"Hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and inspiring,
Conversations in Black by Ed Gordon offers sage wisdom for navigating race in a radically divisive America and, with help from his mighty team of black intelligentsia, veteran journalist Ed Gordon creates hope and a timeless narrative on what the future of black leadership should look like and how we can get there. In Conversations in Black, Gordon brings together some of the most prominent voices in Black America today, including Stacey Abrams, Harry Belafonte, Charlamagne tha God, Michael Eric Dyson, Alicia Garza, Jemele Hill, Iyanla VanZant, Eric Holder, Killer Mike, Angela Rye, Al Sharpton, T.I., and Maxine Waters, and so many more to answer questions about vital topics affecting our nation today, such as:
- Will the black vote control the 2020 election?
- Do black lives really matter?
- After Obama's presidency, are black people better off?
- Are stereotypical images of people of color changing in Hollywood?
- How is "Black Girl Magic" changing the face of black America?
We are bombarded with media, music, and social media messages that enforce stereotypes of people of color. In this groundbreaking book, Gordon sets out to clarify what black power and excellence really look like -- and shows everyone the way forward into a new age of prosperity and pride." (from Amazon.com)
Blood, Sweat, & Tears: Jake Gaither, Floriday A&M, and the History of Black College Football is by Derrick E. White."Black college football began during the nadir of African American life after the Civil War. The first game occurred in 1892, a little less than four years before the Supreme Court ruled segregation legal in
Plessy v. Ferguson. In spite of Jim Crow segregation, Black colleges produced some of the best football programs in the country. They mentored young men who became teachers, preachers, lawyers, and doctors--not to mention many other professions--and transformed Black communities. But when higher education was integrated, the programs faced existential challenges as predominately white institutions steadily set about recruiting their student athletes and hiring their coaches. Blood, Sweat, and Tears explores the legacy of Black college football, with Florida A&M's Jake Gaither as its central character, one of the most successful coaches in its history. A paradoxical figure, Gaither led one of the most respected Black college football programs, yet many questioned his loyalties during the height of the civil rights movement. Among the first broad-based histories of Black college athletics, Derrick E. White's sweeping story complicates the heroic narrative of integration and grapples with the complexities and contradictions of one of the most important sources of Black pride in the twentieth century." (from Amazon.com)
Steve Inskeep tells the riveting story of John and Jessie Frémont in
Imperfect Union. "John C. Frémont, one of the United States’s leading explorers of the nineteenth century, was relatively unknown in 1842, when he commanded the first of his expeditions to the uncharted West. But in only a few years, he was one of the most acclaimed people of the age – known as a wilderness explorer, bestselling writer, gallant army officer, and latter-day conquistador, who in 1846 began the United States’s takeover of California from Mexico. He was not even 40 years old when Americans began naming mountains and towns after him. He had perfect timing, exploring the West just as it captured the nation’s attention. But the most important factor in his fame may have been the person who made it all possible: his wife, Jessie Benton Frémont. Jessie, the daughter of a United States senator who was deeply involved in the West, provided her husband with entrée to the highest levels of government and media, and his career reached new heights only a few months after their elopement. During a time when women were allowed to make few choices for themselves, Jessie – who herself aspired to roles in exploration and politics – threw her skill and passion into promoting her husband. She worked to carefully edit and publicize his accounts of his travels, attracted talented young men to his circle, and lashed out at his enemies. She became her husband’s political adviser, as well as a power player in her own right. In 1856, the famous couple strategized as John became the first-ever presidential nominee of the newly established Republican Party. With rare detail and in consummate style, Steve Inskeep tells the story of a couple whose joint ambitions and talents intertwined with those of the nascent United States itself. Taking advantage of expanding news media, aided by an increasingly literate public, the two linked their names to the three great national movements of the time—westward settlement, women’s rights, and opposition to slavery. Together, John and Jessie Frémont took parts in events that defined the country and gave rise to a new, more global America. Theirs is a surprisingly modern tale of ambition and fame; they lived in a time of social and technological disruption and divisive politics that foreshadowed our own. In Imperfect Union, as Inskeep navigates these deeply transformative years through Jessie and John’s own union, he reveals how the Frémonts’ adventures amount to nothing less than a tour of the early American soul." (from Amazon.com)
I read the book, Vicksburg 1863 by Winston Groom, to acquire a better understanding of the Civil War. The author Winston Groom brings the Civil War to life in this book and I found myself caught away in reading of this great historical event. The book covers the War in great detail. You will read of the battles and leaders of the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant’s drinking problem, diary entries from citizens and soldiers, etc. You’ll also read of the hardships of life in Vicksburg. Before the war Vicksburg had forty-five hundred residents and there were about thirty-thousand soldiers added to the population during the war. Cave shelters were built and furnished with items from homes. Water and food were scarce and people were starving. After nearly seven weeks in the heat of the battle, Vicksburg surrendered on July 4th. As the tattered Rebels marched out with their white flags and laid down their arms, it was as if a funeral were taking place. Union soldiers stood by and watched quietly. The grieving citizens of Vicksburg were relieved that the fighting had ended.
