Busboys and Poets Books
Progressive books to activate your mind and community

Archived Staff Picks

JULY 2006

Lauren Loves...
The New Teacher Book, a Rethinking Schools PublicationThe New Teacher Book is for teachers beginning or rediscovering the calling of “teaching for social justice.” This book is different from your typical education book in two big ways: one, it’s written from a deeply sincere and intentionally progressive perspective, and two, its authors are real, live, in-the-classroom teachers. Together, these distinguishers make it a wonderfully practical yet beautiful book. Its topics range from the delightfully nitty-gritty (setting up a filing system to prevent death-by-paperwork-flood,) to the sassy and honest (“how to teach controversial content without getting fired,”) to the earnest and inspiring (staying true to high ideals amidst sometimes-overwhelming challenges and restrictions.) As a soon-to-be new teacher, I feel like I’m beginning the best kind of friendship with this book – one that has felt warm and nourishing since the beginning, but will continually challenge me to stay true to my ideals. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to any teacher or person who values teaching. For the new teachers you love, I honestly cannot think of a better gift than The New Teacher Book – except, perhaps, a copy of the book alongside a subscription to its sister magazine Rethinking Schools (surprisingly reasonable at $24 for two years). For more justice-oriented educator resources, shop online at teachingforchange.org.

Kameelah's Choice Chomsky on MisEducation by Noam Chomsky

In Chomsky on MisEducation, Chomsky writes from the bold declaration that [s]chools are institutions for indoctrination and for imposing obedience. Far from creating independent thinkers, schools have always, throughout history, played an institutional role in systems of control and coercion. Beginning with an analysis of our current educational system, which he coins a "sophisticated colonial model of education," Chomsky follows with a commentary on the historical role of our schools in stifling dissent and discouraging critical thinking. With chapters like Beyond Domesticating Education, The Craft of "Historical Engineering," and Unmasking a Pedagogy of Lies, Chomsky argues that by teaching historical half-truths and discouraging critical thinking, our nation's youth are being molded into "compliant workers, spectorial consumers and passive consumers." Considering the gravity of this "miseducation," Chomsky critiques the reduction of educational priorities to school funding, discipline, class size and testing. Such an approach to educational equity, he argues, does not take into consideration that our schools are fundamentally flawed. Our schools are fundamentally flawed because the critical thinking skills central to building and participating in a democratic society are surgically extracted from mandated curriculum. Chomsky does not stop at a critique of our educational system; instead he offers the reader a dream of what social justice-centered and democratic schools should look like. This book is essential for parents, activists, and concerned global citizens who are determined to transform schools from sites of indoctrination and de-politicization to sites of critical thinking and community activism.

Don's Triple Dose

A Place Where the Sunflowers Grow
by Amy Lee-Tai and Felicia Hoshino (illustrator)

Written in Japanese and English, this children’s book demonstrates human resiliency in trying times, but its importance is the depiction of the Japanese internment camps (i.e. prisons) of 1940’s America. Kids will learn of the injustice of the camps and be amazed that Japanese-Americans were locked up because of paranoia and poor leadership during wartime. This lesson about irrational reactions caused by war should not be downplayed. Young readers will sympathize with and cheer the young protagonist as she overcomes the artist’s block caused by her family’s removal from their home in sunny California. Her family responds to hardship and racism through art (and gardening), like sunflowers growing in the desert.

Teaching Malcolm X
edited by Theresa Perry

In this anthology a diverse collection of writers attempts to distill the enormous legacy of Malcolm X into classroom-sized lessons. The collection doesn’t try to be the definitive anthology on Malcolm X, but it does try to be a handy resource for educators at many different levels, 4th grade through college. As a collection of diverse perspectives and as launching point for discussion, it succeeds mightily. Nikki Giovanni’s critique of Spike Lee and his movie, X, is one of the most scathing movie criticisms in print. Her dispute with his depictions of women should be the launching point for many discussions in high school and college classrooms. Also, nine-year old Javier Brown’s essay (written on his own time and not for a school assignment) should be a powerful lesson for all of us on lasting importance of Malcolm X.

Wisdom for the Soul
Compiled and Edited by Larry Chang

This enormous collection of quotes is one-stop shopping for anyone looking for progressive quotations. Chang’s collection includes hundreds of history’s radicals, rebels, masters, mystics, poets, and philosophers. The thoroughness of the collection is truly impressive, while the juxtapositions can be enlightening. In a chapter called “Oneness/Unity/Wholeness” there are quotes by the expected people, Emerson, Whitman, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, but we are also treated to Jose Marti (“There can be no racial hate because there are no races”) and Eugene Debs and his famous quote:

While there is a lower class I am in it;
While there is a criminal element I am of it;
While there is a soul in prison, I am not free.

Two books about raising money for your cause. One of the most overlooked parts of activism is fundraising. Most people would rather make banners, march across the country, even get arrested by the police than face a grant application or meet with a prospective donor and make a case for why your cause or organization should get funded. Enter Kim Klein, series editor of Chardon Press series. At Busboys & Poets Books we have two books from the series: Grassroots Grants: An Activist’s Guide to Grantseeking by Andy Robinson, and, Raise More Money; the Best of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal edited by Kim Klein and Stephanie Roth.

GrassRoots Grants focuses on just the world of grants, with sections of the book devoted to various aspects or phases of the process: “Finding Funders” “Writing Your Proposal” and “Grant Administration” etc. and is highly readable with each major section divided into almost entertaining articles “The Downside: Ten Ways Grants Can Drive You Crazy” or “A Tour Through Winning Proposals.” Additionally it has sample grants and check lists to make the steps much more concrete for the first time grant writers.

In contrast, Raise More Money, doesn’t focus just on grants but on a diverse number of strategies to get funding and support. It too is divided into articles that were previously published in the journal. But now all this wisdom is organized into sections. For example, under the Section “Fundraising Strategies” there are four subsections, Raising Money by Mail, Personal Solicitation, Special Events and Other Strategies. And there are about 5 article under each section. And besides This Fundraising Strategies section other main sections are Principles and philosophy, Planning, Organizational and Board Development, Fundraising as a Profession. Don’t let these titles fool you into thinking that the articles are academic or abstract, All the articles are How-to’s, the writer is telling you to role up your sleeves, get down the basic knowledge, and how and when and where to make things happen! Each book is a paperback costing about $30 dollars, but is well worth it for two reasons—the amount of experience accumulated that can get you up to speed almost immediately. And you could probably write this off as a legitimate fundraising expense.

Jen Wolfe

Flashback: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide, and the Lessons of War
by Penny Coleman

Written by the widow of a Vietnam veteran who took his own life, this book is a well-researched account of war and the age old, but newly diagnosable disorder known as Posttraumatic Stress, or PTSD. With no end in sight to the current war and occupation in Iraq, many of our troops will return with this disorder or develop PTSD later on. Though the widows' first-hand accounts are heartbreaking, they are a necessary warning for our society about how we need to support our troops both during and after any military action that they are sent to participate in with conscious and compassionate psychological and medical understanding. The book calls for an end to war if we truly care about the men and now women soldiers that can be stricken with this disorder.

Jennifer Arrington

MoveOn’s 50 Ways to Love Your Country:
How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change

An American dreamer stuck in a nightmare? Don’t worry; you’re not the only one. There is a whole community of discouraged, betrayed, frustrated American citizens not much in the mood for fireworks this fourth. Instead of demonstrating your freedom with beef, beer and cherry-bombs, ensure your freedom by demanding change. This collection of 50 can-do essays written by MoveOn members makes it easy to do just that. Clear and consice these personal how-to narratives offer the everyday activist guidelines for illiciting justice on their own terms. Each article includes additional tips and resources for every scenario. Chapters include Organize an issue specific voter registration drive, Make own media, Host a house party, Take action with/in your family, Let you money speak and more! The accessibility of this book leaves no room for excuses. A better tomorrow is possible today. All it takes is you. Authors include Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi.

A summary of the political contributions and business practices of hundreds of corporations, includeding info on political contributions, employee benefits and labor practices, lawsuits and investigations, and community and charitable programs and the like, which every conscientious consumer should know.

Saba's Selection

Catch a Fire: The Life of Bob Marley
By Timothy White

This is the comprehensive guide to understanding the cultivation of the man and musical icon known as Bob Marley. In this you will find information on his family relations and rearing, his influences (namely historical and political events in Jamaica and Ras Tafari Makonnen influence on Rastafarian beliefs), as well as his routed inspiration to write and produce socially conscious music for the down trodden. The most impressive facet regarding this book is White’s ability to relay his life through storytelling while also using an unforgettable first person vantage. Not to mention an entire chapter of an updated discography of Marley’s music.

APRIL 2006

10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military
Edited by Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg

You could absolutely save a life with this pocket-sized book. You might prevent a rape, a maiming, and a lot of trauma by buying the book and giving it to a person you know in high school or college. Or to a sympathetic teacher who could pass it around. This is because military recruiters are on the hunt for America’s youth and using underhanded means to get them into the military. And they don’t tell youth anything about the dangers to life and psyche. Each chapter of the book illustrates a different reason (e.g. “You May be Lied To,” “You May Suffer Long-Term Health Problems,” “You May Face Discrimination”) with detailed stories, solid evidence, and statistics--For example 60% of women in the military have said they were harassed or assaulted. In that chapter you will read the brief narratives of a few women who explain why it’s under-reported and what happened to a few who did report. Very unpleasant information; what a relief if the right person reads it in time.

Race to Incarcerate
By Marc Mauer

The incarceration rate in the United States has increased 600 percent from 1972 to 2004. One in 138 Americans are, have been, or will be imprisoned. However, rising rates of incarceration have not fostered a reduction in crime. Black men inordinately comprise prison populations, creating a culture of desensitized youths romanticizing this devastating trend. Prisons have in effect become holding cells for criminal activity. Brewing grounds rather than betterment centers. Mauer jam packs text with shocking statistical sound bites that alone make it a valuable read. Unprecedented for any industrialized nation, our prison population speaks volumes about true freedom in the United States. Until we demand reform and revised sentencing practices, Mauer’s evidence is in my opinion the true covenant with Black America, tomorrow’s foreseen promise for our children. If we do not advocate as Mauer suggests, for prison rehabilitation, we will once again be a sub-nation held captive, behind bars instead of in chains.

Conversations with Eritrean Political Prisoners
by Dan Connell

A new nation with ensuing border wars with its neighbor country Ethiopia, Eritrea has seen sweeping reform emerging in its own politics causing internal strife. Within the past several years government and military policies have left its people confused and moderate. Dan Connell has written numerous pieces on this growing state. Issues discussed are nationalist ideologies, international relations, allegiance and the biggest debate of when to incorporate a Constitution and instill democratic freedoms. The book includes dialogue with five political prisoners formerly part of the G-15 and open letters to the Peoples Front for Democracy and Justice.

The Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster

This novel again demonstrates that Paul Auster is a superior novelist and a writer at the top of his craft. Auster, a writer/director/producer, usually delves into the gloomier side of human nature, but in this novel Auster starts with an older man who has seemingly seen the better part of his life pass and has moved to Brooklyn to live out his days. The author, however, is the master of the plot twist, so he throws the protagonist back into the thick of life's follies. In perhaps his most joyous novel ever, Auster celebrates life in all of its twisted glory.

Buddha In Your Backpack: Everyday Buddhism for Teens By Franz Metcalf

‘Children first’ is more than instructions for loading lifeboats after a ship begins to sink. It is the single saving grace to our very humanity. Having children offers the ego immortality. It allows dreams to live beyond your life. It gives faith permanence and the indefinite security. We’re told, the children shall lead, yet we do very little beyond shipping them off to school for 8-plus hours a day to ensure they know where they’re going. In a time and place where war, violence and vice dominate our personal, political and spiritual agendas, investing in kids means buying X-Boxes and I pods. Investing has become synonymous with consumption, but what our children are truly hungry for is insight. Metcalf skillfully quenches this need in Buddha in Your Backpack, dedicated to and for the lives of teens. Perfect for the teenager in all of us, this book in true Buddhist fashion, does not try to preach to the reader, but rely on their experience. Sections include Homelife, School Issues, Your Body, Finding Your Own Path, Practical Exercises and more! Essential for that time in your life when you think you know all the answers but your parents want to make sure you do. An excellent backpack-stuffer for September, or sooner!

Children's Titles

Becoming Buddha: The Story of Siddhartha by Whitney Stewart and Sally Rippin and Buddha by Demi

Both of these beautiful children's books provide a captivating introduction to the story of Buddha. Stewart and Rippin provide strikingly, lush illustrations to accompany the story while Demi opts for more traditional, Chinese-influenced illustrations. The immediacy of Stewart and Rippin's illustrations make it more appropriate for a young audience, but the complex ideas about enlightenment (and human suffering) would be best grasped by kids who are 10 or older. The authors deal clearly with Siddharta's life and offer a brief introduction to the Four Noble Truths. As an extra bonus, The Dalai Lama wrote the introduction and offers a brief lesson on meditation. Demi's book is a much more detailed introduction to the story of Siddharta and probably best for kids who are older than 12. Her book includes not only an introduction to the Four Nobel Truths, but also a brief explanation of the Eightfold Path. The bonus of the Demi book is her inclusion of a couple of classic and memorable parables that kids will love.

The Hatseller and the Monkeys by Baba Wague Diakite

This is an "Authentic African Teaching Tale," but readers will recognize the story from many cultures. The outstanding features of this book are the ceramic tile paintings. Each page has a brilliant illustration and border to thrill readers, young and old. The simple message can be shared without ruining the ending of the book and it speaks to all of us: "It is with a full stomach that one thinks best, for an empty satchel cannot stand."

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears
by Verna Aardema,illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon

This classic picture book won the Caldecott Medal in 1976. This African tale about a gossipy mosquito is a great story about personal responsibility and our hand in nature and relationships. Verna Aardema's (an author who specializes in the re-telling of African folktales) use of onomatopoeia to enliven the actions of the animals is fun for all ages, but especially so for young children. Bright and bold illustrations by the brilliant team of Leo and Diane Dillon (winners of numerous awards including two Coretta Scott King Awards) make this book a must for anyone's library.

Who Got Game? The Lion Or The Mouse
By Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison

In Who Got Game? The Lion Or The Mouse, famed author Toni Morrison and her son Slade Morrison continue their popular series of reinterpreted Aesop fables. With bright and comic strip like illustrations by Pascal Lemaitre; the Morrisons weave a humorous and insightful tale about a cocky lion who bullies the subjects of his animal kingdom and considers himself invincible. Things change when he gets a thorn stuck in his paw and only the weakest and meekest of his subjects, a mouse, can help him. However, things change when the lion and the mouse switch roles. The Lion wants to leave his life as a bully behind, while the mouse begins to hunger for more, and more of his newfound power. Parents should find this book especially helpful when discussing bullying with their children; from the schoolyard to the larger world. For All Ages.

MARCH 2006

Poetry & Protest, A Dennis Brutus Reader
Edited by Lee Sustar and Aisha Karim

Like the Busboys and Poets project itself this book is smack dab right at the intersection between art and activism. Dennis Brutus was the imprisoned poet who alongside Nelson Mandela brought the Anti-apartheid Movement to international attention. This collect of poems, memoirs, essays and movement documents shows the many moments of illumination, of attack, of transformation in the life of the rebel, the prisoner, the exile, the cultural critic, the international activist. An example of one moment: he rejected poetry as literary as too removed from political struggle until he saw in W.H. Auden examples of how poetry could connect the personal and political - without becoming sloganeering. He soon wrote his first book of poems Sirens, Knuckles, Boots (1963) which won him international attention and almost earned him a few more years in prison.

Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins
By Carole Boston Weatherford with paintings by Jerome Lagarrigue

As the family of the narrator gets involved in the sit-in movement of 1960, readers of this beautiful picture book are treated to a history lesson that never gets too preachy. Despite the turbulence of the times, the justice of the story unfolds naturally and without compromise. The author includes passing references to Dr. King and the "N-double A-C-P," but is sure to emphasize the huge roles of students, activists, and voter registration during the events that led to the integration of lunch counters around the south. The lush, murky paintings evoke the memories of 5-and-dime, Jim-Crow America and act as the perfect illustrations for the Greensboro movement.

What Next: A Memoir Toward World Peace
By Walter Mosley

Mosley, already an important and prolific writer, takes his craft to another level by using the memoir as an activist guide. This short, easily digestible book is a plea/argument for an African-American peace movement; but, it is so much more for all readers. The personal anecdotes about his father and race are used as a launching point to help us understand the events of 9/11. Essentially, Mosley's understanding of world events is shaped by the historical treatment of African-Americans in this country. In the past, Malcolm X and Dr. King reminded us that the fight for social justice in this country is not isolated from US imperialism around the world. Mosley evokes those lessons and calls for a world justice/peace plan for the 21st century.

Borges and Eternal Orangutans
By Luis Fernando Verissimo
(Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa)

This slim mystery packs a huge literary punch for its size. The protagonist leads us to a Poe convention in Buenos Aires and then into the library of the great Borges. Of course, there is a murder along the way and our intrepid narrator is the one that discovers the body and provides the clues to the cops, the readers, and the ghoulishly clever Borges. Verissimo will please and entertain fans of Poe, Lovecraft, Borges, film noire, and international mysteries without making it too referential for a casual reader.

Walden
By Henry David Thoreau

Harboring many ideologies, the transcendental period led to this classic literature work. In Walden Thoreau creates his own world as he displaces himself from the influences of all society and documents his own observations on life. In his own solitude in the woods of Walden Pond he covers nature and all its aesthetics astutely before reuniting with civilized society. Walden was written nearly two centuries ago but its connectivity to the struggles of an overdeveloping society and man is also apparent. The struggle to choose between spiritual and material creations is clear and will be in the future, as Thoreau brilliantly predicted.

The Problem of the Media, U.S. Communication Politics in the 21st Century
by Robert McChesney

How did news media grow into the Mega-Cineplex that delivers captivating formulas and empty calories. Robert McChesney traces the history and unearths many surprises along the twisty path: For instance, how “objectivity” came about as a way for the Associated Press to maintain its exclusive hold on the telegraph. How the rise of “professionalism” in journalism helped shield owners and grow their monopolies. More than an engaging history, this book provides the necessary background and leverage points for media reformers.

JANUARY 2006

An Unreasonable Woman:
A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas
by Diane Wilson

Despite the Texas storyline, this is not a local book about a Texas problem. This book is for all of us - Diane Wilson spells it out - the giant chemical companies are poisoning our world from Texas to Taiwan . Wilson decided to fight the polluting of the Gulf and this is the story of her fight against big business. She tells of (and battles against) the government regulations that help corporations and put people and the environment at risk. An unreasonable woman, Wilson fights and organizes and fights some more. Through it all she uses the language and music of Faulkner to tell us about the war she is waging for us, the environment, the future, and lest we forget, the people of Bhopal .

As a companion title,
Nobody Particular: One Woman's Fight to Save the Bays by Molly Bang.
This is a graphic novel of Diane Wilson's story.

Grassroots Journalism
By Eesha Williams

This book both doubles as a guide and earnest dissertation of current media forums for activists and journalists alike. Comparing mass media consumption and its effects on our communities' social climates, it reminds us that journalism should not have been able to establish itself as an agenda forward medium. Recapping that this craft can become a tool to not only inform people of happenings and facts but to also justly maintain its service to the people who need voice the most, those who don't have one.

The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy
by Allan G. Johnson

Written by a self-identified white male of privilege who is keenly aware of his inheritance of such privilege and the need to be an agent for change, this book tackles the tricky and largely unspoken truth of being raised in a "male-identified, male-dominated, male-centered society" and its long-lasting and damaging effects on not only women, but on men themselves and the damage men do to each other and the rest of humanity in the name of patriarchy. Using the examples of other forms of oppression that many face in our society (racism, classism, homophobia, etc...) and highlighting how systems based on control and power can only ever create the need for even more control and power, the author makes a compelling case for the need of both women and men to acknowledge this deeply ingrained system of gender oppression and to actively make changes in our lives and our systems to bring about an end to power struggles of all kinds and a profound change for humanity and our most intimate relations with each other. Absolutely a must read for anyone who wants to be involved in the serious work of self-healing and social justice.

The New Black Man
by Marc Anthony Neal

From the first glance at the title Professor Mark Anthony Neal's newest publication "New Black Man", one might immediately attempt to place it under the category of yet another "Strong Black Man" testimonial. But not so fast, in this groundbreaking text, Neal contends its time to recreate the generations old ideal of the "strong black man" which although created with good intentions, is a rigid model that more often than not justifies the oppression of women and children. Neal is calling for a revolutionary change, a movement beyond patriarchy, where black masculinity meets feminism and makes lifelong friends.

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Say Something

Being quiet isn't enough. Say Something encourages youth to dismiss passive trends of silence as the solution and be the change they want. This book demonstrates not only how being silent in the shadow of bullying only perpetuates it, but how to effectively speak up and implement safe space at your school.

Black All Around

Sets out to debunk the myth of the color ‘black' as the costume for all things negative. Unlike other books that address this same topic, Black All Around celebrates the multitude of beautifully black things rather than reinforces how the color black is often depicted as “bad” in the English language. The illustrations alone successfully accomplish this feat!

Please Baby Please

A favorite for both young and old! Spike & Tonya Lewis Lee use of the time-honored choral effect invites children to participate in reading. The relatable text coupled with beautifully life-like illustrations will entertain both parent and young read along-er! Perfect for the parent of a two year old!

Be Boy Buzz

Bell Hooks excellent use of cadence, rhythm, rhyme and alliteration allow the young learner to easily develop sounds and be an active part of story time. Great for a busy bodied tots!

2021 14th St. NW, Washington, DC
two blocks from the Cardozo/U Street Metro.
Contact: General Manager Don Allen 202.387.POET

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Busboys and Poets.

"I loved the art, books, stage, plans, whimsical touches, comfy seats, superb wait staff, top flight food, in a word the whole exciting place!"
-- Kathryn Williams, art teacher, Norwood School.

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--Gregory Webb, Executive Director NM Commission for Community Volunteerism