Black Issues Book Review articles from March 2003

Black Issues Book Review archives from March 2003

From the editor-in-chief.(Editorial)
March 1, 2003... Creativity is so powerful that you can't give it up." These words, spoken by Alice Walker in her interview with BIBR, describe the long are of important work by the two major poets I am proud to include in this issue--Amiri Baraka and, of...

Executive editor's view.(Editorial)
March 1, 2003... Although this marks Black Issues Book Review s annual poetry issue, it also recognizes Womens History Month, not only with our cover of Alice Walker (page 34), an ardent womanist and writer, but the other prominent black women whose books we've...

One Shot Harris. .(Teenie Harris)(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... I am the attorney who represented Teenie Harris [EYE, January-February 2003] in recovering his photo archive from an unscrupulous dealer. During the time that we fought for Mr. Harris' work, I learned as much about Teenie's skill as an artist...

Patrik Henry Bass. (letters to the editor).(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... Thank you for this insightful piece on the talented and articulate Patrik Henry Bass [Spotlight, January-February 2003]. It was my good fortune to meet him during a visit to New York last year, and I could not help but be impressed by his...

Wamba's passing. (letters to the editor).(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... I first came across Philippe Wamba's book Kinship on a recent trip to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania [Tribute, January-February 2003]. Having grown up both in the U.S. and Cameroon (the latter--where I was born and raised by Cameroonian parents), I...

Zora Neale Hurston. (letters to the editor).(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... Great review of Wrapped in Rainbows [Nonfiction Reviews, January-February 2003]. I am a collector of Hurston materials. This is the most thorough chronology of Hurston's life that I have read. --Alberta W. Godfrey via email

More praise for Nikki. (letters to the editor).(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2003... Nikki Giovanni is great [Cover story, November-December 2002]. I admire her style and how she chose to raise her son alone. She showed the world how strong we are as black women. --Tiffany Patterson via email I gave my sister a...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2003... In the January-February 2003 issue, the review of Benilde Little's novel Acting Out inaccurately refers to the main character of the book as Paige. The main character's name is Ina West Robinson, not Paige, who is a minor character in the...

Patricia Stephens Due and Tananarive Due. (BIBR spotlight).(Interview)
March 1, 2003... As many as 100 million votes will be cast for American Idol, Fox Networks' hit television talent-search show. Compare that to the fewer than 101.5 million people who voted for the presidency in 2000. Our nation's schools are nearly as...

Farm.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... by Jackie Nickerson Jonathan Cape, February 2003 $55.00, ISBN 0-224-06268-9 President Robert Mugabe has been fighting to return the farmlands of Zimbabwe back to its native people for 23 years. This year, however, his campaign has taken a...

The Quilts of Gee's Bend.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... by John Beardsley, William Arnett, Paul Arnett, Jane Livingston introduction by Alvia Wordlow; forward by peter Marzio Tinwood Books, December 2002 $45.00, ISBN 0-965-37664-8 It isn't the first book about quilts, but it may be the most...

Juke Joint.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Birney Imes; introductory essay by Richard Ford University Press of Mississippi, January 2003, $35.00, ISBN 0-878-05846 The unretouched photographs in Juke Joint possess the magical and hypnotic power of being able to transport one's...

Kara Walker: Narratives of a Negress.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... edited by Ian Berry, Darby English, Vivian Patterson and Mark Reinhardt The MIT Press, April 2003, $45.00, ISBN 0-262-02540-X Kara Walker: Narratives of a Negress accompanies an exhibition organized by the Tang Teaching Museum and Art...

Look before you leap. (books N clubs).
March 1, 2003... Monica Wooley-Davis walked into the Media Play Bookstore in Columbus, Ohio, looking for a new book, but she left with thoughts of joining a reading club. "There was an advertisement in the bookstore about the formation of a book club for...

E-book lending online in Ohio. (book bytes).
March 1, 2003... This March, the Cleveland Public Library (www.cpl.org), along with thirty other northern Ohio libraries that make up the CleveNet consortium, will launch a new circulating e-book and digital media collection. What makes this so unique is that...

Author support on Ericjeromedickey.com. (Author on the Web).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Eric Jerome Dickey has changed much more than his hair. In the "New" section of his www.ericjeromedickey.com, EJD highlights books other than his own! At press time, the featured book on his website was Dream City by Sibylla Nash, which Dickey...

The PDA goes multimedia. (Technology).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... It's not just about two-way messaging and PDAs for scheduling and email access. Features that were must-haves for professionals are now pocket-sized multimedia hubs, with bells and whistles even bibliophiles will love (see e-lending story...

Enter black cyberworld at blackwebportal.com. (Click on This).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... This site has it all. Want to chat with others online? Enter Blackwebportal.com (BWP) forums. Looking for a new job? Check out the "Career Builder" section. Want to catch up on White House news, movie reviews, NBA and NFL scores, current events...

Afro-kids.com: an interactive community for black children around the world. (Just for Kids).(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
March 1, 2003... Afro-kids.com is an online kaleidoscope of games, African-American history, and resources for teachers and parents with lots of activities. Although the site still has a few kinks, the content is good. For example, Afro-kids offers flash movies...

Trouble man: Amiri Baraka has been under siege recently for his poem "Somebody Blew Up America." But long before the latest firestorm, this literary legend has made controversy a way of life.(includes selected bibliography )
March 1, 2003... at 69, Amiri Baraka, poet, playwright and political leader, is no stranger to controversy. But his latest excursion into mayhem and media scrutiny has a different tone from his past scuffles. After reading his poem "Somebody Blew Up America"...

The World is Round.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Nikky Finey Inner Light publishing, January 2003 $14.95, ISBN 0-971-48904-1 Let's be frank, fibbin' has become a shameful part of daily discourse. Not just big lies either. But little white lies, brown lies, black lies, deceptions,...

Waiting for Sweet Betty.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Clarence Major Copper Canyon press October 2002 $14.00, ISBN 1-556-59179-9 Clarence Major has been a seminal literary figure since the black aesthetic shook up American letters almost forty years ago. In that time, Major's writing has...

Velvet Be-Bop Kente Cloth.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Sterling Plumpp Third World Press, April 2003 $18.95, ISBN 0-883-78242-1 I approached Plumpp's new work, Velvet Be-Bop Kente Cloth, with some trepidation, unsure whether I was bringing to the collection sufficient knowledge and...

Outlandish Blues.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers Wesleyan University Press March 2003, $26.00; $12.95 Hardcover: ISBN 0-819-56583-0 Paper: ISBN 0-819-56584-9 Outlandish Blues, the second collection by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers, argues for the power and...

Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Nikki Giovanni William Morrow/HarperCollins December 2002 $16.95, ISBN 0-060-09952-6 One of the most pleasing aspects of Giovanni's Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea is that its subtitle speaks to its actual contents, "poems and not quite...

Lunatic.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Crystal Williams Michigan State University Press November 2002 $18.95 ISBN 0-870-13642-9 Crystal Williams' Lunatic begins with the warning that James Baldwin issued in The Fire Next Time. It serves as foreshadowing for poems that...

Who Will Cry for the Little Boy?(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Antwone Fisher's story is one we should all learn; his will and passion, something we should all emulate. It speaks of redemption and a spirit of perseverance--both qualities that are in no short supply in the black community, yet attributes...

Tougaloo Blues.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Kelly Norman Ellis Third World Press, April 2003 $10.00, ISBN 0-883-78246-4 Kelly Norman Ellis' first collection contains evocative blues and narrative poems that paint vivid memories of tradition and childhood. An abundance of images...

Song of Thieves.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Shara McCallum University of Pittsburgh Press/ Pitt Poetry Series, March 2003 $12.95, ISBN 0-822-95813-9 In Song of Thieves, poet Shara McCallum's second book of poetry, she returns to the major themes that occupied her award-winning...

Methodologies of Black Theology.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Frederick L. Ware, Ph.D. The Pilgrim Press, June 2002 $20.00, ISBN 0-829-81484-1 Methodologies of Black Theology is an engrossing academic overview of the history and study of black theology in the United States. Written by Frederick L....

Hope for the Heart.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Reverend H. Curtis Douglas Word for Word Publishing, 2003 ISBN 1-889-73241-9 Given our unique historical and theological perspective, how are African Americans to make sense of the horrible events of September 11th? How do we respond...

Absolute Alice: feminist-writer-poet-activist and literary high priestess Alice Walker returns to form with a collection of poems about war, falling bodies, the ancestors, trees and everything holistic here on Earth.
March 1, 2003... On my bookshelf, I have an old dog-eared copy of In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens that over the years has become my favorite Alice Walker book. Actually, the copy belonged to my sister who gave it to my mother. But its history is irrelevant...

Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Alice Walker Random House, March 2003 $22.95, ISBN 0-375-50904-6 My first reading of Alice Walker's recent poetry collection, Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth, left me feeling uncomfortable. Not because of Walker's subject...

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... by ZZ Packer Riverhead Books, March 2003 $24.95, ISBN 1-573-22234-8 With the release of this highly anticipated collection, ZZ Packer is well on her way to joining a rich African-American literary legacy in the tradition of James Baldwin...

In Love and War.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Denene Millner and Nick Chiles Dutton, March 2003 $23.95, ISBN 0-525-94709-4 The talented husband and wife writing team of Denene Millner and Nick Chiles have penned another exciting story of romance, love and scandal. In Love and War...

More Like Wrestling.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Danyel Smith Crown, January 2003 $23.95, ISBN 1-400-04644-0 Former Vibe magazine editor-in-chief Danyel Smith has crafted a well-written, poignant, and thoughtful coming-of-age story that pays homage to her native Oakland with an...

Once Two Heroes.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Calvin Baker Viking, January 2003 $23.95, ISBN 0-670-03164-X The burden of race in America and the role it plays in determining the fate of individuals figures strongly in Calvin Baker's second novel, Once Two Heroes, which is set during...

Grace.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Elizabeth Nunez One World/Ballantine, March 2003 $23.95, ISBN 0-345-45533-9 American Book Award-winning author Elizabeth Nunez's fifth novel, Grace, follows on the heels of the highly acclaimed Discretion. Here, as with Discretion,...

Chocolate Sangria.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Tracy Price-Thompson Strivers Row, March 2003 $21.95, ISBN 0-375-50665-1 Chocolate sangria... has a nice ring to it, but would you pair the two? The same could be said of Juanita and Conan, the protagonists of Tracy Price-Thompson's...

The Hatwearer's Lesson.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Yolanda Joe Dutton, March 2003 $23.95, ISBN 0-525-94716-7 For author Yolanda Joe, writing from the heart about the soul is what makes a good story great. The Chicago-based writer's latest book, The Hatwearer's Lesson, is a heartwarming...

Triple Take.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Yanier Moore Strivers, Row, March 2003 $12.95, ISBN 0-375-76066-0 First-time novelist and former gang-member-turned-social worker, Yanier "Blak" Moore has penned a story of an ex-con's dream of getting out of prison and living a lavish...

Fever.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Linda Dominique Grosvenor BET Books/Sepia, January 2003 $15.00, ISBN 1-583-142614 In this follow-up to Like Boogie on Tuesday, Tim and Nina Richardson are now married. When Tim's dreams of success in the film industry are crushed, he...

Atlanta Live!(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Carmen Green BET Books/Sepia, February 2003 $15.00, ISBN 1-583-14293-2 Radio talk show hosts Jasmine, Evelyn and Malone have been best friends since college. Jasmine helps troubled women who call in to the radio show, even though her...

A Pair Like No Otha.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Hunter Hayes Avon, December 2002 $13.95, ISBN 0-380-81485-4 Opposites really do attract in this hip, new novel by Hunter Hayes. Shemone and Darnell have been best friends since childhood. Grown-ups now, they both lead very different...

Literary journeys.(travel literature)
March 1, 2003... Travel. It calms and soothes the body, moves the spirit and stimulates the mind. There is perhaps no better way to broaden your view of the world, discover personal truths and shatter myths. Once you step outside your day-to-day existence,...

Fire in My Soul.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Joan Steinau Lester as authorized by Eleanor Holmes Norton Atria Books, January 2003 $25.00, ISBN 0-743-40787-3 The subject of this biography continues to be a trailblazer in American history, both in politics and the academy. Fire in My...

Condi: the Condoleezza Rice Story.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Antonia Felix Newmarket Press, November 2002 $19.95, ISBN 1-557-04539-9 In Condi: The Condoleezza Rice Story, readers will find a wealth of often-touted trivia about one of the Bush administration's top advisors: she was the youngest...

Gender Talk: the Struggle for Women's Equity in African-American Communities.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... by Johnnetta B. Cole, Beverly Guy-Sheftall One World/Ballantine, February 2003 $24.95, ISBN 0-345-45412-X Perhaps best known for her tenure as president of Atlanta's Spelman College, Professor and Bennett College President Johnnetta B....

Having It All: Black Women and Success.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Veronica Chambers Doubleday, January 2003 $23.95, ISBN 0-385-50638-4 Ever since the mid-1800s--when the women's suffrage movement pitted white women's and black men's voting interests against one another--black women have known they are...

Freedom in the Family: a Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fights for Civil Rights.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Tananarive Due and Patricia Stephens Due One World/Ballantine, January 2003 $24.95, ISBN 0-345-44733-6 When Patricia Stephens Due was told by a group of Florida school officials that no significant contributions to the Civil Rights...

Interracial Intimacies.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... by Randall Kennedy Pantheon, January 2003 $30.00, ISBN 0-375-70184-2 Forget about sex. Until 1967 it was illegal in Virginia for a black person and a white person to share a room after dark. Yet interracial sex--forced and...

Should America Pay? Slavery and the Raging Debate on Reparations.(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... edited by Raymond A. Winbush Amistad Press, January 2003 $24.95, ISBN 0-060-08310-7 Not since the promise of "40 acres and a mule" has there been such heated debate about reparations for the transatlantic slave trade. To be sure, groups...

The Ways of Black Folks.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Lawrence C. Ross, Jr. Dafina, January 20003 $24.00, ISBN 0-758-20057-9 In his latest book, The Ways of Black Folks, Lawrence Ross, author of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities, explores the...

Open Mike: Reflections on Philosophy, Race, Sex, Culture and Religion.(Book Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Michael Eric Dyson Basic Civitas Books, January 2003 $17.00, ISBN 0-465-01765-7 Open Mike works with an idea that is appropriate for Michael Eric Dyson: a collection of his interviews as a professor and author over the last six years....

Poetic messages from the Heart. (self publishing).(Dubious and Darling by Hugh Mitchell Bou'Vier; Visions by Kevin Briggs; Messages From the Heart, the Soul and Beyond by Tico Wells)(Book Review)
March 1, 2003... The romantic language of poetry is no longer exclusively the province of women. Men are writing poetry that includes emotional expressions designed to tug at the heartstrings. Yet poets whose work is outside the hip hop-inspired poetry slam...

Ask the book doctor. (self publishing).(book marketing)
March 1, 2003... Dear Dr. Rosie, I am an author and a bookstore owner who is becoming discouraged with the book business. If many independent black bookstores are struggling and closing their doors, what is the future for black authors? I'm about to give...

Sense Pass King.(Book Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... retold by Katrin Tchana illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman Holiday House, December 2002 This delightful picture-book tale from Cameroon centers on a young girl named Ma'antah. Born to farmers in the land of Seven Villages, Ma'antah is so...

Frederick Douglass: For the Great Family of Man.(Book Review)(Young Adult Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Peter Burchard Atheneum Books for Young Readers (Simon & Schuster) January 2003 $18.95, ISBN 0-689-83240-0 Frederick Douglass escaped slavery to become a leading abolitionist and champion of civil rights in the 19th century. Author Peter...

Under the Moon & Over the Sea: a Collection of Caribbean Poems.(Book Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... edited by John Agard and Grace Nichols illustrated by Cathie Felstead, Jane Ray, Christopher Corr, Satoshi Kitamura, and Sara Fanelli Candlewick Press, January 2002 $17.99, ISBN 0-763-61861-6 This lush volume of poetry for kids ages six and...

Daddy Says.(Book Review)(Young Adult Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Ntozake Shange Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, January 2003 $16.00, ISBN 0-689-83081-5 Fourteen-year-old Texas cowgirls Annie Sharon Johnson-Brown and her sister, Lucie-Marie, 12, have the rodeo in their blood. Their mother,...

Double Dutch: a Celebration of Jump Rope, Rhyme, and Sisterhood.(Book Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Veronica Chambers Hyperion Books for Children, October 2002 $16.99, ISBN 0-786-80512-9 Double Dutch enthusiasts will jump with glee after they read Double Dutch: A Celebration of Jump Rope, Rhyme, and Sisterhood. Veronica Chambers,...

Maizon at Blue Hill.(Book Review)(Young Adult Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Jacqueline Woodson Puffin, September 2002 $5.99, ISBN 0-698-11957-6 When Maizon Singh accepts a scholarship to Blue Hill, a prestigious boarding school for girls in Connecticut, her world turns upside down. The Brooklyn girl is unsure...

Between Madison and Palmetto.(Book Review)(Young Adult Review)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... by Jacqueline Woodson Puffin, September 2002 $5.99, ISBN 0-698-11958-4 In Between Madison and Palmetto, the final installment of Jacqueline Woodson's trilogy of friends Maizon and Margaret, Maizon returns to Brooklyn after one semester at...

Virginia Hamilton. (Tribute).(Obituary)(Biography)
March 1, 2003... "I write books because I love chasing after a good story and seeing fantastic characters rise out of the mist of my imaginings. I can't explain how it is I keep having new ideas, but one book inevitably follows another, it is my way of...