How did so many Punjabi immigrants come to find themselves behind the wheels of so many New York City taxi cabs, and what do their stories have to teach us about how immigrants must navigate life in a new society? Diditi Mitra analyzes how race and class influence settlement patterns in the United States, based on her extensive interviews with 59 Punjabi taxi drivers, organizers of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, laywers who represent drivers in taxi courts, owners of taxi fleets, and an official of the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission. What emerges is an unprecedented exploration into how society shapes the 'choices' made by immigrants as they adapt to America.

Suicide among African Americans occurs at about half the rate with which it occurs among white Americans. Why is the black rate of suicide so much lower, particularly when one considers the effects of racism and other socio-economic factors on African Americans? One answer that has been offered is that churches within the African-American community have a greater influence than among white Americans and that they provide amelioration of social forces that would otherwise lead to suicide. To date no other book has provided an in-depth ethnographic study of the buffering effect of the black church against suicide. Findings from Early's study indicate that there is a consensus within the black community in terms of its attitudes and beliefs toward suicide. Early concludes that suicide is alien to underlying African-American belief systems and a complete denial of what it means to be black. This important study will be invaluable to sociologists and others studying contemporary race relations and social problems.

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Winner of the 2014 Outstanding Book Award presented by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education Taking a performance studies approach to understanding Asian American racial subjectivity, Joshua Takano Chambers-Letson argues that the law influences racial formation by compelling Asian Americans to embody and perform recognizable identities in both popular aesthetic forms (such as theater, opera, or rock music) and in the rituals of everyday life. Tracing the production of Asian American selfhood from the era of Asian Exclusion through the Global War on Terror, A Race So Different explores the legal paradox whereby U.S. law apprehends the Asian American body as simultaneously excluded from and included within the national body politic. Bringing together broadly defined forms of performance, from artistic works such as Madame Butterfly to the Supreme Court's oral arguments in the Cambodian American deportation cases of the twenty-first century, this book invites conversation about how Asian American performance uses the stage to document, interrogate, and complicate the processes of racialization in U.S. law. Through his impressive use of a rich legal and cultural archive, Chambers-Letson articulates a robust understanding of the construction of social and racial realities in the contemporary United States.

Born in the 1960s, the middle-class Biracial Americans of this study are part of a transitional cohort between the hidden biracial generations of the past and the visible blended generations of the future. As individuals, they have variously dealt with their ambiguous status in American society; as a generation, they share common existential realities in relation to White culture. During the last decade of the 20th century public awareness of mixed race Americans increased significantly, in no small part because there has been a substantial increase in interracial marriages and offspring since 1960. This study, based on ethnographic interviews, provides an historical overview of the study of Biracial Americans in the social sciences, a sociological profile of project participants, sociocultural discussions of family and race as well as racial identity choices, and examinations of racial realities in adult lives and of recurrent systemic and personal life themes. The textual part of the book demonstrates the diversity of perception and experience regarding race and identity of these biracial young adults. The Epilogue not only reviews major findings pertaining to this transitional generation of Biracial Americans but discusses biraciality and the deconstruction of race in contemporary American society. An extensive bibliography of popular and scholarly sources concludes the book.

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama faced a difficult task-rallying African American voters while resisting his opponents' attempts to frame him as ""too black" to govern the nation as a whole. Obama's solution was to employ what Toni Morrison calls ""race-specific, race-free language," avoiding open discussions of racial issues while using terms and references that carried a specific cultural resonance for African American voters. Stephanie Li argues that American politicians and writers are using a new kind of language to speak about race. Challenging the notion that we have moved into a ""post-racial" era, she suggests that we are in an uneasy moment where American public discourse demands that race be seen, but not heard. Analyzing contemporary political speech with nuanced readings of works by such authors as Toni Morrison, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Colson Whitehead, Li investigates how Americans of color have negotiated these tensions, inventing new ways to signal racial affiliations without violating taboos against open discussions of race.

This exhaustive exploration of the sociocultural, political, and economic roles of African women through history demonstrates how African women have shaped-and continue to shape-their societies. Women play essential, critical roles in every society; African women south of the Sahara are certainly no different. Women's Roles in Sub-Saharan Africa adds significantly to our understanding of the ways in which women contribute to the fabric of human civilization. This book provides an in-depth exploration of African women's roles in society from precolonial periods to the contemporary era. Topical sections describe the roles that women play in family, courtship and marriage, religion, work, literature and arts, and government. Each of the six chapters has been structured to elucidate women's roles and functions in society as partners, as active participants, as defenders of their status and occupations, and as agents of change. Authors Nana Akua Amponsah and Toyin Falola present a thought-provoking work that looks at the complicated victimhood/powerful-female paradigm in women and gender studies in Africa, and challenge ideological interest in African historiography that privilege male representation. Describes chronological events in women's lives covering precolonial to postcolonial Africa Includes photographs of powerful women in colonial Africa; arts such as bead-making, pottery, and basketry; contemporary women in politics; and more Lists significant bibliographical materials from historical, anthropological, ethnographical, and sociological sources

An essential examination of black youth activism since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act What happened to black youth in the post-civil rights generation? What kind of causes did they rally around and were they even rallying in the first place? After the Rebellion takes a close look at a variety of key civil rights groups across the country over the last 40 years to provide a broad view of black youth and social movement activism. Based on both research from a diverse collection of archives and interviews with youth activists, advocates, and grassroots organizers, this book examines popular mobilization among the generation of activists-principally black students, youth, and young adults-who came of age after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Franklin argues that the political environment in the post-Civil Rights era, along with constraints on social activism, made it particularly difficult for young black activists to start and sustain popular mobilization campaigns. Building on case studies from around the country-including New York, the Carolinas, California, Louisiana, and Baltimore-After the Rebellion explores the inner workings and end results of activist groups such as the Southern Negro Youth Congress, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Student Organization for Black Unity, the Free South Africa Campaign, the New Haven Youth Movement, the Black Student Leadership Network, the Juvenile Justice Reform Movement, and the AFL-CIO's Union Summer campaign. Franklin demonstrates how youth-based movements and intergenerational campaigns have attempted to circumvent modern constraints, providing insight into how the very inner workings of these organizations have and have not been effective in creating change and involving youth. A powerful work of both historical and political analysis, After the Rebellion provides a vivid explanation of what happened to the militant impulse of young people since the demobilization of the civil rights and black power movements-a discussion with great implications for the study of generational politics, racial and black politics, and social movements.

When Jackie Robinson became the first African American player in major league baseball in 1947, elbowing aside the league's policies of segregation that had been inviolate for 60 years, he became a symbol of opportunity and acceptance for African American players everywhere. Robinson withstood discrimination to establish himself as a Hall of Fame player, and to lead future generations of black players into the previously all-white world of Major League Baseball. Written for students and general readers alike, this biographical encyclopedia chronicles the history of African American baseball through the life stories of the game's greatest players, the legends who played a significant role in the integration of the major league. From Negro League stars Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, to color line shatterer Jackie Robinson, and those who followed them in the limelight, such as Hank Aaron and Willie Mays, readers will learn how the inclusion of African American players in Major League Baseball improved the sport and race relations in the United States during this critical period in history. Comprehensive biographical entries also include: BLBuck O'Neil Judy Johnson BLBuck Leonard BLCool Papa Bell BLRoy Campanella BLLarry Doby BLMonte Irvin BLWillie McCovey BLErnie Banks BLElston Howard BLMinnie Minoso BLFrank Robinson BLBob Gibson BLCurt Flood Providing detailed accounts of each player's amazing professional achievements, this insightful reference describes how the spectacular talents of African American players elevated Major League Baseball forever. Features include a timeline of important events, numerous photographs, and a bibliography of print and electronic sources for further reading.

There are so many children you pass everyday taken your own children to school in the morning that are extremely mistreated behind closed doors. Sometimes we can point them out like a sore thumb; this book is about one of those children that were never thought to become the person he is today. Children that are subjected to a harsh childhood surrounded with domestic violence, drugs, death, and prostitution under the same roof a child sleep, abuse and neglect openly ignored. All combined in a raw dysfunctional setting that can force any child to the streets as a form of relief from the current hell known as home. We blame young teenagers across the country for the massive destruction to our communities, but we as the parents have a percentage of ownership to that fact due to our own inherited cycle that must be broken. However very few kids make it out the ghetto or become assets to local funeral homes in the neighborhood... "Which one of these is going to be your kid?"

A FAMILY CARD GAME with simple gameplay that is quick and easy to learn CELEBRATE BLACK HISTORY and discover new Black heroes you didn't know about till now BOLD AND COLOURFUL ILLUSTRATIONS on every card make it easy to recognize your favourite heroes DISCOVER MORE IN THE BOOKLET, from when Simone Biles first discovered gymnastics to how Queen Nzinga fought off Portuguese invaders Team up Usain Bolt with Simone Biles, match Mae Jemison with Katherine Johnson, join Jean-Michel Basquiat with Kara Walker. Collect illustrated cards of 44 of the most inspirational Black figures of all time and gather them into groups including space, sport, activism, art, science and literature. Based on Happy Families, this game will inspire children and parents to celebrate Black heroes, both contemporary and historical

1980s Britain witnessed the brassy, multi-faceted emergence of a new generation of young, Black-British artists. Practitioners such as Sonia Boyce and Keith Piper were exhibited in galleries up and down the country and reviewed approvingly. But as the 1980s generation gradually but noticeably fell out of favour, the 1990s produced an intriguing new type of Black-British artist. Ambitious, media-savvy, successful artists such as Steve McQueen, Chris Ofili, and Yinka Shoni-bare made extensive use of the Black image (or, at least, images of Black peo-ple, and visuals evocative of Africa), but did so in ways that set them apart from earlier Black artists. Not only did these artists occupy the curatorial and gallery spaces nominally reserved for a slightly older generation but, with aplomb, auda-city, and purpose, they also claimed pre-viously unimaginable new spaces. Their successes dwarfed those of any previous Black artists in Britain. Back-to-back Tur-ner Prize victories, critically acclaimed Fourth Plinth commissions, and no end of adulatory media attention set them apart. What happened to Black-British artists during the 1990s is the chronicle around which "Things Done Change "is built. The extraordinary changes that the profile of Black-British artists went through are dis-cussed in a lively, authoritative, and de-tailed narrative. In the evolving history of Black-British artists, many factors have played their part. The art world's turning away from work judged to be overly 'political' and 'issue-based'; the ascen-dancy of Blair's New Labour govern-ment, determined to locate a bright and friendly type of 'diversity' at the heart of its identity; the emergence of the preco-cious and hegemonic yBa grouping; gov-ernmental shenanigans; the tragic murder of Black Londoner Stephen Lawrence - all these factors and many others underpin the telling of this fascinating story. "Things Done Change "represents a timely and important contribution to the building of more credible, inclusive, and nuanced art histories. The book avoids treating and discussing Black artists as practitioners wholly separate and distinct from their counterparts. Nor does the book seek to present a rosy and varnished account of Black-British artists. With its multiple references to Black music, in its title, several of its chapter headings, and citations evoked by artists themselves, "Things Done Change "makes a singular and compelling narrative that reflects, as well as draws on, wider cultural mani-festations and events in the socio-political arena.

After sixty years, Dr. Roy G. Phillips, retired founding campus president at Miami-Dade College, Homestead Campus, returned to his native home in rural Webster Parish outside of Minden, Louisiana. It took him almost forty years to fulfill a dream, a journey that began as a conversation with renowned author Alex Haley culminated with the collection of fascinating stories, and then finished in a poignant book that tells the story of his ancestors in their trajectory from Africa to America. When he retired in December 2001, Phillips turned to writing, piercing together years worth of research. The final product, Exodus from the Door of No Return: Journey of an American Family (AuthorHouse), was published in September and revised in 2008. Phillips family saga mirrors the lives of what arguable could be the tale of most African Americans. In the book, family is the glue that binds Phillips ancestors from Slavery to Reconstruction, Jim Crow Segregation, the World Wars, the Great Migration of black families out of the South, the tumultuous civil rights period of the sixties, to the present day. Phillips might never have started on the journey of family discovery if it had not been for a chance meeting with Haley, who had come to speak at the University of Michigan. At that time, Haley was in the midst of researching his book Roots, and Phillips was completing his doctoral dissertation in urban secondary administration. I spent half of the night talking to him about what to do, he recalls. He said, Go and talk to the old folks in your family. Get their stories. Which is exactly what Phillips did. He interviewed his maternal grandmother who was then approaching her 102nd birth date. She not onlyrecounted riveting details about her grandfather and the white family who purchased him and how he ended upon the McDade Plantation along the Red River in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. Phillips painstaking tracked down the descendants of the plantation owners James Germany McDade II who owned his great grandfather and other relatives. Phillips continues to meet and correspond with the McDades in Shreveport and East Texas. He also underwent DNA testing which helped him track both his paternal ancestry to the Mbute people in the Central African Republic and his maternal ancestry to the Mende people in Sierra Leone West Africa. A year after retiring, Phillips was invited to Ghana, West Africa by the Honorable Christine Churcher, Minister of State for Basic Secondary and Girl Child Education, and her friend, Chief Nana Kweku Egyir Gyepi III, to assist in the development of a community college at Cape Coast Ghana, similar to the ones he had planned and managed in Detroit, Seattle, Omaha, and Miami-Dade. While in Cape Coast Ghana, West Africa, Phillips knelt and prayed in the middle of the stone courtyard where the ancestors of many African American families exited the door of no return to waiting ships to be taken to the Caribbean Islands and the Americas. Prior to leaving, Phillips met with the faculty and staff at the Academy of Christ the King, a school in need of adequate facilities, educational equipment, and materials. Despite these limitations, Phillips observed a student body eager to learn. The school reminded him of the two-room segregated Rosenwald School that he first attended in rural Webster Parish during the early forties. He pledged his support to use part of the proceeds ofthis book to assist the children of Cape Coast Ghana in the development of its programs and facilities.

This is the first of two volumes that specifically addresses the subject of the disproportional decline of Black American Males in higher education. For too long, acknowledgment of this issue has been avoided for fear that it would be clearly and too painfully felt. It is apparent that this issue can no longer be ignored and the need to examine and widely address this situation is now so vivid. This volume, and the next, forthrightly discuss and address the conditions that can be observed today. Collectively, the contributing authors provide critical historical overviews and analyses pertaining to Black American males in higher education and Black Americans of both genders. The contributing authors provide data from which conclusions can be drawn, discussion of the effectiveness of programs, conceptual pieces that address the issue of the presence or lack thereof of Black American males in higher education from a range of perspectives, and the role of the community colleges.

Approximately 45% of young black children in the United States (under the age of six) live in poverty. It is well documented that education and economic security are inextricably linked and that early learning and early reading are undisputed contributors to a successful education. This book presents both the challenges and opportunities that exist for addressing the critical needs of black children, who have been historically underserved in the U.S. education system. This book explores the language, cognitive, social-emotional, and health development of black children from birth to age 8. The chapters approach this in three ways; first, they tackle why it is problematic to only characterize Black children's accomplishment in terms of "academic achievement." Second, they discuss the importance of the home-school environment connection. Lastly, they discuss the changes that need to be in teacher preparation in order to ensure that the workforce can practice racial equity in the classroom. These issues are woven together by a call to close the education opportunity gap via 'equity adjustments' that can target educational and health disparities facing the black community.

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"Johnson gives these women visibility and voice as they relate their lives, their crimes, and their efforts to remain connected to families and communities...powerful."
-- "Booklist"

"Johnson's "Inner Lives" provides both a serious intervention in the literature on prisons and a venue through which incarcerated and formerly incarcerated Black women can speak for themselves. It challenges readers to take action."--"Black Renaissance"

""Inner Lives" soars when the women are allowed to speak for themselves."
--"Book"

"Johnson illuminates how the race and gender of African American women affect how they are treated in the American criminal justice system."
--"The Women's Review of Books"

"Johnson provides a historical look at African American women in the U.S. criminal justice system from the colonial period to the present."
--"Law's Social Inquiry"

The rate of women entering prison has increased nearly 400 percent since 1980, with African American women constituting the largest percentage of this population. However, despite their extremely disproportional representation in correctional institutions, little attention has been paid to their experiences within the criminal justice system.

Inner Lives provides readers the rare opportunity to intimately connect with African American women prisoners. By presenting the women's stories in their own voices, Paula C. Johnson captures the reality of those who are in the system, and those who are working to help them. Johnson offers a nuanced and compelling portrait of this fastest-growing prison population by blending legal history, ethnography, sociology, andcriminology. These striking and vivid narratives are accompanied by equally compelling arguments by Johnson on how to reform our nation's laws and social policies, in order to eradicate existing inequalities. Her thorough and insightful analysis of the historical and legal background of contemporary criminal law doctrine, sentencing theories, and correctional policies sets the stage for understanding the current system.