Staff Picks - Archive

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

Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports
By Dave Zirin

With his third book, Welcome to the Terrordome, Dave Zirin establishes himself as a leading commentator on class and race issues. Of course, people could say that Zirin is a sports writer that just happens to deal with sociological issues, but they would probably be wrong and underestimating his writing skills. He uses the corporate-dominated, flag waving, over-hyped, sports-industrial complex to make incredibly insightful observations about an unjust world that is rarely covered by mainstream media, let alone sports media. Not surprisingly, one of the points that Zirin makes is that sports (with hundreds of millions of fans and followers worldwide) can be the portal through which we can analyze and discuss the ills of class disparity and systemic racism.

For most of us, the title of the book is a clear reference to the Public Enemy hit of the late 80’s; therefore it should come as no surprise that the legendary Chuck D wrote the forward to this book. In the forward he illustrates that his early infatuation with sports paved the way for his brilliance as a social commentator and as the creator of the “Terrordome” metaphor. Zirin takes the metaphor and runs with it in his introduction– taking us to the New Orleans superdome, a multi-million dollar sports facility that was turned into “the homeless shelter from Hell.” From this beginning we see Zirin is quite adept at pointing out the absurdity of our nation’s priorities. Millions of dollars were spent to repair the Superdome so that the New Orleans Saints could have a feel-good, sold-out homecoming on Monday night football while thousands of New Orleans residents could not return to their homes because of uncaring, governmental bureaucracy and incompetence. It doesn’t take a social scientist to guess the color of the majority of the faces filling the Superdome on that Monday night or the racial make-up of the displaced and homeless of New Orleans. It does take a writer like Zirin to help drive the point home, using the intersection of sports and society to illustrate that we are not living in a just society.

Unlike his first book, What’s My Name Fool: Sports and Resistance in the United States, Zirin uses “Terrordome” to go beyond the U.S. borders to explore the international sports scene, looking for cracks in the multi-million dollar façade so that he can crack it open and expose the greed, corruption, hypocrisy, and injustice lurking beneath the surface. As perhaps the ugliest example of the aforementioned undesirable traits, the International Olympic Committee takes the gold, literally, as graft is the norm rather than the exception. Zirin demonstrates that Hitler’s 1936 Olympics were a model to be emulated every 4 years, despite the fact that the sports media would like us to believe that the Olympics are an oasis where politics are non-existent and only people matter. Luckily, in addition to exposing myths and lies, Zirin is just as talented at celebrating heroes. While exploring the terrordome that is the Olympics, he again puts Tommie Smith and John Carlos up on the platform, demonstrating that their raised fists were like uppercuts to the belly of the Olympic beast.

No discussion of this book would be complete without a discussion of a chapter called “Barry Bonds Gonna Git Your Mama: When Steroids Attack.” A few amazing things happen in this chapter. First, Zirin lists a plethora of reasons to account for baseball’s power surge, illustrating the negligible impact of steroids; Next, Zirin is able to demonstrate that the so-called steroid scandals that are rocking the sports world (especially baseball) are a hysteria that criminalizes the wrong parties. In other words, if steroids were systemic and even encouraged by owners and management, why are individual players demonized? He dares to wonder why individual players were called before congress, but no owners, general managers, or coaches. Even better, “Barry Bonds asked why Congress had time to investigate steroids while people were dying in New Orleans.” Barry Bonds is, of course, the most amazing part of this chapter. While many sports fans have willingly made Bonds into some sort of steroid-popping ogre, Zirin clearly makes the case that many of the attacks on Bonds are racist and disgusting. While Bonds can often be gruff, he is unbelievably quotable: “[Are] steroids cheating? You want to define cheating in America? When they make a shirt in Korea for $1.50 and sell it here for $500 bucks and you ask me what cheating means?” As is the case throughout the book, Zirin seems to know exactly when to quote his subjects to illustrate his points.

Recommended for anyone interested in social justice, this book ranges far and wide, past and present (up to the Imus slur of the women’s basketball team at Rutgers) to demonstrate that sport is a mirror of society. While there is injustice and racism in the wide world of sports, there are athletes that are willing to take a stand, just as there are activists and organizations battling imperialism and corporate greed around the world. Zirin, as mentioned earlier, does a stellar job of celebrating socially conscious athletes. Because of the popularity of sports, we should all be encouraging these athletes to use their platform to speak truth to power. Dave Zirin understands how important this intersection of sport and politics is – we should listen to him. Each chapter of this book uses sports or athletes to begin a larger discussion about our society and, more often than not, Zirin demonstrates that we have some class and race issues to resolve in our world.

Benetton ads, Pro-golf champions, even Democratic presidential candidates and American Idol winners have been unable to debunk the myth of the tragic mulatto. However, in Fade: My Journeys in Multicultural America, biracial author Elliott Lewis finally has.

The first step to truly understanding the social construction of race in America is to recognize its subjectivity. Profiling does not happen to those who claim to be black (Arab, Latino/a, Gay), but those who appear to be. Therefore the ambiguous appearance of most biracial/multiracial persons leaves those viewing them rather perplexed. What are you? (the aptly titled first chapter of Lewis’ book) is the question most routinely asked of the seven million people that checked more than one racial category on the 2000 Census. This inquiry stems from the English language’s strict rigidity which leaves little room for indistinguishable races, and even less room for self-definition. Entrenched in dichotomous thinking, we are linguistically prejudiced. Our very system of defining words is dependent upon our ability to offer their opposite for comparison. So what happens when who you are is both the synonym and antonym combined? Tragic? Not anymore.

Lewis reveals to the monoracial reader how multiracial people are anything but the time-honored stereotype of the tragic mulatto. He demonstrates rather quite the opposite. Despite the legal and social structures set out against them, multiracial people have prevailed centuries of racism, and dis-inclusion from their families and their government. Like many of the biracial authors before him, Lewis links identity formation in mixed race people to the socio-political context of their developmental years, their physical appearance and the demographics of their community. These factors, which influence multicultural identity development, shift over time. Pre-civil rights biracials were simply black. The one drop rule was adopted in both de facto practice and de jure. The late 1960s elimination of miscegenation laws paved the way for a new era of mixing--- making it legal. However, these children of the rainbow as Lewis calls them, although legally permissible, still found little to no social acceptance. It is the commodification of multiculturalism in the last twenty years that has created what Lewis deems a multicultural political movement, leading to passing of Directive 15 in California which forced schools to acknowledge the blended heritage of its students, and subsequently the revision of the 2000 Census to include more than one racial category.

Lewis exposes the fallacy of race through both scientific analysis and his extensive interviews with other multi-identifying persons which plainly reveal the unification of ideas and experiences across racial mixes. His cleverly named chapters (Don’t Adjust Your Television I’m Biracial, The Chameleon Effect, Come to Your Census) and well-thought layout, aids the reader in conceptualizing life on racial borders--- marginalized, unaccepted and undefined. He also includes a wonderful review of several multiracial organizations serving the biracial community, an annotated resource guide full of associations, websites and books on biracial identity, and a section entitled “My Survival Guide” which includes Maria Root’s “Bill of Rights for Racially Mixed People,” a 2-page pictorial graph of biracial identity variation, his very own “Declaration of Independence for Multiracial People,” and my two personal favorites, “ The Game of Life for Highly Multiracial People” and the “Top Ten Signs You’re Living the Multiracial Experience.”

A must read for anyone beginning a blended family, and a validating read for anyone who has come from one. Lewis writes, Again, life in that gray area between perception meaning everything [and] nothing is a balancing act---one that he accomplishes overtly well in his analysis of this ever fluid and shifting journey.

Building Powerful Community Organizations:
A Personal Guide to Creating Groups That Can Solve Problems and Change the World
By Michael Jacoby Brown

Building Powerful Community Organizations is the perfect gift for any activist or person interested in the health of her or his community or already existing organization. It is an all-in-one, how-to for organizing. And by all-in-one, I really mean it. Recently, I recommended this book to a bookstore customer who was starting a new animal rights organization. A few days later he came back to thank me saying that the workbook exercises really helped him develop the mission, bylaws, and a plan for the first 6 months.

This book has a little bit of theory, a lot of worksheets (one, for example, to help you determine your organization's purpose), and practical advice on every step of the way. For instance, at one point the author says organizing is building an organization and building good leaders.

Here are examples of some of the chapters and subsections:
• Ch. 1. What Is Community Organizing, Anyway? (Subsection: Community Organizing: Power, Self-Interest, and Relationships)
• Ch. 2 Step by Step – Building a Community Organization
• Ch. 4 Structure: How to Build Your Organization to Last ( Structure Matters)
• Ch. 6 How to Recruit: The Nuts and Bolts (Listen. Don't Sell) (How to Recruit for A Task)
• Ch. 7 The Way to Develop Power Is to Develop Leaders (The Iron Rule of Organizing)
The book is very readable because it is laid out well with a lot of graphic variety. Every few pages there are very appropriate and motivational quotes and longer passages from other activists relating their experiences. And it's only $19.95 plus tax – a real deal considering that Michael Brown packed 30 years of experience and wisdom into one book.

The prolific essayist, professor, and thirty-something historian, William Jelani Cobb is back with his second collection of essays in less than a year. Entitled The Devil and Dave Chappelle, Cobb’s compilation contains over 10 years worth of his best essays and interviews, which cover the broad spectrum that is the African –American experience. His topics range from his visually stunning essay of Million Man March of 1995 to a deeply personal essay about his own experience of becoming a step- father and struggling to remain an influence on the child’s life after the marriage dissolved.

Pointed and poignant, Cobb takes on a flurry of issues with biting humor and compassion, especially in his essay entitled, “Lifecycle Of A Butterfly,” where Cobb skillfully separates the man from the myth that has become Muhammad Ali and brings to light the irony behind the now mainstream acceptance of a man who was once vilified in sports and mainstream media. Cobb’s work is stellar in this collection and he’s most effective when he dispels long-standing thought-to-be-true rumors with cold hard historic facts. Oh, and Dave Chappelle is in there too.
Reviewed by Derrick Weston Brown

Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas explores the artwork of Emory Douglas, a revolutionary artist for the Black Panther Party’s official newspaper. After the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, the Black Panther Party emerged out of anger, defiance and a necessary need to organize Black People and Black Thought. The emergence of the Panthers along with the development of their paper, The Black Panther, signaled a period of important political thought, activism, and art in the US. At the cutting edge of art and politics, Douglas, who designed and illustrated stark political and social realities throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, brought vivid, bold and uncompromising artwork to the paper and movement. With slogans like “In Revolution one wins, or one dies,” his art denoted the Black Panther Party and their truths. Using symbolic pig caricatures to represent oppressive powers and authorities, his subjects included white supremacy on the moon, US Imperialism, Zionism, and Black Liberation. I recommend this book to art enthusiasts, but mostly to those interested in learning the dimensions of revolution and the historical depiction of black struggle through art.

Beyond the Bake Sale: The Essential Guide to Family-School Partnerships by Anne T. Henderson, Karen L. Mapp, Vivian R. Johnson, and Don Davies

Family-school-community partnerships are not always easy to form and certainly take a lot of tender loving care to maintain, but it can be done says Henderson, and done bridging racial, socio-economic, and language differences. The author stresses that putting the child at the center of everyone’s attention, and intentions, while fostering a respect for the needs and strengths of each person involved in the life of a child is the way to think about and begin these partnerships.

The book is a great resource of checklists (i.e. “How Well Is Your School Bridging Racial, Class and Cultural Differences?”), surveys (i.e. “School Climate Survey”) and extremely practical ideas that can be used right away by parents, educators, and community members who want to be involved, bring their school communities closer and make change happen.

This amazing piece of literature is not an autobiography or a novel, yet it is both. Understanding the contradiction only begins the process of grasping the unbelievable journey that Eggers takes us on. This first person account of atrocities is so horrific that the reader wishes it were a piece of fiction, but it is not. Strangely, the matter-of-fact storytelling eases the pain, but the sadness and melancholy of the narrator rings so true that readers will know that despite incredible plot twists, the events of the book really happened and the world let them happen.

Eggers’ narrator, Valentino Achak Deng, is one of the storied Lost Boys of Sudan. Eggers and Deng clearly spent hundreds of hours together to get this story told. Born to Dinka parents in Southern Sudan, Deng’s early life was bucolic and illuminating. It is here that we learn of the Dinka creation myth from which the book takes its title. The Dinka were given the choice between cattle and “The What.” Of course, they took cattle because cattle make a family rich and provide everything that one could want. What is “The What?” Well, “The What” becomes the subtle metaphor that pops up throughout the life of Achak. What makes soldiers attack his village? What makes the boys walk to Ethiopia? What do they think they will find there? What horrors will they see along the way? What drives the refugees from Ethiopia to Kenya? What dreams do they have living in a refugee camp of 40,000 people? What awaits a Sudanese refugee in the United States? What happens next?

Perhaps some of those questions have been answered in any number of non-fiction books and movies that have been released about Sudan. Perhaps not. But what we have in this “novel” is an insider’s view of history. This history tells about Dinka who lived in Kukuma, the refugee camp in Kenya, for 10 years or more – longer than they actually lived in their home land. These refugees, mostly boys, were driven from their homes and their parents and they walked for hundreds (perhaps thousands?) of miles before they were 10 years old. What kind of crazy adult world allows this to happen?

Dave Eggers has written an incredible book, but Valentino Achak Deng has lived an even more incredible life. This is a “novel” that can be recommended without reservation, not because it is a great read (which it is), but because everyone can learn from it. For young readers it is a window into a world that is hard to comprehend. For adults it takes us behind the news headlines and statistics. For educators it is a book to launch a hundred meaningful lessons and discussions. For all of us, it is a lesson about the horrors of war and the cruelty of humankind. After reading this book, you will feel such empathy for the people of Southern Sudan that you will want to try harder to be a better human being and to do more to stop the madness of the world’s so-called leaders.

Flowers Blooming Against A Bruised Sky: A Hedgebrook Writer’s Series Book By Uchechi Kalu

To open her debut collection of poetry, Flowers Blooming Against A Bruised Sky, writer, educator, and performer, Uchechi Kalu dedicates her poems to “those who fall down and find the strength to get back up again” and to the poet/activist June Jordan. With such a powerful invocation, the reader should not be surprised by the raw emotion that seeps from the achingly personal poems, that the Nigerian born but Texas and Massachusetts raised Kalu has crafted.

Broken into six sections: Clash With The American Dream, Today I Take Back My Name, Tasting Home, T’ang Poems, Shedding Skin, and Dancing With My Brother, Kalu’s voice rings out strong and clear through each and every one of her sixty plus poems. Considering the amount of tragedy she has endured during her 29 years of life; being molested by her older brother, watching her mother beaten by her father, and the loss her baby brother to an automobile accident, one would expect such pain to eventually silence any form of resistance and recovery.

But Kalu’s poems avoid the usual pitfalls of false hope and anufactured happy endings, relying instead on sobering reality, which is never fully optimistic or pessimistic. For every poem of loss; “ Somebody came for my brother/ spilled his body across the freeway/ so he never made it to eighteen” there are poems of razor sharp wit such as Kalu’s “In Response To Anyone That thinks I’m not African Enough”

There are also some stunningly sensual love poems as well, such as this one, which is written in the T’ang arrangement, an ancient Chinese poetic form from the T’ang Dynasty.

In all, Kalu has produced a masterful debut book of poems that reads nothing like a first time offering. There is pain, outrage, tenderness, rage, love, and above all, bottomless strength throughout. Uchechi Kalu definitely succeeds in exemplifying the definition of a poet offered by the famous Sufi poet Hafiz, as “someone who can pour light into a spoon, then raise it to nourish our beautiful parched mouths.”

In a society that celebrates the individual, it is difficult to see the interconnectedness of life. Individuality in fact, is a myth. We are all dependent upon more than our mere bodies can supply, and yet we consciously disconnect ourselves from the larger responsibilities that should dictate our lives. We hunger and yet we are disconnected from the famine of the world. We thirst and yet we are disconnected from the eminent water crisis three stages post-looming. We procreate and yet we do not invest in the education or healthcare of our own flesh.

In Being Peace Thich Nhat Hanh argues that we live in a peace-less world because individually, we lack peace. We are so withdrawn from our spiritual self that we are in a state of internal conflict that has spilled out onto our ecosystems, our school systems, even our peace movements! How can we wage peace without being peaceful? Why would we expect George W. to hear our war cries when we are non-empathetic to his lies? We must take personal responsibility for the state of the world today. We must take personal responsibility for the fact that our president stole an election to win his seat and we allowed him to. We must take responsibility for the fact that our American values have created a man who can get C’s in college and yet lead a nation to war, and moreover we allowed him to. We must take responsibility or it will happen again.

Nhat Hanh demonstrates how incorporating mindful meditation into every aspect of daily life is critical to attaining a peaceful world. He claims that if we do not work toward an internal peace first and foremost, then there will be no world to then make peaceful. He argues that Western philosophies post-pone peace. Americans often view peace as a state of being achieved upon death. He claims however, that peace is available to all here and now, and achieving it takes only simple but consistent implementations, particularly awareness. This alone will lead us to a more peaceful planet. “…when you eat a peace of bread, you may choose to be aware that our farmers, in growing the wheat, use chemical poisons a little too much. Eating the bread, we are somehow co-responsible for the destruction of our environment. We can increase our awareness of the fact that 40,000 (more now) children die each day from hunger.”

Peace is not a destination, it is an act. We must have ownership of our environments, our communities, our futures. So long as you deem “it” (war, peace, racism, education, slavery’s second coming better known as the American prison system) someone else’s problem, the faster it will become your own. Virginia Tech, Fallujah, the melting polar ice caps, all are our backyards. We do not solely reside in a neighborhood, we inhabit a planet. We must be mindful of the roles we play all the time, not just on election days. To achieve peace, you must first be peace. Are you?

In The Endgame Volume One: The Problem with Civilization, Derrick Jensen creates a series of premises, which are instrumental to understanding his views about the relation between humans, the Earth, and the idea of a "cultivated" form of civilization.

According to Jensen the purpose of industrialized
civilization is economical end or gain. This includes Western
societies in which material production and acquisition of wealth are the motivating factors of its inhabitants. Preservation of land and careful, equitable distribution of resources are not priorities, but they could create sustainable civilizations if they were. Ultimately, Jensen has us question whether or not the system that has been implemented according to Western and Industrial ideals and standards is the definitive way of living.

"Premise Twenty: Within this culture, economics-not
community well being, not morals, not ethics, not
justice, not life itself-drives social decisions."

Are we simply serving ourselves and our individual nations and societies? In recent times, a civil society should be responding to the creation and use of nuclear and uranium weapons in and throughout history and the rampant, sporadic moments of violence. Being civil would indicate that a society and its people are free from violence, ignorance and injustice, yet this does not describe the world in which all humans currently reside.

The Endgame asks "Do we, as inhabitants of the Earth,
even know the game?" This is recommended reading for
all people interested in creating a change to a conscientious and truly natural form of living. If we completely destroy the system implemented, chaos would, for sure, ensue. To what extent can we find solutions to the problems that prevent a truly "civil" and just civilization for all living things? In The Endgame Jensen argues that life and earth are one and in the future neither will exist without the other. Jensen believes individuals must strive to be the microcosm of this.

Guerrilla Gardening: A Manualfesto
by David Tracey

This is a well designed and visually pleasing book with lots of attitude. It inspires people to reclaim the city, even parts that don't belong to them, and make them green and more environmentally sound. The book itself is laid out well with many elements - photos, tips, interesting factual sidebars, poetry and nature quotes that put people in touch with the environment, as well as Audubon style graphics of plants, seeds, roots, etc. ($19.95, New Society Publishers)

Reviewed by Mark Cimino

With all of the condominium development in and around DC, there are many neighborhoods that could be chosen as a case study for the ill effects of gentrification on long-time residents; however, for a study of culture clashes, Mt. Pleasant is an inspired choice for an ethnography. Modan's Turf Wars examines the long term effects and multiple waves of gentrification that have hit the neighborhood and presents a history of the various ethnicities within the community. Currently, Mt. Pleasant is most often identified as a predominately Spanish-speaking community, but Modan takes us beneath the surface to explore the ways that language is used as a way to attain status or credentials within the neighborhood. Her case studies, interviews, and experiences around Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights, and Adams Morgan give readers a tremendous amount of insight into a neighborhood with a history of flux. Mt. Pleasant is an extremely dynamic neighborhood, but Modan captures the many layers, giving readers the feeling that they have gained deeper understanding.

In 1967, two years into the war, Howard Zinn presented his compelling argument for immediate withdrawal from East Asia in Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal. Anthony Arnove beckons readers to weigh the similarities in that nightmare with the United States' latest and deadliest imperial escapade in the Middle East. The undeniable common sense in this 125-page read makes the logic of continuing the occupation visible through the lens of the few millionaires who have only more wealth to gain from "victory" in Iraq. However, the author goes even further into explaining why American aggression is not just ruining millions of Iraqi lives, but even U.S. tax-payers are feeling the consequences of the "war on terror." The land of the free have slipped 17 places in regards to civil liberties since 2002 after the Patriot Act was passed and warrantless government phone-tapping became public. Mississippi National Guard troops were in Baghdad when they and their equipment could have been assisting in Katrina relief in New Orleans. Close to 3,060 American troops have died,(not to mention the additional 650 private contractors) and millions more are affected by the horrors perpetuated by hegemonic aspirations in and around Iraq.

Arnove reminds the reader that the American people have nothing to lose from leaving Iraq. 1 million Vietnamese and 30,000 U.S. troops died between 1967 and 1973. Vietnam vets spoke out, people hit the streets and Congress cut funds enabling that war. Iraq:The Logic of Withdrawal convincingly illustrates why "staying the course" is unacceptable and Troops Out Now is the only avenue available.

Buddha or Bust: In Search of Truth, Meaning, Happiness and the Man Who Found Them All

The author, on assignment for National Geographic, turns his research on the modern engaged Buddhism movement from professional work to pilgrimage covering the Buddha’s journey and beyond. From the jacket, How can the Buddha’s teachings help us solve many of the world’s problems? Garfinkel, who is Jewish, unexpectedly begins his assignment in Auschwitz. In many places, some seemingly unlikely, he meets those who use Buddhism not only as a personal spiritual guide, but as a vehicle for social change.

Understanding what it means to be Black is a distinction in life that in many ways is unavoidable to anyone true to his or her history. Deciding whether Obama's current position in the political world as a Senator and potential Presidential candidate would seem to be enough to find this book alluring, but what are his thoughts, politics aside? Born from a Kenyan father and White mother, his memoir is reflectively sharp, especially in his many conversations on race and identity in America. For Obama the lines are blurred and this contradiction is truthfully profound and worthy of documenting. While definitely engaging and at times, reminiscent of my own thoughts and experiences as an African woman, Obama grapples to strip his many cultural biases as he tries to understand himself.

Dancing on Live Embers investigates how racism, White power, and privilege work in the ordinary, daily moments of organizational life. [from the introduction]. This is not a theory book but a workbook or tool book that contains many exercises, how-tos and scenarios. For instance here are some chapter headings, Getting Beyond Training--Proving It’s Racism, Getting to How Things Work Bargaining for Equity, Working while Black and Muslim. Organizations are not in public view but how much of our lives are spent inside them or under their effects? This book is not about surviving them or suing them but changing them.

Haskins and Benson provide a fantastic introduction to the Civil Rights Movement through the story of John Lewis. In the telling of Lewis' story, the authors take young readers deep into the struggle, detailing Lewis' battles as a Freedom Rider and as one of the leading marchers on the road to Montgomery from Selma. From an early age, Lewis was clearly a leader, but the authors always emphasize that Lewis believed that it was a movement that required people to stay united against the violence of the white power structure in the south. Within the context of the story, readers will learn of SNCC, the Voting Rights Act, and other important facets of the movement. Flashing ahead to current day, students will learn that young John Lewis became Congressman Lewis, a role model for all of us. Andrews' dramatic paintings are the perfect accompaniment to the story, but some of the images predicate the reality of violence, making this book best for kids over 8.

In an era where celebrities dominate the airwaves, we consciously critique their behavior and place blame for the roles they do (or do not) model. Muhammad Ali came of age during the onset of this mass media furor --his actions telecast worldwide for all to see, and ultimately ridicule. What happened however, was quite the opposite! Inspiring an entire generation, this rappin’ revolutionary employed youth to stand-up, speak-out, and unquestionably fight for what they believe. More than an athlete, this legendary boxer AND lyrical genius challenged everything from politics and prose to war and religion. Complete with archival footage of Ali’s self-spit loquaciousness, (as well as other celebrity reenactments, including Chuck D, Sydney Poitier, Bill Maher, and more) the film arguably documents this world champion’s rhythmic role in the creation of today’s “pop” --- RAP.

It is only fitting that Remica L. Bingham’s award winning debut collection of poetry Conversion, opens up with a famous quote by the writer, activist, and essayist James Baldwin. “Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.”

Not many can articulate or define an emotion as eloquently as Baldwin does, but Remica Bingham manages to do the same within her stellar collection of 41 carefully crafted poems. Broken into three sections, in the first, Bingham makes the brave move of inviting the reader to witness achingly intimate moments of personal love and loss, involving her relationships with her members of her family. In the poem Gratitude, she writes of her daily visits to see her Grandmother now a resident of Autumn Care Nursing Home, and how she provides the kind of care that only a granddaughter and woman can give.

I remove my grandmother’s blouse, unfasten her bra and slide
My nails from the nape of her neck down to her buttocks
Until white lines, like lightning, cover her skin.

She is silent. This tells me I am finally doing something useful. I
Warm lotion with my palms and lather it onto her back until she
Says what I came to hear –that feels some kinda good- her gratitude:
measured and easy. My acceptance: each day’s return.

In the second section, Bingham dons the voices of several different personas in order to dig below the surface of such timeless issues of racism, sexism and war. In the poem 1955: Snapshot in Black And White, Bingham writes in the voice of an African-American soldier dreading his return to the South after being stationed in Europe and having to leave his German love behind. In another poem entitled, The Third King Dreams, she takes on the voice of Martin Luther king Jr.’s son, Martin the Third, and provides an agonizing account of his own fear of assassination. Then there is her series of poems about Sergeant C. Rosales, some are written in the voice of his wife, stateside while he is serving in the current Iraq war. The other poems are written in a heart wrenching narrative by Bingham, each a painful reminder of the costs both soldier and family must pay during a war:

looking for plastic-rimmed glasses
behind journalists searching
for a glimpse of auburn
skin and small pointed nose

In Conversion, Bingham writes with a voice and control that is likened to someone who is mindful that all things change in time. Be it the surroundings of one’s world or the people within it, this is a collection of mindful and beautiful poetry that invites, envelopes and embraces in love.

In their new book, Static, the Goodman siblings exercise (quite effectively, again) the power of independent journalism. Their first book, Exception to the Rulers, was a bestseller and an outstanding demonstration of the power of the press and this book picks up where that one left off. Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now has turned into a media phenomenon (nearly 500 outlets), but the book format may be the most effective way for her to get the stories out to the public. The Goodmans are able to tell the stories that get quashed by the mainstream media and paint the full picture of the lies that pass for news. The chapter on Haiti’s Aristide is a perfect example of Goodman journalism. First they expose the government lie (he was overthrown by pro-Democracy forces). Then, they tell the true story (he was actually forced into exile by the US, practically kidnapped). Finally, they are able to give a first-hand account to fill in the details. In this case, Ms. Goodman was actually on the plane that brought Aristide back into the western hemisphere from his US forced exile in Africa. Two-thirds of the book will make the reader angry (and it should), but the final third is about people that fight back, giving us hope and inspiring us to do the same.

Enter the Earth is the first of a new series of books geared to early readers and published by the notable environmental publishing house, Chelsea Green. If the first book is any indication of things to come, these books will be enjoyed by young adults as well as the recommended “9 and up” target audience. In this book Elizabeth is the first of the Gaia Girls to discover that she has been granted special powers by a living embodiment of Mother Earth. Young Elizabeth must learn to use her powers responsibly to help Gaia survive the effects of modern humanity. In this case she must help save her community from a huge factory farm that wants to take over all of the neighboring farmland, including her family’s organic farm. This book combines a very humorous, enjoyable story with the message that we all must work together to save the Earth from forces that destroy.

This book is everything that the title implies, a beautiful coffee-table book with photographs of some most amazing trees on the planet. With some brief descriptions and essays added to the mix, this book just delivers stunning photographs. There are trees that have grown over previous trees, trees that intertwine with human buildings, trees of amazing shape and proportion, and trees that have just survived. For the nature lovers in the family, this is the perfect gift book (as long as they don’t think too long about the number of trees that went into the making of the book).

This book explores culture clash in an extremely gripping and well-written narrative about the care of a Laotian/Hmong child diagnosed with acute epilepsy. The battle begins between understanding and respecting an extremely distinct and strong Eastern culture and the adherence here in the U.S. to modern theories and practices of Western medicine. Though both sides ultimately want what is best for this child the inability to bridge the cultural gaps results in tragedy.

I Didn't Do It For You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation
by Michela Wrong

Located in the Horn of Africa, Eritrea a newly sovereign nation, just celebrating its 15th anniversary endured thirty years of a brutal war with its neighbor Ethiopia. Notably this recollection by Wrong of a history of colonization, oppression and rebellion brings light to the abuses of "Super Power" countries, negligence of organizations like the United Nations and corrupted African leaderships lead by monarchism. All of these conditions are responsible for a birth of a nation through revolution. Eritrea’s response to such historical events and its geopolitical role dictated its perseverance for its own freedom and truth; a small group of people whom despite the odds, won in the end.

Reviewed by Saba Sebhatu

On page 258: Studies show changing from a dark colored shingle or roofing to a light colored one can decrease air conditioning up to 40%. At almost 600 pages, this book is a compendium of very appealing solutions to the all kinds of small local problems that have huge significance. Energy savings contribute to cooling the earth. Cost-cutting at home gives you moola for other uses. And healthy living cuts down on a lot of health spending later on. Pages covered with many web resources, these solutions cover the spectrum: remodeling, health, hybrid cars, collaboration tools, underground literature, plyboo (plywood from bamboo), the corporate fallout detector, and legislative theatre. An interesting & fun book that will pay for itself and make an excellent Kwanzaa or Winter Solstice gift!

Callaloo: The Hip-Hop Music and Culture Issue
Volume 29, Number 3

At long last, the famous African-American literary Journal Callaloo has released its highly anticipated issue on the culture that is Hip Hop. Founded in 1976 in Baton Rouge Louisiana, but currently produced out of Texas A&M University, Callaloo has been one of the longest running and prestigious African-American literary journals for the last 30 years. Hip-Hop has also turned 30, and within that time it has gone from a style of music, dress, speak, and life, to a billion dollar industry and world changing force. But in part that may not be a good thing.

Edited by poet and scholar Kyle Dargan, this issue is a old school mix tape of poetry, literary and cultural criticism, visual art, and interviews and conversations with some of the best, brightest and notorious African-American poets, educators, and emcees. The list of contributors reads as follows, Michael Eric Dyson, feminist scholar and journalist Joan Morgan, Saul Williams, Toure', underground female MC Jean Grae, and stunning photography by Washington D.C.'s own Jati Lindsay.

In addition to these famous names, what makes this issue so outstanding is the fact that Hip-Hop as a culture is given a full and thorough critical breakdown and not the usual nostalgic once-over where 30 year old purists moan and groan about the good ol' days. Instead hip hop is treated like the grown up it has become and almost no stone is left unturned. On the real, in particular interviews folks seriously put on the boxing gloves and have some serious sparring sessions on the worth of Hip-Hop, its positives and its negative issues, but even more so, what to do to keep Hip-Hop alive and uplifting.

Believe you me, there is enough brain food in this journal to keep you full for days, and it also is good fuel for great discussions on Hip-Hop's past, present, and future. This jounal is a must have. Yes, Yes ya'll.

Reviewed by Derrick Weston Brown

Since Venezuela’s Fifth Republic President Hugo Chavez suggested Noam Chomsky’s 2003 bestseller at the United Nations, bookstores around the globe are ordering replacement copies to restore bare shelves. Besides boosting his sales, Chavez has also introduced Chomsky to a waking international audience. His accurate portrayal and interpretation of the war in Iraq has aroused interest everywhere, allowing the curious readers to rip off the scab of lies for themselves, and assess a sub-culture of fallacy and a myriad of deception.

Chomsky, a name synonymous with contemporary linguistics, is also one of the most lucid instructors of understanding whose interests are being taken into deliberation when it comes to American domestic and foreign policies. It has been implicit that the Middle East holds the “world’s major energy sources, understood since World War II to be a ‘stupendous source of strategic power’.” For others who are coming to terms with resisting the White House’s rescue-the-day explanation of why we are “liberating” Iraq and beyond, the argument that the United States’ avarice is the cause of 92 deaths and climbing in the month of October, is facilitated with Hegemony or Survival, along with other books in The American Empire Project series. According to the author, an Imperial Grand Strategy was unveiled by the Bush administration in September of 2002. Evil-genius Karl Rove is behind the president’s plutocratic business endeavor in the east, the latest in a monstrous history of institutionalized iniquity. Chomsky takes measures to observe the status quo through an alternative and less popular view, apparent when referencing the Bush’s as I and II. A detail reminiscent of royalty in an empire, and used deliberately, as are the countless borrowed thoughts this manipulator of words uses to support with credibility his anti-imperialistic view.

Rather than dare you to be productive with this important information, he encourages you to be. Chomsky not only makes you look at the open wound that is our society, but also forces you to notice how fast the blood is running. To flip this coin, recommended solutions are given. We are the “second superpower” which is to say as United States citizens, our role in world public opinion is special and should be taken advantage of. As the hearts and minds that were unethically won long ago begin to turn, we remember our history of resistance, as professor Chomsky reminds us, and he leaves us with the thoughts of Bertrand Russell: After ages in which the world produced harmless trilobites and butterflies, evolution progressed to the point at which it has generated Neros, Genghis Khans, and Hitlers. This, however, I believe is a passing nightmare; in time the earth will become again incapable of supporting life, and peace will return.

Deconstructing Tyrone offers the feminine view of the masculine traits of Black men in the hip-hop generation. Now, by default, you might expect a visceral review of Black Men and the subsequent “wrongs” that accompany them. However, the only wrong here was my prejudiced response, which was somewhere between “remind me of how doomed I am again” and “please burden me with all the problems of the world”. What surprised me and ultimately kept me engaged was the fact that the book was devoid of elaborate statistics and their visual representations, graphs and charts, that measured not only my performance historically, but suggested, scientifically, my path for the future. Usually these writings read less like the first person narratives, personal interviews, and experiences the two Natalies shared, but more like test results I find in Motor Trend and Car and Driver. And it seems that every car they tested was a lemon.

The two Natalies made very effective efforts at portraying black men and masculinity in an objective way. Now sure that sounds idealistic, but it wasn’t the type of “objectivity” that jumps out at you, and let’s face it, we’re equally subjective as we are conscious. This is true for both reader and writer. As I mentioned earlier, I brought my subjectivity with me at the onset of reading this book, but where you found their objectivity was in their presentation of black men, not as the traditional monoliths, but as a dynamic group of men who all experience, desire and achieve differently. I never felt like there was an “expectation” of me, as a black man; moreover, I never felt like there was a failing or shortcoming, as it were. As far as masculinity goes, I was floored when I read the chapter “Invisible Tyrone”, which takes us into the personal lives of gay men in Washington, D.C. and discussed the DL phenomena’s recent rise to media epidemic levels and what real impact is was or was not having. I stopped for a second and re-read the cover. Is this really what I am reading? Something swelled in me upon realizing that, yes, this is the same book that earlier referenced people like 50 cent, Jay-Z, etc., those uber-masculine hip-hop personas that are all too common. It was pride -not for being black, but for being male, being gay, and being in Washington DC. It was a pride that I felt for being included. The Natalies in a bold and intelligent way included a large population of Black Men that typically don’t get the coverage we deserve. After going back and reading the preface, I saw what I expected and that was a lot of explanation as to what relevance the subculture had. As evidenced in the chapter, issues of masculinity are present in our world as well.

The Natalies present to us, Tyrone, in all of his many incarnations. My visual representation of the book was much like watching Scott Bakula in a season of Quantum Leap. Every chapter has a different personality, a different set of conditions, a different intention, a different outcome, but each has a common thread, race and gender, that anchors the series. But with all those variables considered, Tyrone is still present in each of us and regardless of how different we may be, he still has the ability to call on his fellow Tyronian, whether it is in a public forum of elected office or maybe two brothers on the metro just talking shit on the way home from work. What the Natalies do here is present the diversity and complexity of black men as we seek to define ourselves in a time completely different from our parents’, one rapidly changing that forces you to see the commonality of our pasts and then insisting that you think about what we intend for our future.

Mindful Politics: A Buddhist Guide to Making the World a Better Place
Edited by Melvin McLeod

1. No situation is impossible to change.
2. A communal vision, outstanding strategy, and sustained effort can bring forth positive
changes
3. Everyone can help make a difference
4. No one is free of responsibility
- Four Truths from Kazuaki Tanahashi in "Mindful Politics"

This extremely satisfying collection demonstrates that Buddhism need not be a solitary pursuit. Divided into three sections - View, Practice and Action - this anthology contains idealistic, yet practical essays on many of the most pressing issues of today: environmentalism, racism, globalization and conflict. Many of the strongest contributors are the usual suspects (Bell Hooks, Thich Nhat Hahn, H.H. The Dalai Lama), but some of the gems come from lesser know writers. Jigme Thinley's piece on Bhutan's approach to governance (Gross National Happiness) presents a great ideal that is being put into practice. Perhaps the most amusing piece is from Richard Reoch. His true story, "A Buddhist Brawl," is the closest thing to a zen koan in the collection. As a counter-point to the religious right, this collection could not be more perfect for spiritual progressives.

Party Of Black
By Truth Thomas/MouthMark Books

Party of Black by local poet Truth Thomas is a bona fide Washington D.C. collection of poetry. It is also a ‘poet's book’ of poetry. Thomas writes with three eyes. The first two focus on DC as he knows it: the Eastern Avenue DC, the small town DC, the DC he remembers moving to as a child from Knoxville, Tennessee, and the DC that is a microcosm to the rest of the world.

Hurricane Katrina appears herein as well. Mississippi emerges as in the guise of a woman, where GOP preachers are taken to task, and gentrification makes a guest star appearance.

Thomas's third eye focuses inward. The love poems are tremendous! "A Time to Kiss" is one stand out that focuses on the sanctity of a kiss and the power that is hidden within a well-timed one. Other poems like "Confessions" and "10thgraderSpeak on Prevention" also show the devoted husband and concerned father within the poet.

In truth, (pardon the pun), Party Of Black is a collection of poems that enthrall, inform, and incite. Thomas offers up a moving debut of poetry that takes you into the experience that is DC, global, and overwhelmingly human.

I May Not Get There With You: The True Martin Luther King, Jr.
By Michael Eric Dyson

A spiritual leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is modestly mentioned in schools to children and remembered primarily on one day; but his contributions to our country today are worthy of daily recognition to say the least. Apathy was never part of his agenda, yet there has been a significant gap of interests in the last forty years. Race and class remain just as dividend between America and Black America. Before we expect, time and indifference will have passed and consumed us of all our human experiences. Survival essentially has become more than just providing yourself with basics; it has become the constant struggle to realize the imbalances of a post-modern world and still live with them. King’s movement and its transitional decline post-Civil Rights era reflect this. Historians, writers and teachers all struggle to determine what is myth and how these influence our overall perceptions of individuals and their roles within an era or framework of time. Dyson’s dissertation of King, the leader vs. the man, demonstrates the ultimate function throughout history of defining and re-defining.

There is no such thing as a color-blind society. Race in itself by definition is subjective. Our understanding of race is dependent upon our ability to visually define it. Here in Robeson uses this premise from the title through the text. He deconstructs for the reader systems of inequality maintained by history, government, worldviews and language. An excellent expose of the planned injustices of the United States, and why structurally Blacks continue to place last. Robeson discuses everything from the Constitution and September 11th to the stolen elections of 2004. He carries more than his fathers name; they share the same drive for truth and reverence for justice. A must read for anyone invested in the betterment and progression of these United States.

In this immigration story, a little girl from Senegal finds her new big city home in the United States "ugly." While she struggles with the new surroundings, language and culture, she reports during frequent phone calls to her grandmother living back in Senegal all of her fears and loneliness. With encouragement from her grandmother and a little luck, Sofie makes a new friend. At her grandmother's advice, Sofie makes her world "pretty."

I Found a Dead Bird: The Kids' Guide to the Cycle of Life and Death
by Jan Thornhill

Don't be fooled by the title - this is not a dark and gloomy book. With multiple color photographs on each page interspersed with bright, colorful graphics, this guidebook to all things dead is visually stunning and crammed full of useful answers to tough questions. From life expectancies to extinct species, this slim volume seems indispensable to a parent or teacher with kids asking questions about death or dying. Because of the scientific approach, there are lots of photographs that aren't for the squeamish (like the page on scavengers), but the author encourages the reader to say "yuck" if something is gross. Plus, the author does not shy away from difficult topics like "when people kill people" and "when people die." This title is probably not for kids under 7 or 8, but is ideal for kids from 9 to 13.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!