What is Wen Kroy? It is New York spelled backwards, and when people come to the city in their youth, how can it be anything but? Through these poems, we come to love and understand the hardships of being young and the difficulty of building a self. Sheila Black uses the city as a character in the discovery of a self through love, passion, fear, and, in the end, empathy. -Jennifer Bartlett Some poets blindfold themselves to better see in the dark, others bravely face the day. Sheila Black is one of those. Big-hearted, generous, all-embracing, the poems in her stunning new book Wen Kroy awake us to a world where the ordinary is "radiant, transfigured" and at the furthest frontiers of experience "pain shines like pleasure." - L. S. Asekoff Enter here Black's ghost-city held up to a mirror, her heart (your heart) on her lap like a terrible red baby. From the velvet, smoky hush of a room the moon is in and straight out into the streets and vacant lots and snow, Black spares us no thing. or Here is ruin and the blue-edged shadow we cling to, Lou Reed or Billy Bang playing the darkness. How I love the rage and tenderness in this voice. Indeed, "nothing but simple aria and/ the glass breaks." -Joni Wallace This is a fantastic book. Sheila Black is a master of metaphor. In "First Love" she transforms loneliness into "a raincoat pricked with so many holes." These poems speak expertly of desire, difference and danger. Wen Kroy captures "all the motley messy details / of daily life" with spontaneity and verve. - Jillian Weise Sheila Black is the author of House of Bone and Love/Iraq (both CW Press). She co-edited with Jennifer Bartlett and Mike Northen Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability (Cinco Puntos Press), named a 2012 Notable Book for Adults by the American Library Association (ALA). In 2012, she received a Witter Bynner Fellowship, for which she was selected by Philip Levine. She lives in San Antonio, Texas where she directs Gemini Ink, a literary arts center.
Giving voice to the real-life stories of Black millennials and younger adults, Sheila Wise Rowe goes beyond their struggles to point towards hope, joy, and healing. Drawing on years of counseling trauma and abuse survivors, Wise Rowe provides stories, reflections, and tools for Black readers of all ages as they journey toward healing from the barriers affecting them, their children, and their communities.
The cofounder of BET and first African American woman billionaire shares her deeply personal, “highly readable” (Kirkus Reviews) journey through love and loss, tragedy and triumph—an inspiring story of overcoming toxic influences, discovering her true self, and at last finding happiness in her work and life. From humble beginnings as a schoolgirl and a young violinist in Maywood, Illinois, Sheila Johnson rose to become one of the most accomplished businesswomen in America. A cofounder of Black Entertainment Television, she became an entrepreneur and philanthropist at the highest levels. But that success came at a painful personal cost. Sheila grew up in a middle-class family that encouraged her love of the arts and music. But her idyllic childhood ended at age sixteen when her beloved father announced that he was leaving for another woman, an act that shattered her mother and destroyed Sheila’s trust. She vowed she’d never be in her mother’s position—dependent on a man for her sense of self-worth and for financial security. Yet when she was barely out of her teens, Sheila married a man who would take her right down that same unfortunate path. Filled with sharply drawn, emotionally powerful senses, Walk Through Fire traces the hardships Sheila faced in her marriage and her professional life. Despite her skills as a violinist and music teacher, as well as her obvious entrepreneurial talent, she had to fight to overcome self-doubt and fears of failure. Sheila vividly details her struggles, including battling institutional racism, losing a child, suffering emotional abuse in her thirty-three-year marriage, and plunging into a deep depression with her divorce. And yet, out of that pain came renewed purpose and meaning. In the third act of her life, Sheila Johnson has not only made her mark as the founder of Salamander Hotels & Resorts and the only Black female coowner of three professional sports teams, she has also, finally, found true love. Walk Through Fire is a uniquely American success story. And it is the deeply personal portrait of one woman who, despite heartache and obstacles, finally found herself and her place in the world.
This revised and updated edition of Black Women in the Academy adds updated data on the status of Black faculty women, a forty-four-page bibliography, and a new chapter on the status of international faculty women from twenty different countries, to the only study of the decisions of African-American women to remain in, return to, or voluntarily leave the academy. Sheila Gregory creates a conceptual framework from economic, psychosocial, and job satisfaction theories to construct a model to explain the factors that affect the decision patterns influencing career mobility. She uses a survey of the members of the Association of Black Women in Higher Education to illustrate to what degree the designated variables predict decision patterns. Gregory's analysis focuses on the women who remained in the academy, noting that those who did remain were usually successful high-achievers who managed to overcome numerous obstacles involving career and family. The author also provides an outline detailing how to attract and retain talented Black women scholars, along with possible interventions that might help interinstitutional mobility.
Increase your awareness of the concerns facing the black disabled community! Disability and the Black Community addresses physical, mental, and learning disabilities experienced across age, gender, and ethics groups by the black race in the United States. This unique book works to increase understanding and awareness of those working with the disabled by mobilizing advocates, providing alternatives for successful intervention and planning, and encouraging research in disability and rehabilitation. A distinguished panel of researchers and practitioners provide commentary on topics that include selected physical disabilities, disabled children learning and program concerns, welfare reform, public housing issues, domestic violence, and disability curriculum contentall in accordance with the broadening of the definition of disability as supported by the American Disabilities Act. Disability and the Black Community raises the level of understanding and awareness of the complex and diverse concerns facing the disabled and their families in the community and the workplace. The book is at once motivational, influential, and empowering, examining social and political issues that compound the ordeals confronting the black disabled. Topics addressed include: learning disabilities, academic achievements, and mental health issues of children health disparities and access to care welfare reform, disability, and race practice, program, and curriculum models and much more! Disability and the Black Community is an essential resource for health professionals and advocates who work with the black disabled. The book keeps practitioners up to date on what is needed in terms of funding, facilities, and resources in order to keep the larger society and significant resource systems appraised of the needs of the disabled.
Amid the longest-running economic boom in American history and despite the emergence of a significant black middle class, the lot of low-income black people in general-and black women in particular-seems more troubling than ever. Their plight, Sheila Radford-Hill argues in this book, is directly related to the diminution of black women's traditional power as culture bearers and community builders. A cogent critique of feminist theory and practice, Further to Fly identifies the failure of feminism to connect with the social realities it should seek to explain, in particular the decline of black women's empowerment. Further to Fly searches out the causes and effects of this decline, describing the ways in which, since the 1960s, black women have been stripped of their traditional status as agents of change in the community-and how, as a result, the black community has faltered. Radford-Hill explores the shortcomings of second-wave black and white feminism, revealing how their theoretical underpinnings have had unintended (and often unacknowledged) negative consequences for black women's lives and their communities.While acknowledging that African American women have made significant contributions to the black struggle for justice in America, Radford-Hill argues that more needs to be done. She combines social criticism and critical analysis to argue that black women must revive their legacy of activism and reclaim the tradition of nurturing in the black community, proposing specific tactics that can be used to revive the support networks that help determine the obligations of community members and guide how people interact on an everyday level. As a deft account of genesis and effects of black women's diminishing power, and as a sobering analysis of the devastating blunders of feminist theory and practice, this work makes a compelling argument for an "authentic feminism," one that aggressively connects the realities of women's experiences, needs, aspirations, and responsibilities.
The civil rights movement of the 1960s improved the political and legal status of African Americans, but the quest for equality in employment and economic well-being has lagged behind. Blacks are more than twice as likely as whites to be employed in lower-paying service jobs or to be unemployed, are three times as likely to live in poverty, and have a median household income barely half of that for white households. What accounts for these disparities, and what possibilities are there for overcoming obstacles to black economic progress? This book seeks answers to these questions through a combined quantitative and qualitative study of six municipalities in Florida. Factors impeding the quest for equality include employer discrimination, inadequate education, increasing competition for jobs from white females and Latinos, and a lack of transportation, job training, affordable childcare, and other sources of support, which makes it difficult for blacks to compete effectively. Among factors aiding in the quest is the impact of black political power in enhancing opportunities for African Americans in municipal employment. The authors conclude by proposing a variety of ameliorative measures: strict enforcement of antidiscrimination laws; public policies to provide disadvantaged people with a good education, adequate shelter and food, and decent jobs; and self-help efforts by blacks to counter self-destructive attitudes and activities.
In African American Girls and the Construction of Identity, Sheila Walker closely examines socioeconomic class and explores the way it shapes how African American girls experience race and gender in the process of their identity formation. While all the girls who participated in the two-year study are African American, their lives are racialized and gendered in significantly different ways, in both public and private spaces. Affluence is not a guaranteed protection against the identity-damaging effects of racism, and poverty is not necessarily a risk factor for an irresolute identity. By examining identity through the lens of class, Walker provides researchers, educators, and parents a more in-depth appreciation of what is a very complex, multi-layered phenomenon.
The civil rights movement of the 1960s improved the political and legal status of African Americans, but the quest for equality in employment and economic well-being has lagged behind. Blacks are more than twice as likely as whites to be employed in lower-paying service jobs or to be unemployed, are three times as likely to live in poverty, and have a median household income barely half of that for white households. What accounts for these disparities, and what possibilities are there for overcoming obstacles to black economic progress? This book seeks answers to these questions through a combined quantitative and qualitative study of six municipalities in Florida. Factors impeding the quest for equality include employer discrimination, inadequate education, increasing competition for jobs from white females and Latinos, and a lack of transportation, job training, affordable childcare, and other sources of support, which makes it difficult for blacks to compete effectively. Among factors aiding in the quest is the impact of black political power in enhancing opportunities for African Americans in municipal employment. The authors conclude by proposing a variety of ameliorative measures: strict enforcement of antidiscrimination laws; public policies to provide disadvantaged people with a good education, adequate shelter and food, and decent jobs; and self-help efforts by blacks to counter self-destructive attitudes and activities.
A “powerful photo collection” documenting the Black Lives Matter movement and its parallels to the historic fight for civil rights (Publishers Weekly). The fight for equality continues, from 1960 to now. Combining portraits of past and present social justice activists with documentary images from recent protests throughout the United States, #1960Now sheds light on the parallels between the 1960s Civil Rights Movement and the Black Lives Matter movement of today. Shelia Pree Bright’s striking black-and-white photographs capture the courage and conviction of ‘60s leaders and a new generation of activists, offering a powerful reminder that the fight for justice is far from over. #1960Now represents an important new contribution to American protest photography. “Visually arresting . . . activism photography shot across the U.S., from Ferguson, Missouri, to Atlanta to Philadelphia.” —Essence “While millions of cellphone photos are generated each day—some forceful testaments to racial violence and injustice—few possess the grace and quiet lyricism of her images.” —The New York Times Lens blog
WOW! Joey is amazed when he sees his new neighbor transform an ordinary living room into a colorful, shimmering roomful of magic-just by twisting a funny blue tube! Joey is curious about the kaleidoscope, and when he picks it up to try some magic of his own, things really go wild. Extraordinary events and a mysterious neighbor teach Joey a lesson he'll never forget."--BOOK JACKET.
This revised and updated edition of Black Women in the Academy adds updated data on the status of Black faculty women, a forty-four-page bibliography, and a new chapter on the status of international faculty women from twenty different countries, to the only study of the decisions of African-American women to remain in, return to, or voluntarily leave the academy. Sheila Gregory creates a conceptual framework from economic, psychosocial, and job satisfaction theories to construct a model to explain the factors that affect the decision patterns influencing career mobility. She uses a survey of the members of the Association of Black Women in Higher Education to illustrate to what degree the designated variables predict decision patterns. Gregory's analysis focuses on the women who remained in the academy, noting that those who did remain were usually successful high-achievers who managed to overcome numerous obstacles involving career and family. The author also provides an outline detailing how to attract and retain talented Black women scholars, along with possible interventions that might help interinstitutional mobility.
Explores the contributions of black diasporic filmmakers and thinkers to contemporary artistic and theoretical discourses. Created at the crossroads of slavery, migration, and exile, and comprising a global population, the black diaspora is a diverse space of varied histories, experiences, and goals. Likewise, black diasporic film tends to focus on the complexities of transnational identity, which oscillates between similarity and difference and resists easy categorization. In Contact Zones author Sheila J. Petty addresses a range of filmmakers, theorists, and issues in black diasporic cinema, highlighting their ongoing influences on contemporary artistic and theoretical discourses. Petty examines both Anglophone and Francophone films and theorists, divided according to this volume's three thematic sections--Slavery, Migration and Exile, and Beyond Borders. The feature films and documentaries considered--which include Sankofa, Daughters of the Dust, The Man by the Shore, and Rude, among others--represent a wide range of cultures and topics. Through close textual analysis that incorporates the work of well-known diasporic thinkers like W. E. B. DuBois, Aimé Césaire, and Frantz Fanon along with contemporary notables such as Molefi Kete Asante, bell hooks, Clenora Hudson-Weems, René Depestre, Paul Gilroy, and Rinaldo Walcott, Petty details the unique ways in which black diasporic films create meaning. By exploring a variety of African American, Caribbean, Black British, and African Canadian perspectives, Contact Zones provides a detailed survey of the diversity and vitality of black diasporic contributions to cinema and theory. This volume will be a welcome addition to the libraries of scholars and students of film studies and Africana studies.
Increase your awareness of the concerns facing the black disabled community! Disability and the Black Community addresses physical, mental, and learning disabilities experienced across age, gender, and ethics groups by the black race in the United States. This unique book works to increase understanding and awareness of those working with the disabled by mobilizing advocates, providing alternatives for successful intervention and planning, and encouraging research in disability and rehabilitation. A distinguished panel of researchers and practitioners provide commentary on topics that include selected physical disabilities, disabled children learning and program concerns, welfare reform, public housing issues, domestic violence, and disability curriculum content—all in accordance with the broadening of the definition of disability as supported by the American Disabilities Act. Disability and the Black Community raises the level of understanding and awareness of the complex and diverse concerns facing the disabled and their families in the community and the workplace. The book is at once motivational, influential, and empowering, examining social and political issues that compound the ordeals confronting the black disabled. Topics addressed include: learning disabilities, academic achievements, and mental health issues of children health disparities and access to care welfare reform, disability, and race practice, program, and curriculum models and much more! Disability and the Black Community is an essential resource for health professionals and advocates who work with the black disabled. The book keeps practitioners up to date on what is needed in terms of funding, facilities, and resources in order to keep the larger society and significant resource systems appraised of the needs of the disabled.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.