Races Books

I had to read this book for a college history class I took 2 years ago and I felt that it was extremely detailed and informative. I was quite surprised by my reaction because I felt it was a great read whether or not you enjoy historical books.

Excellent review of how the Chicago Housing Authority, despite good intentions, ended up not only itself segregated, but reinforced existing housing segregation in the private market.

Hirsch actually takes a much broader view of his subject than public housing. Rather, he exp;ores the various ways public policy was manipulated (generally by commercial interests) to serve their own ends, and how those profit driven manipulations resulted in Chicago being one of America's most segregated cities. Ironically, the dramatic expansion of the Black Ghetto chronicalled by Hirsch occurred at the same time that the country was under seige by the forces of McCarthism...yet in Chicago, the commercial interests (lead by Marshall Field) had no compunction about seizing private property to serve their own ends.

Anyone who believes that neighborhoods are segregated because of private choices must read this book and learn the truth.

After reading The Hidden War,(which made extensive reference to Hirsch's book)I wanted a more detailed history about the creation of public housing as we know it to be in Chicago. This book gives detail of how the political,educational, civic organizations wanted to contain the burgeoning African American community which was growing during post world war II and the great migration years. The powerful in Chicago used government policies to maintain housing segregation...the powerless resorted to violence to keep African Americans out of neighborhoods...the results were the massive and bleak housing structures which are called public housing. This book not only talks about the historical wheelings and dealings of the white power structure, but it also gives insight into how the same tactics are being used today, to maintain certain class and racial segregation. This is a good companion must read along with The Hidden WARS.

In re-reading Malcolm X Speaks, I'm struck by how well he understood the viciousness of the U.S. system of oppression and how clearly he expressed the need for all-out, uncompromising struggle against it. The capitalist class lashed out at Malcolm X for these speeches, not just because he criticized their system, but because he dared to awaken the oppressed to their unconquerable human potential. Fighters from all over the world have studied this book, members of Sinn Fein in Ireland, farmers fighting foreclosure, opponents of police brutality, and supporters of the embattled Palestinians. Sharing the lessons of this book will advance our struggle! If not available from amazon, booksfrompathfinder will have it--click on "new and used" near the top of the page.

This book of Malcolm X's Speeches was begun while Malcolm was alive with the publisher and the editor that Malcolm selected, and speeches he wanted in the book. This begins the series of books by Malcolm X published by Pathfinder Press in collaboration with his family as more speeches, interviews, and talks by Malcolm X have been discovered. The aim here is to put Malcolm X's words first. Read them for yourself. Find out why Malcolm was a reasoned, passionate, but uncompromising opponent of US imperialism's wars against oppressed peoples, in Africa, in Vietnam, in the Mid-East. Malcolm can really inspire you about the fights we need.

Don't just read what people have to say about Malcolm X! Read what he had to say - about the American system, about internationalism, about racism. This collection begins in November 1963, right before Malcolm X was silenced and expelled by the Nation of Islam, and extends to a couple of days before his assassination in February 1965.

Here are some useful living tips, advice and observations from that quintessential American literary figure Mark Twain, real name Samuel L. Clemens. This compilation contains a delightful mix of humorous writings on the mundane and sometimes very unusual occurrences that reflected his many gifts as a writer/humorist. Many of these snippets are from some of his more famous works, while others are from personal sketches and writings not as well known. The tarantulas escape, a borrowed overcoat, a lecture to a youth group, the use of foul language, a note to a burglar, and so many other little anecdotes, observations, and etc will elicit periods of laughter from the reader, as it did for me. A wonderful little treasure.

Mark Twain in his writing very often surprises us and makes us laugh. His greatest gift is his humor. And the wisdom he provides on various aspects of daily living however sarcastic and cynical it may seem at times is grounded in a sane realistic view of humanity.

Great book with lots of his famous quotes that still apply today.

I loved this book -- it's really good to see the dialogue set down on the page, since unless you watch the same scene, anorak style, over and over, then it's surprising how much you miss or mishear. I'd like to see one of these books for all the other films of the M bros.
A Day At The Races and Duck Soup are two of my all-time favourite films, and it's great to be able to open a page at random in this book and enjoy the jokes all over again. Even Harpo's, and all his were visual

I loved this book -- it's really good to see the dialogue set down on the page, since unless you watch the same scene, anorak style, over and over, then it's surprising how much you miss or mishear. I'd like to see one of these books for all the other films of the M bros.
A Day At The Races and Duck Soup are two of my all-time favourite films, and it's great to be able to open a page at random in this book and enjoy the jokes all over again. Even Harpo's

Just watching a Marx Brothers movie leaves some people feeling like they've been delightfully spun around until they are dizzy with laughter. There is so much that one can miss because they are too busy spitting out their drinks in a moment of surprise that they might miss a few moments of pure genius dialogue. When you read the screenplays you get all of it, every word, line and phrase...every sarcastic remark, every surealistic statement, every wise crack. And when you are done reading the screenplays, you are left in awe of what you had just experienced....pure comic perfection.

The history of sport is littered with nostalgic club histories which read like a laundry list of things which happened and with the worst kind of academic tripe which either belabours the obvious or dresses up the absurd with continental "Theory". This book does neither.

It is insightful and devastating in the way in which the author dismantles the conceits of imperialism through the prism of sport in a way reminiscent of C.L.R James' Beyond a Boundary.

Forget Niall Ferguson's apologia for empire, read this and see the way in which colonizers and colonized worked together and conflicted simultaneously. That's the interesting part of the story. Not paens to the good old days when people knew their place.

I was assigned this book in an upper level course on the history of imperialism. We read a LOT of things that were competely opaque and seemed more intent and showing how clever they were than actually saying anything concrete about the ways imperialism work.

This book however was not like that at all. It talks about how imperialism actually played out on the ground, if you'll excuse the pun.

I know discourse is important (and so does McDevitt) but so is the material world and that is what is convincing about May the Best Man Win. It was a also a really good read with interesting characters which allowed the stories told here to make the points rather than the usual academic jargon we were forced to read.

It did make me think the English really were b***ards, though maybe that was the point.

This wonderful book does an excellent job of both providing in-depth and thought-provoking historical analysis while maintaining the fast pace of a sports book. It also is very illuminating of the everyday workings of imperialism.

This is a great book. The message that Marcus Garvey brought is clearly conveyed in this nice little book. The focus seems to be the upliftment and education of African Americans, but the philosophy of his teaching is essential for anyone searching for truth. the book is divided into 22 short chapters. All of them are great, but my favorites are Education and Christ.
This is essential reading for anyone interested in African Philosophy or self liberation and education.

Every black in America should possess this book. Get it, read it, and read it again! Thank God for Marcus Garvey.....

In this book, Marcus Garvey reveals the secrets of discipline, kindness, and committment that made him the most influential leader of African Descent during the 20th century. This book is a testament to the man's generosity of spirit; personally, following the advice given in this book has made me a better man. I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who aspires to achieve extraordinary accomplishment.

This is not just one of those "Season in the Life of..." type sports books. In the same vein as Roy MacGregor's pioneering look at the expansion Ottawa Senators early years and the NHL, this book shows all the machinations and goings-on behind the scenes in south Florida as the Panthers captured the area's imagination.

There is a great story within this on how Bobby Clarke (then with Florida) conned Brian Burke (then with Hartford) at the Cats' first foray into the amateur draft. I also loved the stuff on how Doug MacLean and Bryan Murray shaped the '96 Stanley Cup Final team.

The Panthers is best in NHL

Miami Ice is a book for every hockey fan and not just Florida Panthers fans. This great book describes the chemistry and heart of a group of players who worked hard to reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

The attitudes and characteristics of the players in the book are similarly portrayed by the great players of the Florida Panthers.

I read this book in one day, never being able to put it down. It grasps you, especially if you are a hockey fan. It shows that the players are human and they have humorous sides and aren't just hockey playing machines.

A great read.

This was one of the most eye-opening books I've ever read. I have never seen such articulate and comprehensive arguments made about the parallels and correlations in public policy to race and gender. Feldstein is brilliant and enthralling. I recomend it to anyone who thinks legislation now and in history can be analysied at face value.

Motherhood in Black and White does what few books on liberalism dare to do-- talk about policy, politics, and psychology as having gendered underpinnings and racial consequences. Feldstein's story is about the good guys, the racial liberals of the age between the New Deal and the Great Society, who optimistically conceive of the state as having a necessary role to play in the eradication of racism and poverty in the US. Yet, even with these laudatory goals, these white hats put into play conservative notions of womanhood to propel civil rights activism and anti-poverty programs forward. Mothers, black and white, needed-- no, were relentlessly compelled by popular culture, psychological experts and political commentators-- to raise healthy, manly, and restrained sons who would grow up to become good citizens, able to be compassionate, assertive, and democratic. Poverty and racism were the consequence of a job poorly done. The tight rope women walked-- be affectionate, but not smothering, be strong but not castrating-- is deftly explored by Feldstein through a range of sources, including Hollywood film, New Deal legislation and The Nation, as well as through characters like Mammy Till Bradley and Betty Friedan. This is not another account of mom- bashing. Masterful, indeed.

This history of ideas about motherhood is much more than that: Feldstein argues that the way our culture has represented motherhood tells us a great deal about gender roles, racial politics, and the development of mid-century liberalism generally. To me, the most exciting claim of the book is that many Americans, both black and white, who made liberal arguments for African American civil rights, did so by making conservative arguments about gender. That is, in order to prove that racial differences were not biological or inevitable, social scientists and others tried to prove that racial differences were social and psychological: in particular, they insisted that such differences were caused by the failure of black women to mother their children into properly (white-modeled) citizens. Similarly, when cultural observers wanted to understand white prejudice, they looked to arguments about the role of mothers in raising men who were likely to become fascists, racists, or communists. Feldstein argues that from the 1930s to the 1960s, liberal ideas for racial equality were in some sense _built_ on conservative ideas about the failures of both black and white women to be proper mothers. Women were simultaneously accused of being bad mothers and exhorted to do more mothering -- told this was their highest and most valuable role.

Feldstein's argument is fascinating, because she shows us how hard it is to fully separate the "good guys" from the "bad guys" when we study the complexities of American history: liberation in one arena can depend on reinscribing a kind of oppression in another.

And the book, while very scholarly, is also an interesting read. The author discusses popular culture (such as the Imitation of Life movies), social movements, and intellectual history in a highly nuanced and yet readable way.

I grew up in New Haven and was in my late teens when the events that Paul Bass and Douglas Rae describe so well occurred. As a college student living in Washington, D.C., at the time of the murder, I realized as I read the book that I had missed a lot of the important details of the terrible crime and its aftermath, including the trial and the organized protests by the Black Panthers, Yale students, and other assorted demonstrators. But the authors do a wonderful job at recreating exactly what was going on in New Haven. They unfold a very compelling story in a fair and balanced manner so that the reader will come away feeling sympathy for both the victim of the crime, Alex Rackley, and for the perpetrator, Warren Kimbro, a man who worked hard to redeem himself. For those of you who lived through the late sixties and early seventies, this book will remind you of what that time was like; and for those who did not, Murder in the Model City will give you a true sense of a turbulent era in our recent past.

Bass and Rae do a terrific job of capturing a moment in time when people were becoming "revolutionaries" as easily as they changed hair styles.

What comes through most forcefully, for me, is the easy embrace of "radical chic" by so many who must, in hindsight, be somewhat embarrassed by their seventies selves. The book also serves as a vindication for Kingman Brewster, the Yale president, whose diplomatic handling of a potentially incendiary moment in his institution's history has been widely misunderstood and vilified.

It is also sobering to realize that the crucible of poverty and disadvantage that forged the Panthers still exists in New Haven and in so many other American cities and that the long climb out of despair continues even for many of those, like the book's protagonist, who seem to have escaped the ghetto.

MURDER IN THE MODEL CITY: THE BLACK PANTHERS, YALE, AND THE REDEMPTION OF A KILLER begins in 1969 and follows four members of the Black Panther party who committed murder in Connecticut and fled. Nine Panthers would eventually be tried with crimes from that night - and activists of all denominations descended on a small New England city to protest. Paul Bass and Douglas Rae recreate events, politics, and social issues during the stormy period, bringing to life the sentiments of all sides. A 'must' for any who would understand 1960s black activism and its lasting legacy.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

My 5 year old son enjoys this book and has me read it over and over. It's a great book for any little boy who loves race cars.

Michael has done a terrific job of telling his story from the mind of a small boy. My three boys LOVE this story--and from a mom's perspective, it captures so wonderfully the way little boys play, think, and imagine. The illustrations are fresh and vibrant, the story itself simple and straightforward. All in all, a great children's book.

My Race Car, the second in a series which started with My Fire Engine, is another hit by Michael Rex. The books in this series portray a young boy who, while playing with his toys, pretends he is a race care driver. For anyone that ever played pretend with their toys it brings back memories. For the child you will read this book to, it inspires them to dream a little dream. This book as well as My Fire Engine are must buys.