3 comments about William Pope.L: The Friendliest Black Artist in America.

1. The reviewer who suggested that "as long as the grant money keeps pouring in...it beats working for a living" should reread the above press reviews and note that Pope.L is a college professor. In addition to` this, an appreciation for the value of hard work is, I think, visible in his art. Ever considered crawling for miles at a time?



2. If you enjoy contemporary art and are open to new ideas with distraction, William Pope.L: The Friendliest Black Artist in America is a must have. William Pope brings forth challenging, comforting, and inspiring notions to the average american.



3. The best part was the twelve pages of solid black near the middle. I don't know what the second-best part was. Maybe the jars of rotting mayonaise. Hey, as long as the grant money keeps pouring in, it beats working for a living.

4 comments about The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (Dover Value Editions).

1. I think this is a must-read book. Douglass is a wonderful example of a man who "made lemonade out of lemons." Really, he is a terrific role model...a man of integrity, incredible intelligence, and an overflowing heart.



2. FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH
   
   At the start of the 21st century the international labor movement faces, as it has for a long time, a crisis of revolutionary leadership. That leadership is necessary to resolve the contradiction between the outmoded profit-driven international capitalist productive system and a future production system based on social solidarity, cooperation and production for social use. In America, at least, there is also a crisis of leadership of the black liberation struggle, which is tied into the labor question as well through the key role of blacks in the labor force. More happily in the 19th century in the struggle against slavery by the slaves and former slaves for black liberation there was such a leadership and none more important than the subject of this autobiography, Frederick Douglass. Even a cursory look at his life puts today `clean' black leadership in the shades.
   
   That Frederick Douglass was exceptional as a fighter for black freedom, women's rights and as a man there is no question. His early life story of struggle for individual escape from slavery, attempts to educate himself and take an active political role on the slavery question rightly thrilled audiences here and in Europe. I, however, believe that he definitely came into his own as a revolutionary politician when he broke from Garrisonian non-resistant abolitionism and linked up with more radical elements like John Brown and the Boston `high' abolitionists like Wendell Phillips and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. This abolitionist element pointed the way to the necessary fight to the finish strategy, arms in hand, to end slavery that eventually came to fruition in the Civil War.
   
   At one time I personally believed that Douglass should have gone with John Brown to Harpers Ferry. He would have provided a better grasp of the political and military situation there than Brown had and would have been forceful in calling out the slaves and others in the area to aid the uprising. In no way was my position on his refusal based on his personal courage of which there was no question. I now believe that Douglass more than made up for any help he would have given Brown by his work for an emancipation proclamation and for his calls for arming blacks in the Civil War to take part in their own emancipation. As such, it is well known that Douglass was instrumental in calling for the creation of the famous Massachusetts 54th Regiment, including the recruitment of two of his sons. Yes, 200,000 black soldiers and sailors under arms fighting to the death, and under penalty of death by the rebels, for their freedom is a fitting monument to the man.
   
   
   Douglass, as well as every other militant abolitionist worth his or her salt, lined up politically with the new Republican Party headed by Lincoln and Seward before, during and shortly after the Civil War. However, the Republican Party ran out of steam as a progressive force fairly shortly after the war, culminating in the sell-out Compromise of 1877 which abandoned blacks to their fate in the South. Douglass, committed to emancipation, education and `forty acres and a mule' for his fellows stayed with that party far too long. When key elements of that party lost heart in the fight for black emancipation due to their racism and other factors, moved on to other more financially rewarding interests, or accepted the traditional white leadership of the South he also should have moved on to another progressive formation. Embryonic workers parties and other such progressive formations were raising their heads in the 1870's. I do not believe that office in the Consular Service in Haiti was worth continuing to support a party going in the wrong direction. Notwithstanding that point, if you want to read about the exploits of a `big man' in the history of the struggles of the oppressed, our history, when it counted this is your stop. Honor the memory of Frederick Douglass.



3. - As an author myself, I recommend that you purchase this book for personal study. "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" is a fascinating book and video that helped me understand one of my relatives.
   Author. "Knowledge For Tomorrow" Quinton Douglass Crawford



4. This book, written in Douglass' later years, not only lifted my spirits but did a great deal to reestablish my faith in humanity. This was a man who had every opportunity, and reason, to be bitter and/or vengeful. He, instead, chose to fight, with his intellect and his golden tongue, for what he, and others chained in slavery and social subservience, rightfully disserved as a member of our human race. He was a man of conviction and inner strength who taught himself to write with an elegance that I have never seen equaled. I strongly recommend this book.

5 comments about Miles Davis: The Definitive Biography.

1. Ian Carr's MILES DAVIS: The Definitive Biography is one of the more meticulous lives of the great jazz innovator. Published first in 1982, it was thoroughly revised in 1998 to cover Miles' final years as well as shed greater light on his entire career.
   
   A strong aspect of the book is Carr's access to various recordings which the average fan wouldn't have a chance to listen to, such as early projects in the 40s and concerts during the 1980s. Carr very thoroughly charts Miles' health problems and the horrendous squalor he was living in during the late 1970s, making the reader impressed that he held out as long as he did. The book is also well-researched, and Carr occasionally corrects mistakes made by other biographers, such as the claim that Miles recorded with Karlheinz Stockhausen (they never met). Carr knows the trumpet well and can speak on technical aspects of Miles' playing better than other commentators. One might also mention that the book is admirably typeset, and its ease on the eyes makes it a pleasure to read.
   
   There are a few downsides to the work. Carr rarely attempts to show matters from the viewpoint of Miles' antagonists. His marriage to Cicely Tyson, for instance, is presented as if she was the one responsible for its demise. His coverage of the 80s too often is a dry counting of tour dates, and it would be nice to have some amusing anecdotes thrown in to allow the content to breathe. Also, the book holds no serious musicological analysis of Davis' work, although there are some superficial comments and some examples from various scores at the back of the book.
   
   If you are looking for an overview of Miles' entire career that treats all of his phases fairly, from his early traditional jazz to fusion to the almost-pop of his 80s efforts, then Ian Carr's biography, in spite of its negative aspects, is probably the best available.



2. Ian Carr's book on Miles is complete, fairly even-handed and really tries to capture Miles as both a Musician and a budding painter and importantly as an individual. It relates the large roller coaster of Miles decade by decade at the top of his game and then coming down, getting involved with seedier elements and then somehow surviving and coming back up to ascension. Anyone who respects the Jazz genre owes it to themselves to read this book if only for the history involved, because during all the twists and turns in Jazz, especially from the Bebop era on, Miles was there, and his place as a central character is assurred, among the Jazz Greats.

   The only reason I just gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that I read Miles' own autobiography a bit later, and although he throws f-bombs throughout that book, I feel that it is still a better book because it comes from the mind of the Man himself.. This is still a great chronology, definitely worth checking out.




3. This was the 4th biography about Miles Davis I had read. I guess once you read 2 or 3 biographies about a person you don't learn much new information. Although well written I don't think this is the best account of Miles Davis life a fan could read. I recommend Miles Davis Autobiography or Milestones before reading this one.



4. Describing any book as "definitive" is absurdly presumptious, especially when the subject is as well-known and widely discussed as Miles Davis. But Carr deserves to be credited with having produced a thorough and meticulous narrative of Miles' life and works. Frequently Miles' music is described to an excessively detailed degree, as if every single piece he recorded was a masterpiece. More judiciously selective analysis would have been preferable. The insights into Miles' working practices and relationships with his musicians are, however, of substantial interest to the jazz fan.



5. This a book for ..., the man Ian Carr is an ..., The comments he makes about western music are truly ..., I agree with the other reviews, he highlights his lack of musical knowledge when he attempts to discuss musical theory. This book is also very, very,very badly written, probably the worsed written book I've ever read. He doesn't write anything interesting about miles either.

   Read the 'Miles Davis autobiography' it is a thousand million times better.

2 comments about Aaron Douglas: Art, Race, and the Harlem Renaissance.

1. This book is an extremely valuable contribution to the history of American art. Kirschke carefully describes and explains the life of Aaron Douglas----from his childhood in Kansas, to the heights of the Harlem Renassaince, and to his teaching position at Fisk University in his twilight years. Kirschke captures the essense of both the Harlem Renassaince and the life of Aaron Douglas with superb research and excellent prose.



2. For those who have become interested in Douglas' art, this sets it and his life in a broader context. Very satisfying.

5 comments about Longing to Tell: Black Women Talk About Sexuality and Intimacy.

1. 20 stories by 20 black women, 2 of them separated, 2 of them married, which leaves 16 single black women. of those 16 single black women, the number of them who have children...math is tiring, i don't want to do the work. so without pleading a problematic here, let's just say 'it is what it is'. still, might conclusions, for some folk, be reached, there are no good black men as husband material, and marriage isn't all that important for black folk? such conclusions remain a vicious circle. hopefully, her, rose's, book proves a starting point, an inspiration and a calling for and a telling of more stories.



2. I was interested in reading this book because I am a latino male who's been involved with African American women since I can remember. I watned to read this book to inform mysself about how it was like to be an African American woman in America. I've discovered that they are very strong and have gone through alot in their lives from the stories of the many women in this book. I had read this book about a two or three years ago and it was very informative, but I know that there is still much to learn.



3. When I say "Hard", I mean this book is so strong! This book took me a while to read because I had to take breaks in between each woman's story...I could identify with more than one woman's story (I'm sure a lot of people will be able to) and that's what makes this book worth every page...I recommend it to anyone who feels as though the struggles they deal with are only theirs...



4. Tricia Rose turns academic research into a literary masterpiece. She interviewed 20 African American females with various ethnic backgrounds, broad range of age, and socioeconomic upbringing. Rose organized the real life commentaries on sex, intimacy, relationships, and race into a narrative that will carry you through a broad range of emotions. The women speak truth to situations that happen in every day life but are considered taboo in the African American community. 
   Rose starts the book with a discussion about the negative stereotypes in regards to sex and intimacy that are portrayed about the African American female in the media. The purpose of the book was developed as an attempt to answer the question, "how has the history of race, class, and gender inequality in this country affected the way that black women talk about their sexual lives?" Rose answered this question and much more. Longing to Tell is a mirror image of African American female sexuality in contemporary society as well as an oral history that serves as a vibrant presentation for everyday readers and scholars alike. 
   The stories are captured and categorized into three different areas: Through the Fire; Guarded Heart; and Always Something Left to Love. The women, whose names and locations have been changed to protect their anonymity, openly discuss their sexual history; how they learned about sex, masturbation, orgasms, and experience of first menstruation, virginity, pregnancy, and motherhood; sexual abuse, rape, sexism, sexual fantasy and sexual orientation. Some of the tales in the book are horrendous such as incest, rape, domestic abuse and sexual harassment but while knocked down these women were not knocked out. Many tell about the love from friends, family and at times even the smiles of strangers brought them back from the depths of despair. The stories are all different and engaging as their experiences were dynamic while thought provoking. Does your definition of sexuality characterize how you live life? 
   Longing To Tell is an extraordinary account on how African American women survive despite the incredible odds against them. As an adjunct professor of African American Studies, I highly recommend this book as a study into the mind of black women. As an avid reader, I strongly encourage you to read this book as a motivational guide on finding your way out of the struggle. African American women are the cornerstones of modern society and this book proves that!
   Reviewed by M. Bruner for Loose Leaves Book Review



5. Take a literary journey with Tricia Rose, author of LONGING TO TELL,
   and read some revealing, heartbreaking, and inspiring narratives from
   a host of women of color who talk about sexuality, race, and their
   coming of age as a woman.

   Tricia Rose begins by sharing with readers the purpose and reason for
   this unusual project which opened up doors to allow these unknown and
   unspoken women of color to tell their stories. The women outlined in
   the book is of various ages, economic, and educational backgrounds. The extensive research and countless interviews propel this author's thought-provoking narratives from women breaking through a sexuality barrier that has always been unspoken of through generations of people of color.

   LONGING TO TELL rises to the occasion, orchestrating a context that speaks from the voices of women on their sexual relationships, and intimate clichés that thrust many into a naive state of ignorance and misinterpreting the art of intimacy.

   The women's names were changed along with other details to protect
   their identity due to some very graphic details in which they
   outlined their exposure to sexuality. It was a hard lesson for many
   and a rude awakening for others. They speak on growing up in
   dysfunctional surroundings, exposure to drugs, and going from one
   relationship to another. Several grew up with the pretense that if
   you had sex it meant love.

   They explain how their families and children had to endure their

   unorthodox and self-destructive behaviors that sometimes lead to
   tragic consequences. One woman speaks of how her young son was
   beaten to death by her boyfriend, and never realized the warning signs
   because she stayed in a haze of drugs. They speak candidly about their first sexual encounters with men and women. They speak on where they were and where they are today. They explain their process of healing along the path to finally taking control of their lives.

   All the women's narratives speak volumes on the depth and courage that made them survivors. In the end, the author sums up very eloquently the overall dynamics of the sexual ramifications that women of color encounter today.

   LONGING TO TELL by Tricia Rose is a well written book. Tears came to my eyes several times reading some of the stories, and I wanted to jump into the book and hug and congratulate each woman on revealing their personal journey. I applaud Ms. Rose for her insight and courage to develop, research, and talk with so many women who are sisters, mothers, aunts, wives, and friends offering them an outlet in which to speak. A must read for everyone because knowledge is the key to understanding and awareness. (...)

No comments about The Souls of Purgatory: The Spiritual Diary of a Seventeenth-Century Afro-Peruvian Mystic, Ursula de Jesús (Dialogos Series).

2 comments about Shush! Growing Up Jewish under Stalin: A Memoir.

1. Imagine a young Jewish boy now an adult, who still utters the word "Jewish" only sotto voce. The subtitle of Emil Draitser's heartwarming and heartbreaking memoir Shush! Growing up Jewish Under Stalin explains why. Multiply the ordinary difficulties of childhood and adolescence exponentially to comprehend what happened to Jewish families (not to mention others) in Russia. Certainly this book will strike a chord with readers who have had similar experiences. And perhaps these readers with direct experience of the atrocities of the Stalinist regime will need as much courage to read it as the author must have had to write it--people are generally inclined to relegate painful memories to the past and avoid resurrecting them.
   
   It has obviously taken the author years to sort through the dire circumstances of his childhood and to reclaim his identity and roots--an affirmation of the strong values that somehow survived and a credit to his parents and extended family. In circumstances that could justifiably bring out the worst in people, what shines through in this family are pride, dignity, and principles.
   
   Draitser's visual and well-paced writing balances the sad with the humorous. His descriptions of his parents' mannerisms made me laugh out loud. But then, the opposite effect occurs; for example, there's a photo of a young couple--the author's aunt and uncle, the parents of three small children--looking bright-eyed, and, one imagines, forward to life--and suddenly you read that the entire family perished!
   
   I am not Russian or Jewish. I was not raised in a repressed society or discriminated against. But this book has a much broader appeal--don't be fooled by the title. It also reminds us how profoundly marked we are by our childhood impressions, and evokes anyone's painful first days as a young school pupil. Jewish, Russian, black, white, Asian, whatever--kids are mean! My mother occasionally packed leftover "ethnic" food in our lunch boxes. This never failed to attract the attention and derision of the kids sitting nearby eating their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We begged our mother to please stop packing the stuff. It's no fun being the brunt of jokes.
   
   This is a fine memoir, well-written and courageous--an inspiring book for readers of all backgrounds and ages.



2. Shush is Emil Draister's memoir of growing up a Jew, in Russia , during Stalin's time. It is the story of a boy's search for pride in his Jewish identity. Historical events are seen through the eyes of the author, a member of the "Young Pioneers", indoctrinated in communist propaganda, and through his parents and family, as they try to survive under a Russian regime threatening to Jews.
   
   Draitser, as a child, unquestioningly accepts his inferior status. He looks different, his name is unusual and he is the victim of his classmates' cruelty and, as a voracious reader, finds even his favorite authors portraying Jews as evil. I felt his pain, his parents' fears, and the specter of prejudice-something I never experienced growing up in U.S. as an American-born, Russian, non-religious Jew in the 1950's and 1960's.
   
   This was the first book that ever made me laugh out loud. Draitser mixes humor, poetry, prose and suspense, enveloping the reader in the culture and events of Russia , particularly Odessa in the 1940's and early 1950's. In addition, the stories of the author's grandparents give the reader insight into Jewish life during pre-revolutionary Russia , from where my own father and grandfather fled.
   
   It is a must read for every Jew born in this country, practicing or not, yet it also goes beyond the Jewish experience. It is a story for everyone who has been the victim of prejudice.

1 comments about Appropriating Blackness: Performance and the Politics of Authenticity.

1. APPROPRIATING BLACKNESS demonstrates a mastery of the field of performance studies and of the shifts and turns it has taken in its evolution. This fact makes Johnson's own observations about "performance" as trope all the more convincing and authoritative. This is the through-line that unites these essays into what a strong, rich, and important book to scholars working in performance studies, cultural studies, gender studies, American studies, and African American studies to name but a few areas. This broad appeal and significance represents Johnson's real success as an inter-disciplinarian where so many authors published today with such aspirations fall short. This is a very timely and impressively readable book presented with the air and authority of a scholar's expertise, but written in a style that is extremely approachable by general readers.

5 comments about Out of Egypt: A Memoir.

1. This is a well written memoir about the Aciman clan, the reader gradually become familiar with each one of the family members of the Aciman family. The book relates the easy and good life in Alexandria before the Suez war in 1956 and afterwards the oppression of Jews until they were forced to leave the country. It's amazing to know that Andre Aciman's father spoke many languages like Ladino , Greek, Turkish, French, English, and probably Italian besides the languge of prayers Hebrew. I woul like to recommend another moving and poignant memoir about the life in Cairo, written by Henry Mourad Exodus II The Promised Land



2. REVIEW OF "OUT OF EGYPT" for Amazon.com July 12, 2007
   
   Andre Aciman describes his colorful and complicated life (and family)in
   Alexandria in the 1960s. Childhoods like that are often the preparation
   for a life of writing. The child absorbs all the peculiarities as part of
   normal life without knowing they are peculiar until much later. Then they
   need to make sense of it all.
   All this is heightened by the fact that the Acimans are Jewish, in a
   Muslim country still resonating with the after effects of British rule.His
   experiences in the theoretically best school in Alexandria, run by
   British teachers, would be funny if they weren't so awful. For complete
   cognitive dissonance,his parents force him to learn Arabic to survive.
   Reading about those lessons alone is worth the price of this book. At
   home they speak Ladino, the Sephardic Yiddish, among themselves.
   His beautful mother was born deaf. When provoked she can produce a
   high-pitched scream. used to good effect at the butcher's. Once she has
   made her point they are all quite happy. The butcher has to give the package
   to her Arab servant. She never touches an Arab's hand.
   The Acimans and Andre's maternal relatives live in a state of mutual
   scorn, but when faced with the threats of Pan-Arab nationalism pull together very
   efficiently. Eventually they all flee, the sedate Sephardic merchants
   and the shady international adventurers too.
   Two other writers come to mind when reading this book. Laurence Durrell
   evokes something of the same atmosphere in his Alexandria Quartet and Elias
   Canetti grew up in a large Sephardic family in Bulgaria. That society has
   completely disappeared. Without Canetti's memoirs one would not know it had ever
   existed.
   This is an eloquent and elegiac account of that love and absurdity
   known as a family.



3. Aciman wrote this book not only being 'Out of Egypt' like Blixen was 'Out of Africa', but as well being "Out of Childhood'. So the grown-up is looking back and remembers his extended family with live-in servants and longtime friends. Whoever loves family stories will enjoy this well-written book.
   
   Having myself spent some summers in Egypt I would say that his kind of Egypt isn't gone completely - there is still, beneath the noise of the traffic and industries, the chit-chat of the doorkeepers, sharellas and nannies. Or the difference of daily lives in regular, in summer, during the ramadan. Egypt still works as a time machine.



4. This memoir is the very best I've read. It takes the author from his earliest years as part of a large Jewish family which moved from Turkey to Alexandria (he was born in 1951), through the air raid sirens during Suez war with France and England, to the expulsion of the Jews by Nasser in the late 1950s, and then on to his adulthood in America and his return to Egypt following his marriage. After a lengthy opening section dating roughly from age 5 or 6, the narrative skillfully skips back and forth in time. The descriptions of the boy's exotic world and his dysfunctional extended family are priceless, as are the re-invented conversations and arguments among the adults who surround him. There is something Proust-like in the writing, a love of detail for the texture it creates, and something Nabokov-like as well, in the hooded humor and artful language. I found it utterly captivating and written with love, especially for his mother, who was born deaf. I heartily recommend it to anyone who contemplates or is writing a memoir.



5. Andre Aciman's Out of Egypt is an amazing book, I found it very hard to put down. At a time of increased hostility in the middle east it is heartwarming to read of a time when Jews lived in peace with their Muslim and Christian neighbors in Alexandria. Not a whiff of anti Jewish sentiments was reported by Aciman until after the Suez War. Aciman and his family left Egypt in the sixties.
   
   Aciman, like many "Egyptian" Jews preferred to hold European nationalities and in some cases some were French or Italian without ever setting foot in these countries. Europeans had their own courts in Egypt and did not fall under Egyptian Laws. For Aciman, born and raised in Egypt and in many ways no different than many affluent Alexandrians life became unbearable after the waves of Nationalization in the early 60's.
   
   Aciman writes of an Alexandria that no longer exists not just for Egyptian Jews. The population explosion in Egypt has transformed Alexandria beyond recognition; hence Aciman's beautiful writing of Alexandria, its beaches and its tram will bring floods of memories for anyone who's known Alexandria.
   
   Affluent Egyptian Jews who left Egypt in the fifties and sixties are not immediately thought of as refugees and there is little discussion on their issues of identity and affiliation in Egypt and elsewhere. Aciman through his acute sensitivity to the people and events around him and his wonderful story telling skills has produced beautifully written and very touching book that subtly challenges many assumptions on all sides.
   
   Readers will see the very same Alexandria in Leila Ahmed's Border Passage and in parts of Ahdaf Souief's In the Eye of the Sun. Enjoy

4 comments about I Wonder as I Wander: An Autobiographical Journey (American Century Series).

1. Mr. Hughes brings a zen like quality to his stories regarding his life and what he was forced to endure. He persevered, triumphed and soared. If you want to feel at peace with yourself this is a book to help you get there. Mr. Hughes is a role model that we should be glad we have. a gracious kind compassionate human. imho ;>)



2. Mr. Hughes, in my opinion, is the best African American writer, whom describes the life as a balck man traveling throughout the world. This book is poignant and evokes a sense constant despair and the writer confronts different predjudice throughout the world.



3. As the sequel to "The Big Sea", Mr.Hughes again speaks the language of a poet so well that he makes the reading of his life seem like a first-person experience. After his travels on several ships and the taste of his first successes(and failures), he simply explores and writes: of Paris, Russia, and Cuba, and shares his experiences with the reader. His writing is so rich and vivid that he makes every location in the world seem like poetry in motion. This book and "The Big Sea" should definitely be on reading lists everywhere-or, if you have a friend or relative who feels like they're a "wandering spirit", these books would make great gifts. Mr.Hughes touches on everything human: from the strained relationship with his father to the blatant racism he encounters everyday; to the women he becomes fond of and his neverending thirst for experience and knowledge; to the countless sights of wonder in the world that one never sees when they are ignorant. Beautiful writing by a true poet.



4. IN THIS BOOK , MR. HUGHES REALLY OPENS UP AND LETS THE READER INTO HIS WORLD. IT IS NOT HARD TO IMAGINE BEING IN THE PLACES THAT HE DESCRIBES. THE EVENTS AND CHARACTERS POP OUT AT YOU. THIS BOOK IS AN ENJOYABLE READ