Black Issues Book Review articles from September 2005

Black Issues Book Review archives from September 2005

Rescuing black history: the Schomburg.(Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture)(Editorial)
September 1, 2005... In his remarks at this year's Harlem Book Fair, Howard Dodson, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, said, "Our goal is to rescue and reconstruct the history of people of African descent based on truth." The...

Get serious.(executive editor's view)
September 1, 2005... Autumn brings with it the promise of a flesh start for many of us, whether at school, on the job or at home. Our thoughts here at BIBR turn to more serious books, as we leave behind most of summer's escapist fiction and embrace books that have...

On Malcolm Gladwell.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2005... I've been a subscriber to Black Issue Book Review for several years. 1 generally enjoy the magazine. But Angela Ard's article about English writer Malcolm Gladwell, "In the Twinkling of an Eye" (July-August 2005), forced me to write a response....

For Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis.(letters)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2005... I experienced your magazine for the first time with Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee on the cover (May-June 2005), and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The marriage Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis had was the legend we all should never forget. I got on...

Monument to a magnate.(Reginald E Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture )
September 1, 2005... Baltimore is now the home of the Reginald E Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture (RFL Museum). Grand opening ceremonies were held on Saturday, June 25, 2005. The museum, the largest of its kind on the East Coast, serves...

Edward P. Jones claimed the 10th International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the biggest prize in literature for a single work, in June.(Awards)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Edward P. Jones claimed the 10th International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the biggest prize in literature for a single work, in June. Dublin's Lord Mayor Michael Conaghan and IMPAC chairman James B. Irwin presented Jones with his prize at a...

J. Everett Prewitt's debut novel, Snake Walker (Northland Publishing Company, March 2005) placed first for fiction in the 2nd Annual Los Angeles Black Book Expo and was a semifinalist in the Independent Publisher Book Awards-2005 in New York City.(Awards)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... J. Everett Prewitt's debut novel, Snake Walker(Northland Publishing Company, March 2005) placed first for fiction in the 2nd Annual Los Angeles Black Book Expo and was a semifinalist in the Independent Publisher Book Awards-2005 in New York...

The Romance Writers of America (RWA) have announced a research grant competition for academic research devoted to genre romance novels, writers and readers.(Grants)
September 1, 2005... The Romance Writers of America (RWA) have announced a research grant competition for academic research devoted to genre romance novels, writers and readers. The RWA's review committee will fund one or more grants, up to a total amount of $5,000...

Buying Zane: Strebor Books founder says her new deal with Simon & Schuster frees her to write more.
September 1, 2005... Zane, who founded Strebor Books in 1999 as a one-woman, self-publishing enterprise, sold the titles from her publishing company catalogue to Simon & Schuster. The author of such titles as The Sex Chronicles (2002), Addicted (2001) and...

Center stage.(If This Hat Could Talk, musical production)
September 1, 2005... If This Hat Could Talk, a musical production based on the memoir of Dr. Dorothy Height, will be touring the nation this fall. The stage play opened in Washington, D.C., in June at the historic Lincoln Theater. Dr. Height, president of the...

Signings & sightings.(book festivals)(Calendar)
September 1, 2005... BALTIMORE, MD THE 10th Annual Baltimore Book Festival takes place from September 28-25, 2005. Friday, 5-9 P.M. and Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.-7 P.M. at Mount Vernon Place, 600 block North Charles Street. The mid-Atlantic's premier...

Window on the book world: Calvin Reid plays a major role inside a leading trade publication.(between the lines)(Interview)
September 1, 2005... When Calvin Reid began reporting on the book industry for Publishers Weekly in 1986, the industry itself looked a lot different than it does now. "There is so much more to cover now than there was when I first started writing at Publishers...

National hispanic heritage.(between the lines)
September 1, 2005... According to a recent survey, the estimated Hispanic population in the United States has increased to 41.3 million; and people of Hispanic origin constitute 14 percent of the nation's total population. In recognition of National Hispanic...

Well-read ladies in red: a Reno book club evolves into a chapter of an organization for mature women with a sense of mirth.(The Red Halos )
September 1, 2005... When Michele Robinson relocated from Lake Havasu City, Arizona, to Reno, Nevada, in 2001, for her job with a linen supply company, she tried to acquaint herself with the churchwomen in her new hometown. As they exchanged social pleasantries and...

Favorite places: online resources let booklovers surf for services.(book bytes)
September 1, 2005... The Web is a wonderful resource for book-related information. Whether you are an author, bibliophile or small publisher, the Internet offers book information about everything from writing, publishing and publicizing your book to historical...

Blues Boy: B.B. King, a tribute in pictures.(The B.B. King Treasures: Photos, Mementos and Music from B.B. King's Collection)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... The B.B. King Treasures: Photos, Mementos and Music from B.B. King's Collection by B.B. King and Dick Waterman Bulfinch Press, September 2005 $40, ISBN 0-821-25724-2 It's always a pleasure to see someone celebrated while they are still...

Elegant Soul: The Life and Music of Gene Harris.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Elegant Soul: The Life and Music of Gene Harris by Janie Harris with Bob Evancho Caxton Press, February 2005 $24.95, ISBN 0-870-04445-1 In the good "old" days, when it was "cool" to be "good" and "good" to be "cool," the harmonies of...

Old school.(A Time Before Crack)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... A Time Before Crack by Jamel Shabazz, essays by Charlie Ahearn and Terrence Jennings Powerhouse Books, June 2005 $35, ISBN 1-576-87213-0 When Jamel Shabazz, a Brooklyn native and budding lensman, roamed the streets of New York in the early...

Flying solo: after success with big publishing houses, some authors see advantages in self-publishing.(self-publishing)
September 1, 2005... Self-publishing, once considered the minor league of publishing, is attracting the attention of writers who have already had success with publishing houses. Kenji Jasper, who has had three novels published, plans to venture out on a larger...

Sister act: Venus and Serena Williams set the rules in a new book of advice for young women.(Venus and Serena, Serving From the Hip: 10 Rules for Living, Loving and Winning )(Critical Essay)
September 1, 2005... "FRIENDSHIP IS LIKE TENNIS--IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BACK AND FORTH," THE WILLIAMS SISTERS TELL TEENS IN THEIR NEW BOOK, Venus & Serena, Serving From the Hip: 10 Rules for Living, Loving and Winning (Houghton Mifflin Company, March 2005). "It...

Slam dunk: NBA dispatches its stars to be role models for literacy.(National Basketball Association's Read to Achieve )
September 1, 2005... October is National Book Month, and October 22 is National Read Aloud Day, sponsored by the National Book Foundation. For tips on how you can get involved, log on to http://www.nationalbook.org/nbm.html. To mark National Book Month, Black...

No books, no basketball: a Brooklyn program's "got game" to hook children on reading.(Books and Basketball, literacy program)
September 1, 2005... "Make literacy part of your game!" is a meaningful slogan in the hands of the Hall brothers Earl and Raymond, who founded Books and Basketball and serve as its codirectors. The six-week program started by their organization Red Hook Rise...

Spinning the Globe: The Rise, Fall, and Return to Greatness of the Harlem Globetrotters.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Spinning the Globe: The Rise, Fall, and Return to Greatness of the Harlem Globetrotters by Ben Green With a Foreword by Bill Cosby Amistad/HarperCollins, May 2005 $24.95, ISBN 0-060-55549-1 In 1926, Abe Saperstein, a Chicago social worker,...

The Inside Game: Race, Power, and Politics in the NBA.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... The Inside Game: Race, Power, and Politics in the NBA by Wayne Embry With Mary Schmitt Boyer The University of Akron Press, December 2004, $15.95, ISBN 1-931-96822-5 Wayne Embry's first book, The Inside Game: Race, Power, and Politics in...

Rush to Judgment: The Simeon Rice Story.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Rush to Judgment: The Simeon Rice Story by Simeon Rice with Mark Stewart The Lyons Press, November 2004 $22.95, ISBN 1-592-28546-5 The Simeon Rice Story is a part of a longer, familiar history of a star athlete and how he became "who he...

Other noteworthy titles.(arena)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... When Nothing Else Matters: Michael Jordan's Last Comeback by Michael Leahy Simon & Schuster, November 2004 $26, ISBN 0-743-25426-0 Wilt, 1962: The Night of 100 Points and the Dawn of a New Era by Gary M. Pomerantz, Crown Publishers, May...

Sacred ground: the Schomburg is the neighborhood library to students of black history and to great scholars who mine its vast collections for clues to the "lost" history of a people.
September 1, 2005... THE LATE DR. JOHN HENRIK CLARKE OFTEN RECALLED THE first time he climbed the stairs at the New York Public Library in Harlem to meet Arthur "Arturo" Alfonso Schomburg. "I had read his essay 'The Negro Digs Up His Past,' and so I boldly walked...

Lost in time: scholars react to a doctoral student's discovery that a "pioneer" of African American women's literature was not black at all.
September 1, 2005... LATE-1800S AUTHOR EMMA DUNHAM KELLEY-HAWKINS'S NOVEL FOUR Girls AT Cottage City inspired the Oxford University Press's Schomburg Library of Nineteenth-Century Black Women Writers. This is what Henry Louis Gates Jr. once said of the 40-volume...

The Oprah effect: two scholars independently assess the book club that changed everything.(Reading With Oprah: The Book Club That Changed America)(Reading Oprah: How Oprah's Book Club Changed the Way America Reads )(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Reading With Oprah: The Book Club That Changed America by Kathleen Rooney The University of Arkansas Press February 2005 $24.95, ISBN 1-557-28782-1 Reading Oprah: How Oprah's Book Club Changed the Way America Reads by Cecilia Konchar Farr...

University presses just keep on rollin': a roundup of fall and winter releases from the halls of academia.(bibliomane)
September 1, 2005... This year, in what can be described as a return to their calling, university presses are releasing books with unique and stimulating perspectives on culture, history and literature in record numbers. R.R. Bowker, the leading provider in North...

Affirmative action: 40th anniversary: an analysis of books on the promises and pitfalls of a Federal policy intended to equalize opportunity.(An Autobiography of the Civil Rights Movement)(Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King Jr, and the Laws That Changed America)(Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby)(The Case for Affirmative Action in University Admissions)(Affirmative Action Is Dead: Long Live Affirmative Action)(When Affirmative Action Was White: An Untold History of Racial Inequality in Twentieth-Century America)(Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White)(Race and College Admissions: A Case for Affirmative Action)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... IF WE ARE TO BELIEVE JAMES FARMER'S MEMOIR LAY BARE THE HEART: An Autobiography of the Civil Rights Movement (Texas Christian University Press, September 1998), the words "affirmative action" were first uttered at a meeting in 1962 at Vice...

John Hope Franklin, repairing history: a conversation: whose story is it?(contemporary legend)(Interview)
September 1, 2005... Just two days before my conversation with the preeminent American historian John Hope Franklin, he had just turned 90. "You caught me just in time," he says with a soft chuckle from his office at Duke University, where he is the lames B. Duke...

In pursuit of wisdom: a distinguished author/philosopher encourages college students to grasp the opportunity to take it all in.(Charles Johnson)
September 1, 2005... Charles Johnson, a National Book Award-winning author, cartoonist, scholar and professor, delivered an address in August 2004 to 3,000 freshmen at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. It went on record as receiving the first standing...

African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... African American Fraternities and Sororities: The Legacy and the Vision Edited by Tamara L. Brown, Gregory S. Parks and Clarenda M. Phillips University Press of Kentucky, March 2005 $39.95, ISBN 0-813-12344-5 The compilation of essays in...

Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life by Tiffany Ruby Patterson Temple University Press, June 2005 $64.50, ISBN 1-592-13289-8 Enthusiasts for the work of Zora Neale Hurston will not be disappointed in Tiffany Ruby Patterson's...

Self-Taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Self-Taught: African American Education in Slavery and Freedom by Heather Andrea Williams The University of North Carolina Press March 2005 $29.95, ISBN 0-807-82920-X Legislation in the 1820s and after the Civil War prohibited enslaved...

A Matter of Law: A Memoir of Struggle in Cause of Equal Rights.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... A Matter of Law: A Memoir of Struggle in Cause of Equal Rights by Robert L. Carter, The New Press May 2005, $24.95, ISBN 1-565-84830-6 U.S. District Judge Robert L. Carter's memoir is a gem. The man is a real hero. Advances black Americans...

I'm Just a DJ but ... It Makes Sense to Me.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Tom Joyner and Spike Lee: Ministers of Culture I'm Just a DJ But... It Makes Sense to Me by Tom Joyner with Mary Flowers Boyce Warner Books, September 2005 $22.95, ISBN 0-446-57676-X If you like listening to the "fly jock" Tom Joyner on...

Spike Lee: That's My Story and I'm Sticking to It.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Spike Lee: That's My Story and I'm Sticking to It As told to Kaleem Aftab W.W. Norton and Company, September 2005 $25.95, ISBN 0-393-06153-1 To read That's My Story and I'm Sticking to It is to get the behind-the-scenes details or...

Voice for the voiceless: RedBone, a press for LGBT writers of color, rises from the ashes to make a mark in publishing.(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, RedBone Press, Lisa C. Moore )
September 1, 2005... In September 2004, publisher Lisa C. Moore gave birth to triplets. Or rather, her RedBone Press published three titles simultaneously: theater artist sharon bridgforth's love conjure/blues, Marvin K. White's verse collection Nothin' Ugly Fly,...

Love Conjure/Blues.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... love conjure/blues by sharon bridgeforth, RedBone Press September 2004, $14, ISBN 0-965-66596-8 Ms. bridgeforth has a mission: "Love as the New World order," she calls it. Her mission is embodied in her performance poem/novel love...

Nothin' Ugly Fly.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... nothin' ugly fly by Marvin K. White, RedBone Press September 2004, $14, ISBN 0-965-66595-X In his second work, White reassembles his youth in an effort to find understanding of himself and of his family. The book hinges on poems like...

Where the Apple Falls.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Where the Apple Falls by Samiya Bashir, RedBone Press April 2005, $14, ISBN 0-965-66597-6 In her debut collection Where the Apple Falls, Samiya Bashir demands we listen and hear the symphony of stories that "sail on the ochre cushion of...

Close encounters: fiction excerpt: 1996 by Gloria Naylor.(Excerpt)
September 1, 2005... 1996 by Gloria Naylor Third World Press, July 2005 $19.95, ISBN 0-883-78263-4 I wonder how many people actually get the chance to act out their fantasies. I was one of them, and can say the feeling is one of complete and utter peace. I...

Classically black: African American presses and new imprints lead the trend in reissuing important works for a new day.
September 1, 2005... When Oprah Winfrey decided to adapt Their Eyes Were Watching God to film, interest in the 1937 Zora Neale Hurston novel surged, as did the book's position on the best-seller lists. It was wonderful to see Hurston's name there, next to those of...

Troubled minds: a best-selling author's latest novel peers into the pit of mental health care.(Bebe Moore Campbell)(Interview)
September 1, 2005... IN 2002, BEBE MOORE CAMPBELL SAYS SHE FOUND HERSELF IN NEED of moral and spiritual support. A family member who was mentally ill had created a maelstrom in her life, Campbell had followed the steps recommended by mental health-care...

Third Girl From the Left.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Third Girl From the Left by Martha Southgate Houghton Mifflin Company, September 2005 $24, ISBN 0-618-47023-9 "Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1970 is not a place a smart black girl wants to linger." So begins Third Girl From the Left by Martha...

Bliss.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Bliss by Danyel Smith Crown Publishers, August 2005 $23.95, ISBN 1-400-04642-4 Danyel Smith received wide acclaim for her fiction debut More Like Wrestling (Three Rivers Press, February 2004), a stirring tale of sisterhood and family ties....

Groove.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Groove by Geneva Holliday Broadway Books, June 2005 $12.95, ISBN 0-7679-2114-3 At first glance, from the sexy image on the cover and the title, Groove may appear all too predictable. Yet Geneva Holliday (a pseudonym for award-winning...

Just My Luck.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Just My Luck by Tajuana "TJ" Butler One World/Ballantine Books, April 2005 $19.95, ISBN 1-400-06021-4 In this heartwarming tale that chronicles the life of a promising young black woman about to graduate from Howard, Butler won't...

The Amen Sisters.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... The Amen Sisters by Angela Benson Walk Worthy Press, September 2005 $21.95, ISBN 0-446-53153-7 For author and educator Angela Benson, the widespread notion that a lot more than just preaching is going on in a church pulpit is the...

The anatomy of a town: dreaming up characters and shaping a plot were relatively easy, but conjuring up a whole town? That took thought.(the writing life)
September 1, 2005... Once I determined that Lemon City (Strives Row/One World, August 2004) would be a humorous murder mystery, and the story would revolve around the members of the Dunlap family; the question that remained was, where would the story take place?...

Reader survey.
September 1, 2005... Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback on Black Issues Book Review. Please mail the form to 350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1522, New York, NY 10118; fax to 212-947-5674 or fill it out on our Web site at www.bibookreview.com. Thank you!...

Get right, get rich: books preaching the theology of prosperity grow in popularity.(faith)
September 1, 2005... You wake up, get dressed, have breakfast and go to work. In the evening, the routine is reversed: go home, eat dinner, relax and go to sleep. The monotony of everyday life can drag a person down, leaving them at a crossroads in life, not...

How to Discover Your Purpose in 10 Days: God's Path to a Full and Satisfied Life.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... How to Discover Your Purpose in 10 Days: God's Path to a Full and Satisfied Life by Dr. J. Victor and Catherine B. Eagan Workplace Wisdom Publishing LLC, December 2004 $24.99, ISBN 1-932-47700-4 The Eagans, both ordained ministers and...

Leading Beyond Excellence: Discover How to Achieve Leadership Significance and Your Personal Dreams with 7 Practical Steps.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Leading Beyond Excellence: Discover How to Achieve Leadership Significance and Your Personal Dreams With 7 Practical Steps by Lisa Williams, Ph.D., Executive Publishers International, February 2005 $24.95, ISBN: 0-9726075-9-5 American...

Mastering Abundance: A Spiritual Approach to Getting Anything You Want By Having God Serve You.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Mastering Abundance: A Spiritual Approach to Getting Anything You Want By Having God Serve You by Nzingha Moses Angelic Ones Publishing Co., September 2004, $12.95, ISBN 0-975-93500-3 The author has taken on a controversial concept of...

Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich From the Inside Out by Farrah Gray with Fran Harris Health Communications, Inc., January 2005 $12.95, ISBN 0-757-30224-6 Farrah Gray has lived an incredible life. Motivated to support his family at...

What's Really Holding You Back?(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... What's Really Holding You Back? by Valorie Burton WaterBrook Press, May 2005 $13.99, ISBN 1-57856-821-8 This book is an interesting take on how often we endure fear, uncertainty or uneasiness in our lives and how they dictate our actions....

Righteous Riches.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Righteous Riches by Milmon F. Harrison Oxford University Press, March 2005 $16.95, ISBN 0-195-15388-X The Word of Faith "prosperity" movement has taken the African American religious community by storm in recent years, resulting in the...

Noteworthy Faith Title: Singing in a Strange Land: C.L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Noteworthy Faith Title Singing in a Strange Land: C.L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America by Nick Salvatore Little, Brown and Company, February 2005 $27.95, ISBN 0-316-16037-7 The Reverend Clarence LaVaughn...

Dining at Monticello: In Good Taste and Abundance.(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Dining at Monticello: In Good Taste and Abundance (Distributed for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation) Edited by Damon Lee Fowler University of North Carolina Press May 2005, $35, ISBN 1-882-88625-9 Let's just say Thomas Jefferson, statesman,...

Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion: Red, White and Bubbly to Celebrate the Joy of Living.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Wine for Every Day and Every Occasion: Red, White and Bubbly to Celebrate the Joy of Living by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher William Morrow, October 2004 $24.95, ISBN 0-060-54817-7 What's a decent bottle of Champagne to pop on New...

On their best behavior: with the proper books, cultivating civility among the young in the 21st century need not be a lost cause.
September 1, 2005... Over the years, I've tried very hard to give truly meaningful gifts for birthdays, graduations and other major rites of passage--especially to the young people in my life. From opening savings accounts and giving gift certificates to have their...

A history lesson on the road.(Sienna's Scrapbook: Our African-American Heritage Trip )(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Sienna's Scrapbook: Our African-American Heritage Trip by Toni Trent Parker With Illustrations by Janell Genovese Chronicle Books, October 2005 $15.95, ISBN 0-811-84300-9 Ages 9-12 A road trip to a family reunion turns into an insightful...

Inspiration, old and new.(He's Got the Whole World in His Hands )(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... He's Got the Whole World in His Hands by Kadir Nelson Dial Books for Young Readers September 2005 $16.99, ISBN 0-803-72850-6 Ages 4 and up Kadir Nelson's radiant images are the perfect accompaniment to this beloved spiritual. The Old...

The write stuff: teen author of a superhero series wants to inspire his peers.(Omari Jeremiah )(Brief Article)(Biography)
September 1, 2005... In many ways, Omari Jeremiah is quite unlike other intelligent, savvy boys his age: he likes to play the saxophone, practice his fencing skills and read. His favorite books are R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series--nothing too lofty. Jeremiah can add...

Paperboy 2: Overwhelming Odds.(Brief Article)(Children's Review)(Book Review)
September 1, 2005... Paperboy 2: Overwhelming Odds by Omari Jeremiah Illustrated by Bernie Rollins Morton Books, Inc., January 2005 $12.99, ISBN 1-92918810-2 Ages 10 and up This is a thrilling, action-packed novel about living a double life: one as a young...

Flying off the shelves.
September 1, 2005... Hardcover Fiction 1. Genevieve/Eric Jerome Dickey (NEW) ($24.95, Dutton Books, ISBN 0-525-94878-3) Eric Jerome Dickey, the six-time best-selling author of Drive Me Crazy, returns with a sizzling new novel of romance and betrayal. ...