan areas, black communities are concentrated in "black belts" surrounded by tracts of predominantly white communities. On the periphery of these black belts are often middle-income black communities that serve as a buffer between white communities and low-income black communities.

This picture, though, is not static through time. Pattillo-McCoy reveals a game of racial cat-and-mouse in which middle class black families are chasing their white counterparts. The pattern starts when a black family moves into a predominantly white neighborhood. Whites begin leaving the area, and soon the area is predominantly middle class black. Then lower income blacks migrate into the area, creating a mixture of economic statuses within the community. Such is the case in Groveland.

One concern that arises from her heavy reliance on census data, though, is the possibility of generalization. This is especially troublesome in light of the high socio-economic diversity of many black communities that Pattillo-McCoy describes. This is not as much in relation to her Groveland study area, but the other South Side communities that the author details in chapters one and two.

The implications of living in such an economically diverse community are large, especially for adolescents. Pattillo-McCoy points out that the appeal of deviance to teenagers cuts across racial and class lines, the motivations and accessibility of deviant behavior are often very different. In Groveland, a teenager is constantly confronted with realities of gang life and drug use because gang members and drug users are a large part of the Groveland community. In fact, most teenagers have acquaintances who are in gangs or who know gang members. This means that a part of the teenager's social network probably participates in gang behavior and drug use, making him or her both easy access and social reinforcement for such activities. This is less often the case for middle class whites, who often reside in homogenous neighborhoods where gangs and drugs are less common.

McCoy also emphasizes that today's young Groveland residents are much downward social mobility than previous generations of Groveland residents and middle class whites outside of Groveland.

There are often family and community security mechanisms to help Groveland residents. It is relatively common for divorced or resource-limited mothers to move in with her own parents. The grandparents help in parenting by supervising children, changing diapers, and serving as role models for children. Also, many families in Groveland are third or fourth generation residents, so most people in the community have long-standing social connections to other residents. These connections often prevent wrong-doers from targeting others in the community, and the familiarity helps potential targets feel more comfortable around people they perceive as being criminals, because in all likelihood they know each other or other's parents or children.

McCoy shows how individual Groveland residents deftly navigate between "street" and "decent" parts of their social networks by code and persona switching. Chief among these is William "Spider" Waters, a marijuana-smoking gang member who works two jobs with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Groveland Park, respectively. At the exchange, he speaks proper English, goes by Will, and works on his days off. In Groveland, he speaks Black English, goes by Spider, and "kicks it" with his friends. Tyson Reed, former Groveland gang member, student at Grambling University, and aspiring lawyer, points out the even though he talks about school, grades, and academic things, he doesn't broach the subjects of grades or Albert Einstein with his friends from the ghetto.

This book has wide-ranging relevance. It is enriching academic reading for students in sociology, cultural anthropology, and ethnographic studies. More importantly, though, this book is very important to American citizens in general. This book is about their neighbors and illustrates injustices that take place within America's borders. If the American social ideal of racial integration is to ever become a reality, the American public needs to be more informed about why integration is taking so long, why middle class citizens are still socially constrained, and what unjust situations are being perpetuated within America's borders. Black Picket Fences gives a very personal, very compelling answers to these queries. It is certain that the situations that exist in Groveland exist elsewhere in America and quite probable that they exist outside of America, too. Therefore, this book comes highly recommended to everyone.

Through ethnographic research the author highlights the intersections between middle, working and lower class African Americans in Groveland, a primarily African Americans middle class community in Chicago. Despite arguments that the African American middle class is flourishing, Patillo McCoy documents how racial segregation and racism confines many middle class African Americans to neighborhoods that frequently have to battle issues such as crime, gangs and drug use, that white middle class neighborhoods do not. In addition she does an excellent job of tying in the consumer wants and desires of African American youth and adults with the capitalist nature of American society.

Through ethnographic research the author highlights the intersections between middle, working, and lower class African Americans in Groveland, a primarily African American middle class community in Chicago. Despite arguments that the African American middle class is flourishing, Patillo McCoy documents how racial segregation and racism confines many middle class African Americans to neighborhoods that frequently have to battle issues such as crime, gangs and drug use, that white middle class neighborhoods do not. In addition she does an excellent job of tying in the consumer wants and desires of African American youth and adults with the capitalist nature of American society.

Black Picket Fences is an insightful and informative survey of privilege and peril among middle class blacks providing an unusual, intriguing study of the pressures of black middle-class families. Sociologist Pattillo-McCoy lived in a black middle-class neighborhood in Chicago: her experiences serve as a foundation for analysis of social issues and change.

This is perhaps the most significant book on the black middle class since Wilson's Declining Significance of Race. The Author gives us a community study at par with Streetwise, Getting Paid, and Street Corner Society. Through this book, black neighborhood are transformed into multi-dimensional communities, rich with institutions and networks. Truely a balanced view, which goes beyond books like the Truely Disadvantaged (although both deal with the same community). Most importantly, the author reminds us of the link between structural factors and race. The content of the book should not be overlooked, and the conclusions regarding the need to maintain race-based affirmative action, even for middle class blacks, should influence every policymaker in the country.

This unique work is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the lifestyle of the pimp and prostitution subculture. In some examinations of the study subject's testimony, I thought the authors were much to forgiving. The authors blame prejudice and racism for the exploitation that the criminals involved heap upon the prostitution victims. It is very obvious that the authors were very friendly with those that they studied. This makes it the reader's responsibility to examine the activities and actions of the pimps and prostitutes to form a complete picture of the criminal subculture. There is a wealth of accurate information that can be found in the statements made by the pimps and prostitutes that were interviewed. Though this book was published over 30 years ago, the lifestyle, and motivations for engaging in it, have changed very little.

I paid this book $100 (used) and it worth it. Enough?

Milner, a white graduate student at Berkeley, working for years as a stripper in San Francisco wrote this personal and academic study of pimp culture in the Bay Area during the late 60s. As a stripper working in establishments with "player's club" sections, she had ready access to lounging pimps eager to add her to their "stable". From a dependable factual foundation of dozens of participating pimps, she writes a study amazing in scope and readable detail.

When I claim wide scope, I mean the richness of subjects spans anthropology, social psychology, and sociology. In an eye opening chapter she explains the culture's patriarchal ideology, catechism, and symbols. Drawing from Scripture, the pimps narrate the fall of Adam and Eve, reworking the story to become a symbol of the defeat of mankind by woman. The story propels a pimp system of beliefs that asserts "square" society--all of us but them--is ruled by women and pimp culture is the last bastion of male domination in the Western world. I was invigorated by this new approach to gender relations. The claims are outrageous but these men are living their bluster, and that will make them credible enough for you to rethink to your relationship to the other gender.

That's enough material to make for amazing reading but it's just introductory. A large section will not disappoint--it's probably more than you could hope when you first sought a pimp studies book. In instructional detail, the mechanisms for controlling hos are explained. For any square the psychology of control is not intuitive. Pimps do not shy away from violence but the method of operation is psychological submission. The pimp must be a master of manipulation because the relationship between pimp and ho is an inversion of gender role. The pimp builds alpha magnetism, inspiring the sexual worship of his ho, a conquest so commanding that she becomes the wage earner so she may court his affection, allowing him to have the leisure to shop for fine clothes--quite an inversion.

This is a sociological work covering the bread and butter topics of the department such as race, deviance, and law, giving the book an academic comprehensiveness. The book manages to be intelligent and pure as an academic treatment and remains readable, the prose infused with the flair of that gilded age and place, late 60s San Francisco. The sociological observations spring from wacky encounters between hippies and pimps living in the same neighborhood, pimp war and peace, and more good times.

Find a research library and find this book.

This is the book that anyone, anyone, Anyone who wants to know about the game should start out with. I read this book in a research library then purchased it. It is the only book that I have ever seen that truly depicts the life objectively and fairly. Thorough, factual, multi-faceted, "real," and scholarly. This book is truly worth $100.00.

This book was the product of an anthropological study regarding both the lifestyles and subculture of San Francisco Bay Area pimps and their prostitutes. Given the fact that the authors befriended many of the local pimps prior to interviewing them they were able to obtain a lot of information that would otherwise have been unavailable. In short, this book gives us a truly unique look at one of America's most controversial subcultures.

My father loved me enough to expose me to this book when I was younger. I didn't truly appreciate it until I got older and experienced more in life. This book has a variety of poetry. It is all beautiful. I highly recommend this book.

I first encountered "The Black Poets" as a college student back in the 1970's. It features a wide selection of poems by many well known Black Poets. Many are humorous, such as "I sing of Shine" others romantic, others revolutionary, but all thought provoking. I couldn't find my old copy so I repurchased another recently. This book is definitely worth owning. It will bring you pleasure whenever you pick it up.

I remember reading this book while in middle school. And, I am a 2002 high school graduate. I found this book in the library, and its very impowering - real. The poetry resonates with Mildred D. Taylors, Roll of Thunder poem. I was fascinated by the Run n*****- run master comin get you poem. Its a good book!
Lots of old great African American written poetry.

I am an author and a poet and will state that this is an excellent job by Dudley Randall. The poems in this anthology flow very well. The section on the Harlem Renaissance is very pleasing; know the struggles encountered and the determination of will to succeed, the poets during that era showed strength and courage and are well documented. The book is a history lesson in itself regarding poets of the past and present. There is a distinct contrasting of poets who are classified as folk and literary poets. The additional distinction between pre-renaissance and post-renaissance poets is also made in the book. Overall, the poems from poets in the anthology are outstanding and give a great blending of African-American History.

This book was required reading for a graduate class that I had, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was simply great. I was introduced to many poets whom I'd never heard of and that was the best part, because I feel that many Blacks don't know about poets who were not mainstream, this leaves a lot of important writers to dangle in the wind without every being recognized by the very people for whom they wrote. This book was great in particular I liked the seculars they were hilarious, they reminded me of the epitaths we used to read in American Lit in high school. Great little book!!!!

I found this book to be very informative and very well writen! I particularly enjoyed learning true historical facts that have long been misrepresented, or clouded with partial information. I highly recommend this book to any reader who enjoys history and is interested in learning truth.

I don't know about the book, but the author brings an entire new meaning to the term, "head up".

Call me Ishmal......

Simply put, I love this book. I like the fact that it summarizes the lives of so many African Americans including the famous and the still unknown. I highly recommend this book to any reader seeking information about the lives and consequent impact of some of our heroes.

I bought this book in hardcover when it first came out and since then have bought several copies to give to other people, both black and white, both young and old. Without fail, this book has impacted people, and every one of them has told me how much they learned from this wonderful book.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did a masterful job in gathering these inspiring stories from what has been, unfortunately, the footnotes of history, if they were acknowledged at all. The achievements by black Americans and their contributions to this country have been largely ignored by historians until recently. And even today, many black Americans who were not taught as young people about their heritage remain oblivious to what should be a matter of great pride.

We have taken great steps to equalize human rights, but we still have a way to go to completely obliterate the racial prejudice many of us grew up with. Books like this by people with the stature of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will help get us to where we should be--respecting people of all races, colors and creeds.

What's more remarkable than the informative nature of this text is how it came to be...
An African American sport icon who gained success through one of the primary avenues African Americans have to reach affluence (sports and entertainment) just to use it as an avenue to actually uplift the intellectual level of his community. Well done!
I can't tell you how many tears it brings to my eyes to see a brother who achieve greatness through the stereotypical avenue of sports and actually use his greatness to do the truly great...uplift his people. Though there have been lists and books previous to his on the same subject, it has rarely been done by a person with such influence among youth, and for that I credit him unlike other past atheletes who simply use their stardom to sell grills, orange juice, or try and become rappers.

Peace to the God

I love the way Colleen Coble writes her mystery stories. This was another exceptional book of mystery and intrigue, plus a little bit of romance as well. I couldn't wait to read the next book in her series.

In BLACK SANDS, we are gifted with what Coble does so well--a furry little creature named Wilson (who I would love to have curled up in my lap at this moment), a setting we can smell and touch, and an ending that leaves us satisfied.

Even though this is book two in her Aloha Reef series, don't worry if you haven't read DISTANT ECHOES. This one stands alone.

I like this book.

Black Sands is the second installment in the Aloha Reef series by Colleen Coble. While I enjoyed the first book in the series, Distant Echoes, the characters in Black Sands truly resonated with me.

Annie, the middle child in the Tagama family, is always the one behind the scenes keeping everything running smoothly, especially since her mother's death. Mano, her brother Tomi's best friend and Annie's childhood crush, has been like part of the family for years. But that all changes when Tomi is reported dead and Mano implicated in part for his death.

When Mano returns Tomi's belongings to the Tagama family the same day Annie's sister Leilani goes missing, Annie is forced to turn to him for help in finding her sister, in spite of her very mixed feelings.

The twists & turns of the story are exciting, but it is Annie & Mano who touched my heart. They are both strong but very human characters dealing with their individual weaknesses in realistic and faith filled ways. The spiritual growth of the characters, especially Annie, is as compelling to me as the suspenseful storyline.

I would recommend this book highly.

I am a loyal true-blue fan of Colleen Coble. She didn't disappoint me with Black Sands. Wonderful story, beautifully crafted with nail-biting tension. The setting was wonderful, I felt like I was there. The characters were so wonderfully flawed and real. The plot kept you guessing and everything they tried to do only compounded matters like the lava building up under the islands. I loved Mano and Annie, as they stumbled through the mystery and their growing attraction to one another. I loved Wilson. I have to get me a mongoose now, :0). The secondary characters were also well done, I closed the book feeling like I had made a whole bunch of new friends. (I also stayed up until 2:00am to finish it because I couldn't bear not knowing what happened.)

The book is not preachy, but it has definate take away value. At least it did for me. I know Colleen only wants to do God's will. I want her to know that she touched me with her work.

And now I can quit hiding it and let my son have it to read. (I think my hubby read it during the times I didn't have it clutched in my hands.) Can't wait for Dangerous Depths.

If you've never read a Colleen Coble novel, click on the BUY NOW button IMMEDIATELY. If you love suspense with clever twists and turns, a romance that will warm your heart, and a storyline that leaves you filled with hope and promise, you won't be disappointed!

Black Sands, the second book in the Aloha series, blew me away! While in a series, Black Sands is easily a stand-alone novel. Set in Hawaii, Coble weaves the island culture and scenery into the story so masterfully that you can almost feel the ocean breeze kissing your face! With a strong heroine and an even stronger hero, you can't help but fall in love with these characters--become emotionally involved in the drama they face--and root them on to not only find the heroine's missing sister, rediscover the love they are destined to share, but also to be refilled with their faith.

This book is one of the best I've read in a long time! Get it. Read it. Devour the pages. It's a must-read!

For more of my personal reviews, visit my website at (...)

Positives:

- Overall, this is a very good book.
- Covers a lot of topics
- Good resources
- Must read and I highly recommend

Negatives

- Hard to read at times(flow).

This book, Blacked Out Through Whitewash is one of the best
books I have ever read. It is exciting, the texts, the pictures.
I have found a book with the ultimate greatness. This book goes into
depth about Black Egyptians, Blacks inventing Universities, the fact that
airplanes and helicopters are black inventions. Silverware is a Black invention.


It talks about the Bible and the meaning behind certain words.
It tells you everything the schools don't tell you about black History.
Black History Acheivements are plenty. IT talks about Black people being the first people. Colleges, schools, churches should have this book. It's a wakeup call. It's what they don't tell you that you need to know- and that's the greatness of black People that they don't tell you.


I am so glad I found this book. I have told people over and over again about this book. I even wrote an outline on my blog about this book. THe title is already catchy. THe Book is like stepping into reality and staying there. Reality is the truth. THe Truth this book
gives is the fact that black people have created so much,have acheived so much, and I love this book.


Suzar, the author of this book, has dug deep and found out
the great things whites don't want you to know about Black People.
Think about the SPhinx, why would someone use the nose
for target practice? If you guessed to hide African features,
you got it! It talks about the fact that Christ is Black, Jesus is Black.
The quality information in this book makes me want more.
I announced this book on the radio.Blacked Out Through Whitewash: Exposing the Quantum Deception/Rediscovering and Recovering Suppressed Melanated (Blacked Out Through Whitewash)

Tillilating bits of history that are topped off in an eye opening and concise explanation of African Cosmology which was a direct source of the present day faiths that we know of today. The author has great charts with the similarities of the crucified saints worldwide. In addition, the author explains the origins of tribal histories and people in China, Europe, India, The Americas etc. as they relate to only one source. The book is a wealth of information on other little known topics which makes it a excellent reference book as the author has impeccable sources of his/her assertions which makes the information difficult if not impossible to impeach. It was worth every penny paid. This ain't for the average Sunday school class group nor the Conservatively educated.

This book is awesome!! Your teachers or professors won't teach this true knowledge to their students. I learned more from this book then I learn in my 16 years in school. I highly recommended this book to any young parents or students. If you want the true, buy this book! Great job Dr. Suzar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Excellent book, If you seek facts and truth, this book has it

Thoshinsky executes a beautiful photo essay. Gritty, funny and remarkably touching. A brief and privileged glimpse into a world rarely experienced or understood by those outside law enforcement.

"The truth is most people don't like the police. They need 'em. They just don't like 'em." Peter Thoshinsky examines the delicate and brutal world of the San Francisco Police Department in his book, Blue in Black and White, sharing pictures he has taken over his 25-year tenure as a cop. These stark, graphic images show San Franciscans from all walks of life, fighting, demonstrating, and pleading to be released from their handcuffs, and always close by is the officer who has to deal with the civilian's actions. Each subject is treated with respect, no matter the crime or event shown, and Thoshinsky writes free verse and prose poems next to the shots explaining the unseen or unknown, giving the reader a window into a world few rarely see.

The subject is San Francisco and the boys and girls in blue who walk her streets, but the book transcends location. Market Street, 200 Leavenworth, Broadway, Union Square, North Beach, Candlestick Park, and McAllister Street all make appearances to remind us where the pictures were taken, yet the reader gets a sense that these images are everywhere, in each skid row alley of every great American city, and these are the men and women who risk their lives for their job. Capturing the mixed emotions most officers feel protecting citizens who also despise them for who they are, the book humanizes the police force for those who have never understood the weight that goes with the occupation.

Peter Thoshinsky investigates the realities of homelessness, mental illness, drugs, and cops' use of force with the integrity of someone who is there firsthand, and he wrestles with the truth and justice each officer tries to bring to a workday while trapped under a hot Kevlar vest, badge, radio, belt, and ammunition somewhere below the San Francisco skyline. He tells us that the police remind themselves every day, "That could be your brother, sister. Given a change of fortune, that could have been you." Thoshinsky reserves judgment of the characters he meets on his beats, and instead captures their portrait with a sense of anticipation, the reader left curious what happens next in the scene. Blue in Black and White educates with cop lingo like "B Caper," "Four Boys," and "Hondels" and memorializes fallen officers with a picture and a line or two in their honor.
This pictorial set in San Francisco shows the heart of the city and the people who live in it and protect it. It is accessible and moving for both officer and civilian, honestly examining the lives of the police as they move from the academy to the streets. The reader comes away knowing more about what it means to be in the line of duty performing a job no one wants to give credit for.

Blue in Black and White is a photography book of San Francisco's law enforcement officers, by police sergeant, experienced photographer, and native San Franciscan Peter Thoshinsky. Each two-page spread features a black-and-white, larger-than-life photograph of people keeping the peace on San Francisco's streets on the right, and a brief poem, caption, or insight on the left. A moving and unforgettable visual tribute, as well as a window into the daily routine of a difficult yet rewarding public duty.

Ever been curious about what it's like?...

Have a friend or family member who is one of 'them'?...

Think you already know what this calling is all about?...

It often seems impossible to express just exactly what it's like. With simple, stark and poinet photographs, as well as sparse, direct and accurate words, Pete Thoshinsky's, Blue in Black and White, comes about as close as one can.

Short of donning armor, girding weapons, and riding thanklessly into harms way in defense of others everyday, this is as close as you are going to get.

Thank you Pete,
Oro en Paz, Fierro en Guerra!

One of the most interesting things about loving books is that one never gets to the end of ideas for them. While there are indeed mountains and continents of sameness that can be safely ignored, one should never get blasé because someone will always find some way of surprising you and giving you something fresh to look at. I am not saying that in the history of printing there has never been a book like this one, but it is a very fresh look at something I have not seen.

And what is that? You say that it is just another book of pictures of cops? Well, it is a book of pictures of cops, but there is a big difference. This is a book of pictures of cops TAKEN by a cop. What difference does that make? Because we see the police officers the way a man who knows them and knows their job sees them rather than the way we usually see them depicted on TV and in the movies. We learn which assignments the cops like, which they don't, what some of the problems are, and even the tedium of the job.

Peter Thoshinsky was on the "Tenderloin Task Force" of the San Francisco Police Department. He shows us cops on the job and provides captions that help us appreciate the pictures. Some of the captions are merely informative, some are insightful, some are funny or ironic, and some are touching. And they all enhance the photographs.

I was particularly struck by the caption for "The Good Son"

Cop: "When was the last time you spoke with your father?"
Son: "Well, I call him every Sunday, `ya know, just to make sure he's ok."
Cop" "OK"
Son: ... "and so when he didn't answer the phone on Sunday, I thought something might be wrong".
Cop: "Yeah."
Son: "Yeah, so I come over and I found him dead just like that."
Cop: "So, when you called your dad on Sunday he didn't answer?"
Son: "Right."
Cop: "You must have been worried?"
Son: "Uh-huh."
Cop: "Today is Thursday."
Son: "Uh-huh."

Or the next picture of a female arm with wrist tattoos in handcuffs entitled "Tattoos and Bracelets".

Or: "The first rule of police work, the very first rule. Everyone lies. "I ain't got nothing officer, I swear it". See rule number one.

There are dozens of more like this. Fresh, insightful, and even touching. Not only for the cops (one picture is of an old women in a wheel chair flipping the bird to a cop), but also for the lost souls who are so lost they see the cops as the enemy rather than someone trying to help them (few people see being taken into custody as a help).

Very much worth having and lingering over.

I loved this book..I think any one who is a Boyz II Men fan should get and read this book...for one thing, it had great pictures and it also had great information...It's also a great book to have Boyz II Men sign especially because Robert (Mike's brother) is in it...I had Rob and Mike sign my book..their personal driver signed it too..but I think if you like Boyz II Men, you should definately look into getting this book because you will Apsolutely LOVE it..

This book is filled with fantastic photo's - many behind the scene photo's that give a more indepth look at Wanya, Shawn, Mike and Nate. This is the best book on Boyz II Men I have seen and it writes about their backgrounds and other trivia I did not know about. There is a great picture of Wanya in the bath tub as well!!

If you are a serious Boyz II Men fan, this is the book for you!!! This book offers their thoughts and their lives on and off stage. This book gives a clear picture of who these four fabulous people are!!!

I like the cover I think everybody who loves reading shoud try reading this book it is so pretty

I had brought this book on my 16th birthday and it will be a present that I will always remember. I have been a Boyz II Men fan since Cooleyhigh and I can proudly say that they gave a lot to their fans by helping to make this book! Buy it!

I have read both of Timuel Black's books and recommend both highly. Black is the right person for this job, having a nearly perfect memory for a past that includes important work as an activist, educator and scholar. He knows what his subjects are getting at and knows how to tweek the most out of them. Timuel Black's memories intertwine with the memories of his subjects and create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. It is truly living history

This is a book that everyone should read but can particularly important to young people, black and white, who don't quite understand that they are standing on the shoulders of giants.

I loved Bridges of Memory Volume 1... and this book doesn't dissapoint either. I love his interviewing style and the variety of people he has choosen to interview about their personal Chicago experiences. This is a well written book and I am looking forward to reading the next volume when it is released.

Here's my bias. I like history. I like to hear people talk about their lives. I like intelligent, articulate, effective language. And I loved this book. The people interviewed are fascinating, and Timuel Black helps them tell their stories in an unpretentious but by no means diffident way. I learned a great deal and enjoyed myself for many evenings.

What a gift this collection is!

In 1988, Timuel Black began to record and preserve the recollections of people who had lived in Chicago a long time, particularly the first generation of the Great Migration. When he wrote the introduction to this book, he had recorded over 125 conversations and still had "many , many more people with whom I would like to speak." Thirty-six of those conversations are presented here, with two more volumes planned to follow.

The interviews are conducted using the "participant observer" technique, and since Dr. Black - a long time resident himself - is an "insider" these interviews are essentially honest, intimate conversations among old friends, many of whom have now passed. As Dr. Black makes clear, this book is not intended to be a history of Black Chicago and its institutions, but rather a collection of oral memories from people who participated in shaping those institutions. But his field work provides invaluable data for future researchers attempting to compile that history.

If this book contained nothing more than the biographical information about each of the 40 participants (some are joint interviews), it would make fascinating reading. But the interviews bring each vividly to life. We meet people from all walks, including civil servants, educators, politicians, jazz musicians, railroad workers, business people, even two generations of South Side Chicago represented by mother and daughter Mildred Bowden and Hermene Hartman. Some, like George Johnson, tell a story of "from rags to riches." Others fall into a category of "just keep on keepin' on."

But all are riveting. I look forward to the next two volumes!

The strength of this book is in its informality. Mr. Black is friends with nearly all of his interviewees (he has known several of them for over 40 years), and the sessions read as a conversation rather than an interview. This book is especially useful for one looking for supplimental material about the neighborhood of Bronzeville in Chicago, segregation (from an individual perspective rather than scholarly leaning), and smaller aspects of city history and social change that are often forgotten. Some of his interviewees include a man that owned a company that distributed hair straightener around the U.S., a man that started what would become the Illinois state lottery, well respected teachers, and military servicemen.

There is a great deal of repetition that could have been eliminated regarding DuSable High School, locations of buildings, boundaries of the neighborhood, and references to people that are not elaborated upon; it is possible that Black chose not to edit this out to keep the interviews intact. It would have been extremely helpful for maps of Bronzeville throughout the past 80 years were inserted among the small selection of pictures that are included, in order to help those unfamiliar with the neighborhood navigate through some of the interviewees' memories of businesses, theaters, and homes.