No comments about Black Leadership in America (2nd Edition) (Studies In Modern History).

4 comments about A Matter of Justice: Eisenhower and the Beginning of the Civil Rights Revolution.

1. The 1950s is often referred to nostalgically especially by those like me who grew up during this time period. Author David Nichols's book focuses on President Dwight Eisenhower's role during this often turbulent decade. Eisenhower ruled over five Supreme Court appointments, the first being Governor Earl Warren of California. Eisenhower had promised Warren the first vacancy that presented itself. This turned into being the position of Chief Justice which Warren filled. The 1954 decision of Brown vs. the Topeka, Kansas, Board of Education which overturned the 1896 case of Plessy vs. Ferguson which declared separate but equal facilities for both whites and blacks is dealt in detail. Eisenhower was so upset by the Brown decision of 1954 that he is often quoted as saying his appointment of Warren to be "the biggest damned fool mistake I ever made." Eisenhower didn't believe you could legislate moral values by saying, "You can't change the heart by passing a law." States rights, he believed, took precedence in government which also included schools. A rift developed between both Eisenhower and Warren, and has been detrimental to Eisenhower's reputation in regard to civil rights. Warren had come to resent Eisenhower the war hero, and Warren would have liked to have run for president in 1956 if Eisenhower had not run for reelection. In August of 1955 the murder of Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi, sparked the civil rights movement. In December of that same year Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. When asked why she refused to give up her seat she said, "I thought of Emmett Till, and I just couldn't." This anecdote is not in the book, but it has appeared in others. The 1957 crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas, was another incident that erupted when Governor Orval Fabus refused to allow blacks to enter Central High School. Eisenhower was hoping for some vacation time where he could play some golf, and he now had his golf time rudely interrupted by another pressing civil rights matter. This book provides the reader with some of the turbulent times that provided previews of coming attractions during the 1960s.



2. A friend highly recommended this book. He told me that it gave him high respect for Eisenhower and his Attorney General, Herb Brownell.
   Having read quite a bit of Civil Rights history and several biographies of Dwight Eisenhower, I thought I knew the Eisenhower's record on Civil Right. Wrong!
   The author David A. Nichols, a history professor, was unknown to me before reading his A Matter of Justice. He did a superb job of providing detailed and extensive notes which gave me as a reader a great respect for the extent of his research and his perserverance in writing this book.



3. I found this book to be quite educational. It reviews the situation at the time and Ike's past and places his actions in perspective. Neither fawning nor overly flattering, it give a clear view of a decent but conflicted man of the times. The evolution of Ike's moral compass was very well presented. In light of the recent election campaigns, it presents some important history.



4. David Nichols' work on Eisenhower's support for the cause of civil rights, as the blurbs on the back cover indicate, advances the historical record. Eisenhower's view was that the best way to advance the cause of civil rights was through action rather than oratory. This approach to government was a consistent theme of Eisenhower's modus operandi as reflected in Fred Grenstein's ground breaking work. While Nichols enhances Eisenhower's civil rights record by calling attention both to his actions and his public and private comments, he also acknowledges Eisenhower could have (should have?) used the bully pulpit of the presidency more in support of the first Brown decision and the civil rights movements. Nichols lays much of the blame for southern resistence to Brown I to the Court's timidity in its enforcement decision, Brown II, and claims that Eisenhower also was disappointed in Brown II.
   
   Eisenhower, whatever his motives and modus operandi, can be faulted for failing to recognize that a bully pulpit was needed in the aftermath of Brown I and that his overly legalistic and above the board approach stroked southern resistence. The repercussions of not using stronger rhetoric during his presidency caused ripples which reverberate today. While Eisenhower may have provided leadership, he failed to use all the tools of the presidency, including the bully pulpit, to provide moral leadership.

No comments about Telling Histories: Black Women Historians in the Ivory Tower (Gender and American Culture).

5 comments about Cornbread and Dim Sum: A Memoir of a Heart Glow Romance.

1. This was a beautiful, poignant story that needed to be told. I thank Mrs. Sue and her family for allowing the public to take a glimpse at the obstacles she and her husband faced, which only made their love stronger.



2. The entire book was so warm and inviting. It was truly nice to be invited into the Authors life. Being in a BW/AM relationship it was nice to finally read a book with experiences that related close to my own. Thanks to the author for the courage and time spent writing this enriching memoir.



3. I was fascinated and riveted by this personal love story between a Chinese man and African-American woman. The sad part is that I normally would not have picked up this type of genre of a book to read it. That would have been a shame and I would have missed a wonderfully told tale of the heart and the soul.
   
   Cornbread and Dim Sum is more than a look at the lives of two people caught up in the racial tensions caused by their inter-racial relationship - we also get a look at marriage, love, family values and cultural differences. Being a white male, this book afforded me an insider view of their unique life together that I would not otherwise have been afforded. I came away a better person for having read this book. It opened my eyes to what love is all about. Their lives are fully exposed on the pages of this book and honestly dealt with through the easy to read emotional prose of author, Jacqueline Annette Sue. She takes you along her life journey as reflections and remembrances while preparing for her younger daughter's wedding. The writing style works to weave the past and present into a mosaic of emotional and spiritual imagery of where their life took them.
   
   This book is not so much about racial differences that tend to separate us, but about what is means to be a human being. I found this book hard to put down once I got into the first several pages - I was hooked. I had devoured the entire book in less than 24 hours on having it in my hands. I give this book my highest rating and recommendation. This is not just a book for women or ethnic readers - this book does deal with some racial issues that divided people but their love story transcends all that. You will come away seeing these two people not just as an African-American and Chinese couple but as human beings who endured all that happened in their lives because they found a love much greater than anything that would harm that relationship. I fell in love with their story and think that other readers will as well.
   
   Note:
   
   Author Jacqueline Sue is now writing a screen play about Vietnam where she recently made a heartfelt journey. We look forward to reviewing it when it is completed.



4. Cornbread and Dim Sum has received the INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER OUTSTANDING BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD.



5. I was hooked by this book from the first words I read. Mrs. Sue uses a warm and direct style to convey scene and emotion in a way that can almost be felt viscerally by the reader. In describing her unique experience of a life built upon a love between people of different races, the author pulls few punches when describing both the pain and uncertainty of being faced with obvious discrimination as well as the joys and deeply felt passions for her husband and daughters that were a part of her journey through life. This book earns my highest recommendation.

5 comments about With Billie: A New Look at the Unforgettable Lady Day.

1. This book is rather interesting. It gives a unique look at this prolific artist through minimally edited first hand encounters. That being said this book would seem rather confusing and completely unenlightening to someone who knows nothing about Billie's life. For those who wish to learn more about the singers life and career I would recommend "wishing on the Moon" or "Billie Holiday" by stuart nicholson.



2. I usually enjoy reading biographies, but this was more of a string of "interviews" with people who partied with Billie and were by and large apparentley (or even admittedly) drunk and/or high when they gave the interviews. The stories they told often conflicted with stories they told before and I started getting the feeling that this was nothing more than fanciful ramblings of drunken nostalgia from most of the authors "sources". Very little of the material was directly about Billie...it was mostly stories told of that period of time and whatever the interviewer was doing around then. Mostly they simply "brushed up against" Billie either personally or professinally.
   
   As far as Billie herself goes, I found almost no redeaming qualities in her based on the material in the book. If you believe what is presented here she was nothing more than a foul-mouthed bisexual hooker with a major drug and alcohol problem who happend to capture a little limelight for her singing between turning tricks and partying hard. I love Billie's music, and this is the only book I've read about her so I'm left a little bewiledered and find myself trying to decide what to believe. Yes, her upbringing s*cked, but a lot of people claw their way out of a bad upbringing and live lives that aren't defined by prostitution and heroin.
   
   This book is more about the underground culture of Harlem in the 30's than it is about Billie. It is a rambling presentation of memories that are suspect at best, and offers very little insight to the woman whom it is supposed to be about.



3. An amalgam of interviews of people who knew Billie Holliday, each giving his or her version of Billie's life. Not easy reading sometimes -- maybe the information in the footnotes could have been incorporated in the text more smoothly -- but the thoughts and feelings of all these people, taken together, form a portrait of Billie that is immediate and vibrant, full of joy and grief, but at the same time that keeps you aware that you can never know the source of the magic of great artistry.



4. Julia Blackburn's biography of Billie Holiday is disappointing. She makes poor use of what appears to be excellent research by Linda Kuehl. Some of the interview material is fascinating, but it is poorly cobbled together.
   
   It's small wonder that this book gets intolerant and hateful reviews like that of Desiree Troy (though I suspect this particular reviewer is very young and inexperienced, given their extremely naive perspective). You get very little sense from reading this book of why Billie Holiday's music is still important to people nearly fifty years after her death, and seventy years after her prime.
   
   You cannot evaluate Billie Holiday just from reading this book, and in fact you probably shouldn't read it at all.



5. This is a rehash of interviews that were used much better by Stuart Nicholson. How Julia Blackburn can take credit for writing a book is beyond me.
   As for Billie Holiday I love her work and her lifestyle was for the times the story of many black women that will forever go untold.
   Prostitution was rampant during the great depression and any reader who wants to moralize best do so on a empty stomich. As for billes ghost wrtitten biography if you read it properly then read stuart nicholsons work u will see many truths that beforehand were thought of as lies. This book disappointed me greatly and I've read evry damn book they have written about her. Thank god I read it 4 free at the libary. Its not bad but it isn't good either

1 comments about Song in a Weary Throat: An American Pilgrimage.

1. This wonderful and important book has been reissued by the University of Tennessee Press as Pauli Murray: The Autobiography.

4 comments about Low Road: The Life and Legacy of Donald Goines.

1. This is, by far, the best biography of Donald Goines availible. It incorporates every ounce of availible material, including interviews that will soon be impossible given the presently diminishing number of individuals to consult. Some people have objected to the asides about the state of black America and the situation in Detroit in the book, but the only reason for such asides is clearly the sheer lack of information availible on the life of Goines. If one cannot describe what Goines himself was doing during a particular period of time, one might as well give a description of the events he and those around him were experiencing at that time.



2. This is a biography of Donald Goines, who wrote a lot of sleazy ghetto fiction books. The only book of his that I have read is Dopefiend, which is good, but is also one of the most depressing books I have ever read. But anyway about Low Road, its not that its bad but this is very incomplete. I really didn't feel like I knew that much about Goines except he was a junkie, he was a convict, he was a criminal, he was murdered. There is a lot of filler in this book too where the author goes into general history of the times that Goines lived. I'd only recomend this to people who are really into Goines. If you only have a casual interest in Goines this book really isn't worth your time.



3. Daddy Cool, Black Girl Lost, Dopefiend -- these and the numerous other works published by Donald Goines brought the streets to the pages of a book. Goines was most qualified to write about the themes he covered in his books because much of what he wrote about, he lived. LOW ROAD covers most of his short life, beginning with his childhood, highlighting his family life as well as his less than stellar academic career. Next his decision to join the military and his military life is discussed. Goines' military experiences are a critical turning point in his life because it is while enlisted that Goines develops the drug addiction that would haunt him for the rest of his life. After leaving the military, he returns home with no job prospects and an addiction to support; it is then that he really commits to hustling and quickly gets caught up in life on the streets.
   
   As a result of his criminal activity, he eventually finds himself incarcerated, during which time he is exposed to the works of Iceberg Slim and is inspired to write. Upon his release, Goines was able to secure a series of book deals and was able to achieve a certain degree of success as a writer. In spite of this, his personal demons continued to have a strong hold and his personal life remained one of frustration, poverty and addiction. The murders of Goines and his girlfriend remain unsolved to this day, and while there are many theories as to what killed him, most believe the murder was simply his past catching up with him.
   
   The author obviously spent a great deal of time and research and the result is a well balanced look at Goines. Readers will better understand the factors which ultimately led to his self-destructive lifestyle while seeing first hand how success is not always enough to overcome a drug addiction. Goines' murder resulted in the loss of a talented writer who had the unique ability to bring the grit and realism of the streets to life in an engaging and gripping story. The fact that his murder remains unsolved and that Goines died virtually penniless and still addicted to heroin adds to the bitter irony of his life.
   
   There were times when I felt the book had a bit too much fluff, with the author spending too much time discussing the times rather than Goines himself, I still felt the book was informative and an enjoyable read. If you are a fan of the writings of Donald Goines or have ever wondered about the man behind the books, then LOW ROAD is a necessary and worthy addition to your reading library. (RAW Rating: 3.5)
   
   Reviewed by Stacey Seay
   of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers



4. Tortured Genius. To me, that's what this cat was. Eddie Allen Jr's book revealed more about the man and the events of his time as well as any other biography about another public figure. Surprisingly, or maybe not to some, Goines grew up in a stable household in which his father owned and operated his own business with the help of his supportive wife. There is no mention of drug use by his parents or other siblings while he grew up. It makes his story even more complicated, and makes people wonder as to why he chose the route he took. Allen takes us back to the turbulent times of the early 20th century and the events that took place, not only in the city of Detroit, but the country as a whole. He drew some interesting parallels, including one that links Goines' father and Joe Louis as buddies during Lewis' reign as champion of the world. That one aspect of Allen's work re-affirmed to me it is a small world indeed. Allen continues as he tells readers about Goines becoming a pimp, bootlegger, and later, being arrested and locked behind bars. He also tells plenty about Goines' increasingly dangerous habit of heroin, which he even displays to his younger sister, all the while, warning her if he ever caught her doing what he was showing her, he would kill her. It was a frightening and hypocritical display, but nonetheless, it most likely proved effective. Allen goes on to tell about Goines picking up the works of Iceberg Slim, and forming his own stories using Slim's as a blueprint, so to speak. Throughout the book, Allen provides plenty of documentation and other sources to prove this is indeed a work of authenticity, including a piece Goines wrote one year before his death entitled, "Private Thoughts on a Lonely Sunday, September 1, 1973." Allen also lets us know about Goines' inner struggle with his addiction, and how desperately he wanted to "kick" the habit out of his life. In the end, his struggles and other wrongdoings in the past came back to haunt him. Allen did a terrific job in not turning this into a sob story. Donald Goines was no saint, but he is admired by many, such as myself, for telling his own stories, his own life, using his imagination, and telling stories from the heart in the most vivid, brutal, harsh, but also heart-felt fashion.

2 comments about South to a Very Old Place.

1. If Langston Huges is the poet laureate of Jazz, then Albert Murray is its scribe. Murray's indelible style continues in this wonderful trip down South. Murray grew up in Mobile, Alabama, after high school he went to Tuskegee Institute then on to the military where he was the first black to become an officer in US Air Force history. After retiring from the Air Force Murray settled in New York City where he lives today. A number of years ago Murray's publisher suggested that he go home and write about the differences in Mobile before WWII and Mobile now. Murray takes the reader along with him on his trip through his own personal history with remarkable rhythm. There are any number of notable sequences including the first paragraph which destined to join the ranks of "Call me Ishmael" and "It was the best of times it was the worst of times..." Another striking point in the novel is when Murray checks into a celebrated hotel in his hometown and his bags are carried by a young white boy who calls him sir and mister. It is contrast against Murray's memories of this same hotel that he was not allowed to enter when he was a boy because he was black. The book also includes plenty of the rhythmic writing that has made Murray one of America's most cherished authors.



2. If Langston Huges is the poet laureate of Jazz, then Albert Murray is its scribe. Murray's indelible style continues in this wonderful trip down South. Murray grew up in Mobile, Alabama, after high school he went to Tuskegee Institute then on to the military where he was the first black to become an officer in US Air Force history. After retiring from the Air Force Murray settled in New York City where he lives today. A number of years ago Murray's publisher suggested that he go home and write about the differences in Mobile before WWII and Mobile now. Murray takes the reader along with him on his trip through his own personal history with remarkable rhythm. There are any number of notable sequences including the first paragraph which is destined to join the ranks of "Call me Ishmael" and "It was the best of times it was the worst of times..." Another striking point in the novel is when Murray checks into a celebrated hotel in his hometown and his bags are carried by a young white boy who calls him sir and mister. It is contrast against Murray's memories of this same hotel that he was not allowed to enter when he was a boy because he was black. The book also includes plenty of the rhythmic writing that has made Murray one of America's most cherished authors.

No comments about Swing That Music.

2 comments about Africans in Brazil: A Pan-African Perspective.

1. I liked this book and Abdias had a lot of great ideas on improving conditions for people of African descent. I would say that he is a mix of Malcom-X and DuBois in his thinking. Many Brazilian say that his big error was pushing for too many changes too fast! Abdias actually taught at several universities in the US while in exile. I think that it may come as a surprise to many that he never learned how to speak English and his wife had to translate his lectures as he spoke. Also surprising is that his wife is a white American woman.



2. Imagine if Amiri Baraka or Nathan Mccall were Brazilian: you'd have Abdias do Nascimento. Do Nascimento argues that the portrayal of Brazil as this race-mixing paradise is a racist myth meant to deny how much the country owes to African people and influences. It's a strong tail about African pride. Many people that argue for integration and miscegenation will be turned off by this book, but hopefully they will find it a provocative read as well. This book really gave me an idea of how pan-Africanism is global. If you're an angry Black person like myself, then you are really going to like this book.