A commiserating and provocative tale, Primacy is an all-important lesson of love, tragedy and inspiration as told from an urban perspective. Propagated in the latter portion of the turbulent 60's, on the outskirts of the gritty streets of Philadelphia, it is the story of a young male born in a 'dysfunctional' household and living in a less than opulent neighborhood. With an adolescent's cognizant awareness of the times and personal events, the prognosticator's life starts out on an anger-laced, emotionally charged tumultuous journey that eventually transcends both the time and the streets of the "City of Brotherly Love." Later in the story as the prognosticator becomes of age you are escorted further into his moral decadence as he takes the reader descriptively fitting into the twenty-first century, meeting with consequences and humility. Eloquently written with appropriate vernacular and speech of the situational characters, this story brings into stark visualization a vivid visitation for the reader. Primacy is an empathetic journey for the many whom have felt that they have been through trying situations and that no other soul could possibly empathize.

Explores how young people from communities targeted in the War on Terror engage with the "political," even while they are under constant scrutiny and surveillance Since the attacks of 9/11, the banner of national security has led to intense monitoring of the politics of Muslim and Arab Americans. Young people from these communities have come of age in a time when the question of political engagement is both urgent and fraught. In The 9/11 Generation, Sunaina Marr Maira uses extensive ethnography to understand the meaning of political subjecthood and mobilization for Arab, South Asian, and Afghan American youth. Maira explores how young people from communities targeted in the War on Terror engage with the "political," forging coalitions based on new racial and ethnic categories, even while they are under constant scrutiny and surveillance, and organizing around notions of civil rights and human rights. The 9/11 Generation explores the possibilities and pitfalls of rights-based organizing at a moment when the vocabulary of rights and democracy has been used to justify imperial interventions, such as the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maira further reconsiders political solidarity in cross-racial and interfaith alliances at a time when U.S. nationalism is understood as not just multicultural but also post-racial. Throughout, she weaves stories of post-9/11 youth activism through key debates about neoliberal democracy, the "radicalization" of Muslim youth, gender, and humanitarianism.

Liminal Fiction at the Edge of the Millennium: The Ends of Spanish Identity investigates the predominant perception of liminality-identity situated at a threshold, neither one thing nor another, but simultaneously both and neither-caused by encounters with otherness while negotiating identity in contemporary Spain. Examining how identity and alterity are parleyed through the cultural concerns of historical memory, gender roles, sex, religion, nationalism, and immigration, this study demonstrates how fictional representations of reality converge in a common structure wherein the end is not the end, but rather an edge, a liminal ground. On the border between two identities, the end materializes as an ephemeral limit that delineates and differentiates, yet also adjoins and approximates. In exploring the ends of Spanish fiction-both their structure and their intentionality-Liminal Fiction maps the edge as a constitutive component of narrative and identity in texts by Najat El Hachmi, Cristina Fernandez Cubas, Javier Marias, Rosa Montero, and Manuel Rivas. In their representation of identity on the edge, these fictions enact and embody the liminal not as simply a transitional and transient mode but as the structuring principle of identification in contemporary Spain.

A volume in Contemporary Perspectives in Race and Ethnic Relations Series Editors: M. Christopher Brown II, Alcorn State University and T. Elon Dancy II, University of Oklahoma As the U.S. focuses on positioning itself to retain and advance its status as a world leader in technology and scientific innovation, a recognition that community colleges are a critical site for intervention has become apparent. Community colleges serve the lion's share of the nation's postsecondary students. In fact, 40% of all undergraduate students are enrolled in community colleges, these students account for nearly 30% of all STEM undergraduate majors in postsecondary institutions. These students serve as a core element of the STEM pipeline into four-year colleges and universities via the community college transfer function. Moreover, community colleges are the primary postsecondary access point for non-traditional students, including students of color, first-generation, low-income, and adult students. This is a particularly salient point given that these populations are sordidly underrepresented among STEM graduates and in the STEM workforce. Increasing success among these populations can contribute significantly to advancing the nation's interests in STEM. As such, the community college is situated as an important site for innovative practices that have strong implications for bolstering the nation's production and sustenance of a STEM labor force. In recognition of this role, the National Science Foundation and private funding agencies have invested millions of dollars into research and programs designed to bolster the STEM pipeline. From this funding and other independently sponsored inquiry, promising programs, initiatives, and research recommendations have been identified. These efforts hold great promise for change, with the potential to transform the education and outcome of STEM students at all levels. This important book discusses many of these promising programs, initiatives, and research-based recommendations that can impact the success of STEM students in the community college. This compilation is timely, on the national landscape, as the federal government has placed increasing importance on improving STEM degree production as a strategy for America's future stability in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Informed by research and theory, each chapter in this volume blazes new territory in articulating how community colleges can advance outcomes for students in STEM, particularly those from historically underrepresented and underserved communities

This book examines civil liberties in China today, covering the topics of constitutional rights of citizens, rights of the criminally accused, the court and legal systems, and judicial conflicts between government regulation and personal freedoms. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China was amended in 2004 to expressly include the protection of human rights, and the last revision of the Constitution in 1982 ostensibly guaranteed civil liberties such as freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly. In actuality, China still resorts to suppressive actions such as strictly controlling accessible content on the Internet and censorship of the media, as well as silencing criticism of government or calls for political reform. Civil Liberties in China explores both theory and practice by identifying key issues in Chinese ideology, government, and human rights. The book assesses historical evidence and empirical data, putting major legal cases in the context of Chinese traditions and culture. Abortion, the one-child policy, and privacy issues are given special attention. 20 photos A list of further print and electronic resources A chronology.

An essential guide to the new face of electoral politics in America, this book provides an examination of the political mobilization of Latinos and Latinas through the churches and the influence of being of the Catholic faith, enabling an understanding of the social and cultural dynamics at play. Blessing La Politica: The Latino Religious Experience and Political Engagement in the United States presents a corrective challenge to the authoritative conclusion by the book Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics that Latinos are less likely to become involved in politics because of the predominant Catholic beliefs of this demographic. Through comprehensive analysis of the political tendencies of Latinos and Latinas of faith, the findings in this work consistently counterpoint those conclusions from a variety of perspectives and methodologies. The research presented in the book comprises surveys that are national in scope-both of elites, and at the mass level-as well as localized in cities. The authors have also collected ethnographies that are localized in U.S. cities and transnational in nature. The result is both a broad view of Latino politics and religion, and detailed information that provides far more context that is possible in national-level quantitative studies.

Whitewashing the South is a powerful exploration of how ordinary white southerners recall living through extraordinary racial times-the Jim Crow era, civil rights movement, and the post-civil rights era-highlighting tensions between memory and reality. Author Kristen Lavelle draws on interviews with the oldest living generation of white southerners to uncover uncomfortable memories of our racial past. The vivid interview excerpts show how these lifelong southerners reflect on race in the segregated South, the civil rights era, and more recent decades. The book illustrates a number of complexities-how these white southerners both acknowledged and downplayed Jim Crow racial oppression, how they both appreciated desegregation and criticized the civil rights movement, and how they both favorably assessed racial progress while resenting reminders of its unflattering past. Chapters take readers on a real-world look inside The Help and an exploration of the way the Greensboro sit-ins and school desegregation have been remembered, and forgotten. Digging into difficult memories and emotions, Whitewashing the South challenges our understandings of the realities of racial inequality.

With a groundbreaking intersectional approach framed around social spheres, Race in America gives students the tools to think critically about race, racism, and white privilege. In this thoroughly updated Second Edition, students will find relevant examples drawn from the headlines and their own experiences. New features in the text and online help students see the "big picture"-and how they can participate in the fight for racial equality.

Economic Cycles and Social Movements: Past, Present and Future offers diverse perspectives on the complex interrelationship between social challenges and economic crises in the Modern World System. Written with a balance of quantitative, qualitative and theoretical contributions and insights, this volume provides a great opportunity to reflect upon the ongoing conceptual and empirical challenges when confronting the complex interrelations of various economic cycles and social movements. By engaging wide-ranging ideas and theoretical points of view from different disciplines, different countries and different perspectives, this study breaks new ground and offers novel insights into the way the capitalist world economy functions as well as the way social and political movements react to these constraints. Different chapters in this volume bring about novel interdisciplinary approaches to study business cycles, economic changes and social as well as political movements, offer new interpretations and, while examining the complexity of socioeconomic cycles in the long run, present epistemological challenges and a wide variety of empirical data that will increase our understanding of these complex interactions.

This book offers a nuanced way to conceptualise South Asian Muslim families' experiences of disability within the UK. The book adopts an intersectional lens to engage with personal narratives on mothering disabled children, negotiating home-school relationships, and developing familiarity with the complex special education system. The author calls for a re-envisioning of special education and disability studies literature from its currently overwhelmingly White middle-class discourse, to one that espouses multi-ethnic and multi-faith perspectives. The book positions minoritised mothers at the forefront of the home-school relationship, who navigate the UK special education system amidst intersecting social inequalities. The author proposes that schools and both formal and informal institutions reformulate their roles in facilitating true inclusion for minoritised disabled families at an epistemic and systemic level.

This book examines the portrayal of the Palestinian-Israeli 'conflict' by looking at the language used in its reporting and how this can, in turn, influence public opinion. The book explores how language use helps frame an event to elicit a particular interpretation from the reader and how this can be manipulated to introduce bias. Sirhan begins the book by examining the history of the 'conflict', and the many persistent myths that surround it. She analyses how five events in the 'conflict' (two in which the Palestinians are victims, two in which the Israelis are victims, and Operation Cast Lead) are reported in five British newspapers: The Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, and The Times. By looking at these events across a range of newspapers, the book investigates differences in the way that the media report each side, before exploring what factors motivate these differences - including issues of bias, censorship, lobbying, and propaganda.

This story proves that there is such a thing as the "American Dream." It is about a mother, Dolores L. Garcia, a courageous lady who believed in herself and her children. It is also the story of a five year old boy who under her guidance began selling limes in a street corner in Laredo, Texas and became very successful in the meat industry and in real estate. Their beginning was no different than many others in the predominantly Hispanic community. However, most families were so busy making ends meet that they couldn't get out of the vicious cycle they found themselves in. Luckily, Dolores had a three part formula to succeed: work hard, plan for the future, never let go of your dreams. This plan gave a five year old boy great success. Dolores became a widow when she was thirty years old. She had ten children, including a set of twins in ages from newborn to a 13 year old. Because her husband was a good provider to her and her children, Dolores led a very sheltered life. Because her husband did most of the shopping, she did not even know how to buy groceries. She lived in government-assisted housing and worked two jobs from 6:00 to midnight to make ends meet. Within five years, she bought a house and a car. The spirit and strengths she possessed she passed to her seven daughters and her two year old son, the author of this book. All of her children became successful and they utilized their God-given gifts. They applied all the guidance and life lessons that their mother passed on to them. This is a story that will affect every reader and help them cope in facing adversity.

This book uses a specialized corpus of public language-related discourse to investigate links between language ideologies and ethnonationalism in contemporary West Central Balkans. Despite a century and a half of shared linguistic history, the nations making up the central part of former Yugoslavia continue to debate the ownership over the common language, creating much animosity, some legal issues, and often absurd circumstances. At the heart of the ongoing language debate over Central South Slavic is the belief in language as the cornerstone of ethnonational identity and the legitimacy of ethnic groups' claims to sovereignty. Given a history of conflict and the recent resurgence in extreme ethnonationalism, an understanding of ethnolinguistic contestation in the region is as important as ever. This book will be of interest to social scientists working in fields as diverse as (applied) linguistics, anthropology, media studies, political science, sociology and history, as well as other scholars with an interest in language and society.

"Raised Up Down Yonder" attempts to shift focus away from why black youth are "problematic" to explore what their daily lives actually entail. Howell travels to the small community of Hamilton, Alabama, to investigate what it is like for a young black person to grow up in the contemporary rural South.

What she finds is that the young people of Hamilton are neither idly passing their time in a stereotypically languid setting, nor are they being corrupted by hip hop culture and the perils of the urban North, as many pundits suggest. Rather, they are dynamic and diverse young people making their way through the structures that define the twenty-first-century South. Told through the poignant stories of several high school students, "Raised Up Down Yonder" reveals a group that is often rendered invisible in society. Blended families, football sagas, crunk music, expanding social networks, and a nearby segregated prom are just a few of the fascinating juxtapositions.

Howell uses personal biography, historical accounts, sociolinguistic analysis, and community narratives to illustrate persistent racism, class divisions, and resistance in a new context. She addresses contemporary issues, such as moral panics regarding the future of youth in America and educational policies that may be well meaning but are ultimately misguided.