The Alchemy of Race and Rights
by Patricia J. Williams
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (01 April, 1991)
list price: $29.95
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Editorial Review

In a personal and profound examination of the United States legal system and its effect on African Americans, Patricia J. Williams uses the term alchemy--the medieval, mysterious practice of turning base metal into gold--as a haunting metaphor for the nearly mystical process by which United States law emboldens and endangers blacks through arcane interpretation, as well as the heroic will of a people to make those laws manifest. "I'm interested in the way in which the legal language flattens and confines in absolutes the complexity of meaning inherent in any given problem," she writes. "I am trying to challenge the usual limits of commercial discourse by using an intentionally double-voiced and relational, rather than a traditionally legal black letter, vocabulary."

With an authorial voice that draws upon Williams's perspective as teacher, lawyer, black American, and woman, The Alchemy of Race and Rights uses a palette of court cases, educational encounters, and personal experiences--including her discovery of her slave ancestor and her interactions with school deans over how to teach law--to create a literary cubist portrait detailing the rhetoric and reality that color the complexion of American justice. --Eugene Holley Jr. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A Widely Read Manifesto of Regressive Race Relations
A great deal of discourse has come out of the use of this book in my law class on the interaction of law in society, but I find it's use counter-productive to the forward-thinking goals of most academic institutions. Prof. Williams cannot seem to make up her mind on anything. She attacks Marxist lawyers, while at the same time advocating an affront to the bourgeoise, especially those without black skin (whites, Hispanics and Asians are all vilified to some degree in this book). While masquerading as a socialist activist herself, she then advocates a very right-wing goal of keeping each other in our respective racial boxes to keep order, even refusing to accept that she herself can be at once black, female and educated -- these three identities always appear separately for her. Her book is a regressive look at the future that denies the possibility of progress in race and gender relations. She is sadly unable to employ the power in her rights and instead prefers to wallow in a viscious cycle that refuses to recognize nuance, and prefers rather to assume racial categories, because they are simpler. Very few new ideas are presented in this racist, ethnically intolerant and misandric text and it is hardly worth a read, beyond the fact that it may come up in discussion.

More gibberish from the good professor
What a dreary tome. Ms. Professor Williams has a unique ability to obscure the most obvious and trite revelations in pedantic and turgid prose that she thinks is thrillingly poetic because the words are long-winded and flowery. and that's when she's making sense, which isn't very often. the rest of her writings tend to be either outright calls for more preferences for her preferred friends camouflaged as courageous iconoclasm, or just plain idiocy posing as intellectually daring originality. Sadly enough, if Thomas Kuhn is right, we'll have the likes of Professor Pat around for another couple of decades. (But hey, if you have the money, you can always sign up for the Nation's annual cruise and talk about the revolution with Pat and the gang for a mere 8 grand or so....)

Fabulous Book for the Open-Minded
This is an extraordinary book.Through the use of a wide array of reasoning and writing methods, Williams makes it possible for us to get a glimpse of the dangerous and contradictory legal world that ethnic minorities must negotiate to survive.It may be a bit of a stretch for people unaccustomed to thinking outside the box as well as those unfamilar with literature and literary theory.But the insight Williams offers is well worth the effort.It also provides members of the privileged class with the unusual & valuable experience of not being the central focus of the text.A fabulous experience for readers with an open mind! ... Read more

Isbn: 0674014707
Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Biography    3. Civil rights    4. Critical legal studies    5. General    6. Law teachers    7. Legal Reference / Law Profession    8. Race relations    9. U.S. - Political And Civil Rights Of Blacks    10. United States    11. Williams, Patricia J.,    12. Williams, Patricia J   

How Did You Get to Be Mexican?: A White/Brown Man's Search for Identity
by Kevin R. Johnson
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 June, 1999)
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Reviews (11)

Thank you to the author!Such an important book to write...
When I saw the title, I knew I had to check out the book for myself.Since I am a bicultural person (of Venezuelan and Polish descent) I could relate to his struggle.A lot of people doubt you based on physical characteristics, surname and mannerisms when you come from a bicultural background.The situation was the same for Mr. Johnson, a lawyer of English and Mexican background.His last name, light complexion and elementary knowledge of Spanish hindered him in integrating into Mexican culture, while his non-Caucasian features separated him from his Anglo contemporaries.He wrote sensitively about his experiences and enlightened us about his process of self-discovery (finally marrying a Mexicana, having children with her, giving them Spanish names, etc).I reccomend this book to anyone who wants an education on the bicultural experience or has been through that process themselves.I can't tell you how many times, to this day, people still deny me my Latin roots because I don't look like the caricatures they have in their heads about how all Hispanics/Latinos are supposed to look (Dark skin, black hair, black eyes), and I don't have a Spanish last name because I was raised by my mom (Martinez, Morales, Rodriguez, etc).We have to get over our assumptions about people if we want the walls to come down in our thinking.It is the only way toward liberation.

good stuff
I had to read this book for a perspectives on race and ethnicity class, contrasting it with a book of a similar theme. I won't mention the other title out of respect for that author but this book was by far much more humbly introspective than the other book. Even though I am an Asian American, I was able to see the similarities between the Latino American experience and the Asian American one, and that the issues a person of a minority background experiences are to an extent universal and maddening. I am really glad I had the opportunity to read this book because it showed me that a biography that covered deep-seated social issues could be written and presented with humility and dignity. The other book, though honest too, had such an arrogance about it that I could not stand to read it. I would recommend this book to anyone regardless of their background.

Identify This Book
This is the story of a mother who dearly wanted to assimilate but couldn't - and her son, who could have but finally wouldn't. It is the story of a man of mixed White-Latino heritage engulfed in self-doubt about his place in a society obsessed with race. It is the story of a prominent young lawyer and college professor who can never fully enjoy his success because someone always pops up to accuse him of being a "box checker," a counterfeit Latino for affirmative action purposes.

Contradictions run wild in Kevin Johnson's autobiographical account of growing up racially mixed and emotionally mixed up. On one page, he rightly laments racial pigeonholing. On the next, he paints a painfully detailed picture of someone's racial history and physical features. The book is replete with mixed heritage characters who "identify" publicly with the racial tradition of one parent over that of another.

At first this approach left me frustrated (maybe I yearned for transcendence). But soon I realized that Johnson could hardly tell his story otherwise: the contradictions are not his but society's. Such is the sad - indeed the surreal - state of America's racial politics.

However sad and surreal race relations indeed may be, books like Johnson's represent a breakthrough of sorts for diversity and understanding. For most of our nation's history, dispossessed individuals were truly silenced - either by poverty or outright discrimination. As society began to allow different voices to emerge, pure outsiders got most of the attention. Now people like Johnson, who inhabits what the book jacket calls "the borderlands between racial identities," are receiving the call to tell their stories.

Before I run on any longer, I should reveal some modest secrets of my own. Johnson and I attended the same high school in Southern California. In college, in the late 1970s, we shared two different apartments on Berkeley's Haste Street, a student ghetto just south of the University of California campus. We remained friends as he progressed through the legal profession to his current position as associate dean for academic affairs and professor of law at the University of California, Davis.

Johnson was born in 1958, the first child of a White father and a Mexican American mother. His parents divorced when he was young, and he grew up hopscotching from the barrio's poverty to the relative affluence of the beach cities near Los Angeles. Johnson's mother, a staunch assimilationist, neither taught him Spanish nor encouraged pride in his Latin roots. When she remarried, she attached herself yet another Anglo.

Following the advice of his politically savvy father, the adolescent Johnson began to ponder his Mexican American background. He began taking Spanish in high school. He continued in college. Meanwhile Berkeley introduced him - as it did us all - to heretofore unimagined diversity. Yet, to me, my roommate seemed most comfortable while slam dancing to the Dead Kennedys at the San Francisco punk club Mabuhay Gardens. White like me, I would have told anyone who bothered to ask about his racial identity (though I knew, of course, about his mother's background). Tellingly, no one raised the question.

My analysis at the time partly reflected my own lack of maturity and perception, but there's little doubt that Harvard Law School forced my friend unequivocally out of his Latino closet. Like other Harvard law students from modest economic and social backgrounds, he wondered whether he really deserved his place in the elite institution. Had the admissions committee let him in just because he'd checked the Latino box on the application? Even after he made law review, he could never convince himself.

During a tussle over affirmative action on the virtually all-white law review, Johnson took a firm pro-diversity stance. From that point on, he became increasingly outspoken about his Mexican American heritage - both personally and professionally. Though it might have been easier to blend in as white, he opted for a more rewarding, if rockier, bicultural path.

His chapter about Harvard, which opens the book, should be required reading for any undergraduate contemplating the LSAT. This isn't the first time someone has slammed Harvard Law, and it won't be the last, but Johnson's account makes the experience seem outright hellish for anyone with the slightest non-conformist streak. Pranks (probably innocuous to your average Yale man) resound with new meaning when aimed at a sensitive outsider. For his defense of affirmative action, Johnson earned a citation in a spoof yearbook as author of a volume entitled, "I Hate Whites." Nearly two decades later, the barb still stings.

After law school, Johnson plunged into pro bono work on behalf of Latin American immigrants and married a woman of Mexican American descent. Virginia helped him grow more comfortable with his identity, and together they try to provide a foundation of Mexican culture for their three children.

Policy discussions generally take a backseat in Johnson's autobiographical account. When they appear, they're grounded in personal experience - like his analysis of the "box checker" dilemma. The question is simple: what constitutes a member of an underprivileged group for the purposes of affirmative action? The answer is complex, if not insoluble. Under pressure to admit or hire individuals from certain groups, many institutions and businesses are keen to count anyone vaguely entitled to membership. Predictably, this has sparked a debate among civil rights activists over who qualifies to check the box. Individuals of mixed racial heritage, like Johnson, come under special scrutiny. The phenomenon is captured by the book's title, "How Did You Get to Be a Mexican?"A senior professor asked Johnson that very question during an interview for a position on a law faculty.

Johnson's book offers a partial answer, but no response will prove satisfactory as long as our society remains obsessed with race. Indeed, we can only put racism behind us when we no longer care about the answer.

* Bill Hinchberger is the editor of the BrazilMax website. ... Read more

Isbn: 1566396514
Sales Rank: 487447
Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Ethnic Studies - General    5. Ethnic identity    6. Johnson, Kevin R    7. Mexican Americans    8. Minority Studies - Ethnic American    9. Minority Studies - Race Relations    10. People of Color    11. Racially mixed people    12. Sociology    13. United States   

Where Is Your Body?: And Other Essays on Race Gender and the Law
by Mari J. Matsuda
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (01 December, 1996)
list price: $24.00 -- our price: $24.00
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Editorial Review

A Japanese American law professor who asks trenchant questions about gender and ethnic identity, Mari Matsuda injects messy reality into complex legal and social doctrines. The title essay in this rousing, incisive collection celebrates the American civil rights protesters who challenged segregation. Among those who laid their bodies on the line, Matsuda hails an earnest group of middle-class black schoolteachers who risked jail by registering to vote. "They are old women now," she writes, "full of peace, I imagine, knowing as they do that they stood tall in a moment of history making." Initially cast as lectures, papers, and speeches, her words have poetic lilt and immediacy.She relishes unpopular, sometimes contradictory positions, wading into the fray on political correctness (she applauds it) and racist speech (she's willing to ban it). Now, says Matsuda, "it is time to hear our own voices, to silence the ones that say 'stop acting your color.' This is the privilege we earned from generations before who made wise choices. They survived so we could flourish, so we could speak up, act up, do right, with our colors flying." ... Read more

Reviews (3)

buy this book!
Where Is Your Body is a fabulous collection of short essays dealing with questions ranging from the meaning of critical race theory to asian american identity.The essays, based on talks the author has given, areaccessible, critical, and inspiring.Mari Matsuda is a founding mother ofcritical race theory, and is renowned for her intellectual power as well asfor her political commitments, in communities ranging from legal scholarsto Asian American activists. This book gives the reader a wonderful senseof Matsuda's power and passion.

provocative exploration, beautifully written prose
in this volume, mari matusda continues her exploration of the intersection of race and gender, and how american society makes laws to both control and react to issues of identity. the work, written in very accessible first person narrative, contains so many poignant, simply stated recountings,that you feel as if you and your closest friend are talking about your mostinitimate thoughts and secrets. highly recommended for anyone interested inhow today's laws, today's people feel and interrelate around these touchytopics.

not just for scholars. the words are easily accessible to anyonewho has ever had a harsh wordthrown at them or witnessed any kind ofabusive behavior.

Buy this and you will be HAPPY!
I'll keep it short--I loved the book ... Read more

Isbn: 0807067806
Subjects:  1. Equality    2. General    3. Group identity    4. Political Philosophy    5. Political aspects    6. Politics - Current Events    7. Social Groups    8. Social change    9. Sociology    10. Sociology - General    11. United States    12. Women's Studies - General   

Rebels in Law : Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers
by J. Clay Smith
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (08 February, 2000)
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Reviews (1)

Decent book on black women lawyers
Smith is a black male law professor at Howard University.He selects documents which discuss black women in the law from the time that the first sister was sworn in to the present.This book has great statistical facts and is a good tool for arguing why affirmative action is necessary in law schools.However, I would have preferred if a historian had written this book.As it stands, this is just a scrapbook that included selected writings on the topic.There is much academic literature on women in the law and blacks in the law and it is not incorporated well into this book.In addition, there are a number of incredible black, female law professors out there and their work on black women's legal issues barely gets addressed here.In brief, this book is a nice piece to have, but it could have been better. ... Read more

Isbn: 0472086464
Sales Rank: 331161
Subjects:  1. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    2. Gender & the Law    3. History    4. History: American    5. Sociology    6. United States - General    7. Women's Studies - General    8. Women's Studies - History    9. Social Science / Women's Studies   

Confronting Authority: Reflections of an Ardent Protester
by Derrick Bell
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Paperback (01 January, 1996)
list price: $12.00
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Reviews (1)

BELL IS HUMBLE, HELPFUL, AND WISE
A personal account of Professor Derrick Bell's protest of Harvard Law School's refusal to offer tenure to a woman of color. Bell, the first Black tenured Professor at Harvard Law, made it clear from the beginning that he did not wish to be a token member of the faculty. Professor Bell took a leave of absence in protest after years of waiting for the Harvard faculty hiring committee to offer tenure to a women of color. An insightful, retrospective look at each decision Bell made, the effects his choices had on many of the players, and the invaluable lessons he learned from the experience. This book is a must for anyone who desires to continue the struggle for equality and social justice. Essential for activists and organizers. ... Read more

Isbn: 080700927X
Sales Rank: 927313
Subjects:  1. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    2. General    3. Politics - Current Events    4. Sociology   

Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby
by Stephen L. Carter
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (01 September, 1991)
list price: $23.00
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Reviews (7)

A book to encourage debate- not end it!!
This is not the book that many will expect it to be. If the reader is looking for a book taking a position for or against affirmative action, she will be dissapointed here. In fact, half of the book actually is absent talk of affirmative action at all. What Carter does do in "Reflections.." is relay to us his experiences, thoughts and feelings on the matter in the style of an internal socratic dialogue.

Stephen Carter is just the man to do it. He has written many books on the many aspects of law and, as he conveys in this cultural memoir, has aquired views notoriously hard to pin down (how many 'liberals' do YOU know who wrote books suggesting that church/state seperation has been taken too far?!) Accordingly, he can admits both being helped by affirmative action and being psychologically hurt by some of it's misguided effects. His willingness to think and write about these quandaries, so often neglected by other thinkers, makes this a fascinating read. No dogmatic diatribes or easy answers, just discussion that is passionate yet objective.

While affirmative action dominates the first half of the book, it is used as a springboard to the second half, which discusses a deeper problem- that of a noticeable distrust in Black America of dissenting political voices. Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Clarence Thomas and the like are quick to be called 'white' or 'inauthentic' if they voice opinions contrary to mainstream black thought. Whether or not you agree with Carter's observation, his discussion here is lively, thoughtful and always respectful of all angles.

So, to close, the reason for the subtracted star is the fact that this book might disappoint two expectations readers may have for it- First, there are no conclusions reached here. While this is a good thing in itself, the reader looking for winning intellectual argument will need to look elsewhere. The second is that the title is a bit misleading as only about 100 pages are actually on affirmative action. Again, the discussion after is just as mind-capturing. Still, because of the title and synopsis, it is a bit misleading.

A Flawed Argument
Once over lunch with a Polish-American friend of mine, we discussed affirmative action.I support it; she doesn't."Carolyn," she said, "you're so smart.Aren't you resentful that people will think that you got so far in school, employment, and life in general because of the color of your skin?"

"Kim," I answered, "what makes you think that black people don't think that everytime we see unqualified white people who've "made it"?Do you really think George W. Bush would have been admitted to Yale if he'd been black?"That gave her some food for thought so I was able to finish my share of the sushi before we moved on to dissect "Memento".I loved it; she hated it.

The point is, the argument that affirmative action is somehow unfair to blacks because it lumps the "unqualified" in with the "qualified" is bull.Life lumps the "unqualified" in with the "qualified" all the time.Which is why both a D student cheerleader like George W. Bush and and an A+ student bi-lingual Academy Award winner like Jodie Foster hold degrees from Yale.

Why is it that all of the black intellectuals who come out against affirmative action owe their educations and careers to its existence?It's amazing how these men and women want to turn around and lock the doors that openly admitted them so that no more minorities can pass through.

Stephen L. Carter's argument is flawed.But I'm sure it helped sell his book, so more power to ya, brotha!Count your cash and forget the cost to minorities in America.

Required reading for everyone!
I picked up this one in a second-hand bookstore in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. What an odd place for such a book, and what a treat it was for me!!

I have many friends from the US, and I have over the years heard they mentioning of "AA-programs". Some of my friends are positive to the AA-programs while others are against them. I must confess that I have absolutely no first-hand experience on this topic at all. I have the "preferred" skin-color, and also I'm living in Norway - which is one of the more advanced countries when it comes to equal opportunities - equal pay etc. Therefore, in the past, I had little to contribute with when the topic was discussed. And lack of knowledge was probably my strongest motive for reading "Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby".

One would think that a serious topic as Affirmative Action really is, would make a dry and rather verbose book. But Dr. Carter has an easy writing style, combined with his personal anecdotes - "Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby" was an entertaining read! I greatly enjoyed the book from page one. It was too good to put down, so I finished it in a few long sittings.

After reading this book, I have a better understanding on how the different AA-program works. And I must admit that I side with the ones of my friends whom are against such programs. This, simply because I truly believe that "color-blind is best". Treat everyone as individuals, and stop the stereotyping, and the building up under the belief that minorities cannot compete in a level playing field. For example, when American universities admit Blacks, Hispanics or others with lower exam scores than the rest, it is a waste of resources. They are more likely to follow the trend with lower test results than the rest, to not pass the exams, or fail to graduate at all (Thomas Sowell "Race and Culture - A world view", 1995). If any minority group be it Blacks, Hispanics or others, score lower than other groups, the recourses should be put in to improving the schools rather than telling them (the minorities) they do not need to meet the same standards as others. I can of course never completely comprehend or understand the terrible injustice and the endless frustrations that the minorities must have suffered, as I believe you have to have "walked in their shoes" to do so. But I am at least much more knowledgeable when discussing the topic.

After reading the book I passed it on to my friend, Rosa. She is living in US, but her parents moved from Puerto Rico to US some 30 years ago. She too, finished the book in a sitting or two, and she passed it on to her mother who was visiting from US. Both Rosa and her mother could perfectly well identify with Dr. Carter's book. I can never imagine what it is like to feel the doubt of colleagues to whether my success was achieved because of my race (and thereof by the privileges granted under an AA-program) rather than merit. But according to what Rosa told me, that is something all minorities has to live with. I am sure she knows what she is talking about, being a highly successful woman teaching (and doing her Ph.D.) at one of the best universities in Chicago. Another (black) friend of mine (also very successful) says "..My SAT-score was way above the score required, and I would have been admitted to the West Point Academy even if I was polka-dotted. But I am so used to the accusations of me achieving what I have achieved due to my skin-color rather than to my merits, to the point where that I am not even offended by it anymore..."

"Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby" is a book that taught me many things, and it should be required reading for everyone.

It is a book that leaves you thinking - which is not necessarily a bad thing... ... Read more

Isbn: 0465068715
Sales Rank: 1121948
Subjects:  1. Affirmative action programs    2. African Americans    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Employment    5. General    6. Labor    7. Labor And Employment Law    8. Minorities    9. Race And Ethnic Relations    10. Sociology    11. United States   

Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black
by Gregory Howard Williams
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 February, 1996)
list price: $13.95 -- our price: $11.16
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Reviews (47)

Captivating
This book is just overwhelming. Thisinsightful and hair-spinning story will make you laugh, cry, smile gasp, and sigh until the very end. It is so fulfilling. You will be doing yourself an advantage by reading this book. It says a lot that we have to learn from in our rapidly growing cosmopoilitan and multicural world.In the manner of DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE,THE COLOR OF WATER, this book captured the essence of life's meaning.

An tremendously good book
I really enjoyed reading this book, I thought Gregory did a great job describing his childhood and making the reader feel like they were there along with him. I'm sure some of this had to have been difficult to dig up and remember, though I'm sure some parts always stuck with him. It just goes to show you that you never can tell if someone is bi-racial or not.I'm really glad that he wrote this book, I know it's been out for out for at least 10 years now, but still.

In the story he tells of his child hood, for first 10 years he grew up as a white boy, thinking his father was a dark Italian. Well his father was actually bi - racial, having a white father, and Black/Native American (his Great grandfather).- Mother When he and his younger brother go to live with their black kinfolk, they are treated just like any other black was in those times, even though they appeared to be white.I think the story is in a way about Gregory , growing up and learning to deal with the harsh of life, not just dealing with his black heritage but also his mother abandoning him, rejection of most of his white relatives once his grandfather passes away.

I would recommend this to people at least 15.

Dumbing Down A Nation's Humanity?
In the world of the 50s and 60s where the only meaningful value seems to have been that of"being white," Mike and Gregory Williams, possessing all the outward characteristics of whiteness, nevertheless experienced the ultimate fall from grace: They found themselves on the wrong side of the racial divide and were thus forced (as their father put it) "to learn how to become Niggers."

Much to their surprise and horror, their father, a light skinned Negro "passing" as Italian, had survived most of his adulthood playing both sides of the race card as a way of life.He did so successfully until misfortune, divorced and alcohol overtook him and struck him back down into "his place" in the slums of Muncie, Indiana.

In one ugly misstep by a scheming father, Mike and Greg Williams found overnight that their whiteness had been cancelled -- made null and void.

After more than a decade of poverty, degradation and loneliness later, straddling the racial fence -- in which they were both ignored by the white side of their family -- and ultimately rescued by the humanity of a single, poor, Church going Black woman, named Miss Dora, Greg was able to overcome the handicap of his Nigger-hood and in the end attained his (and his father's) dream of becoming a lawyer.

Mike on the other hand had no such luck.He succumbed to the build-in iniquities of the Black slums and was unable to break from the mold so carefully laid out for young ghetto men of his generation.After a life on the edge, he was blinded in a barroom brawl that was the signature of such environments.Today he remains without means or hope in the care of a state supported nursing home.

There are many deeply touching morality tales in this book, but an inescapable one is not its most flattering one:It is that in a racist society nothing is more meaningful or valuable than "being white."Whatever you do in life, do not become a Nigger; and if by an accident of fate you should become one, then you should do whatever you can WITHIN THE RULES OF RACISM to OVERCOME it.

That is to say, don't try to eliminate the cause of this moral discontinuity, racism, or change its immoral and corrupt rules and imperatives, just try as best you can to overcome it.After all, overcoming Nigger-hood is a goal worthy of pursuit; while ending racism is not even one that is attainable.

No one wants a world where "being white" ceases to be America's highest value, anyway, does one?Think about it.Would that not mean a world reduced to the least common denominator of human existence?Would not such a world define us all downward so that we would all represent a lesser form of humanity?Would that not in short make us all niggers?Is that the kind of world we really want?Better to leave racism in place so that whiteness is a viable goal for everyone to attain.

Another morality tale of this book is that no matter how inhumane and corrupt white values are, they nevertheless remain okay because they are after all the standard and norm of society and there is just nothing one can do about them. They remain inviolable. If you are white, being a racist is okay because racism is society's norm.White humanity is always better than black humanity because it is self-defined in that way.However, if history teaches us anything, it teaches us that immorality and corruption no matter how normal, feeds on itself.The chicken will eventually come home to roost.

Yes, in principle we can be thankful for the Miss Doras of this society, but in practice she is just a fluke, a freak in an otherwise wholly immoral but at the same time a very orderly society.After all it is particular kind of order, not morality that America demands of itself.

In a curious and backhand way, Miss Dora is America's Mother Theresa, she will forever be an unsung heroine.But just as there are no penalties for grandparents who forsake their grandchildren because of their father's Negro-ness, there are also no rewards for the Miss Dora's of American society.No matter how self-affirming the book is, it will not let you forget that in America, it is the side of the tracks you end up on that defines who you are; your morality; how far you can go in life; and in the end even the level of your humanity.

This is a classic on the same level as John Howard Griffin's Black Like Me.It will make you think and that is what all good books do.Five Stars.
... Read more

Isbn: 0452275334
Sales Rank: 68531
Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Afro-American lawyers    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    7. Interracial marriage    8. People of Color    9. Social Science   

Virtual Equality : The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation
by URVASHI VAID
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 May, 1996)
list price: $16.00 -- our price: $10.88
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Reviews (7)

Time proved Urv right
If, like Rex Wockner recently did, you find yourself struck with the sudden realization that we aren't quite as well situated with the American public as the popularity of Will and Grace might lead one to believe and that, in the secrecy of the voting booth, the real anti-gay America is raising its ugly head past that glossy veneer of tolerance in state after state, you should read this book that a decade ago warned us against being content with simple mainstreaming into a corrupt social structure that had all the cornerstones of homohatred as its foundation and encouraged us to seek real equality instead of settling for a virtual one.

It's not a particularly easy read but you should distrust anyone who gives you easy answers to a problem so multi-layered and complex or who lets you off the hook of personal growth in the process.Urv does neither.

She knows whereof she speaks, having learned it all in the trenches.And it's as applicable to the middle-class and the Midwest as anyone and anywhere in the U.S.A. -- perhaps more so as this is a book for those who are willing to face the monster head-on instead of adapting to either accommodate the monster or become the monster themselves.Nowhere is that head-on fight more pressing than in the states facing MIPAs (Marriage Inequality Protection Amendments) and DenialOMAs -- typically the southern and midwestern (and, like Oregon, New England-Midwestern extension) states.Thus nowhere is a sound foundation in the political understanding available in this watershed book more valuable.

Urv, in short, not only 'keeps her eyes on the prize', she's astute enough to know what the prize really is.

A Valueable 1st Hand Account
Vaid's account of her experiences in the gay movement is invaluable for the insights and lessons it offers.Should be required reading not only for activists and gays, but for everyone everywhere.

Waste of Paper and Ink
This book is a polemic by an author with a narrow mind.As a gay man, I resent mightily her insistence that if you don't see issues HER way, you have no place in the Gay movement.

On the one hand, Vaid expresses a "sincere" desire to reach out to others in the Gay Lesbian movement.On the other hand, she silences those, like the great Bruce Bower, who disagree with her. ... Read more

Isbn: 0385472994
Sales Rank: 236243
Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Sociology    3. Sociology - General    4. Social Science / Gay Studies   

One More River to Cross : Black & Gay in America
by KEITH BOYKIN
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (29 December, 1997)
list price: $14.00 -- our price: $11.20
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Reviews (7)

This book states the obvious without adding much.
Kudos to Boykin for writing the book, but in all honesty, the work seems written for an audience that is either non-black or black but non-gay.For black gays, most of Boykin's observations will seem obvious, and he doesn't offer much new insight.

After a while, books like this grow tiresome and seem almost cynical in their opportunism.

Thought Provoking and Well Written
Keith Boykin's One More River to Cross offers a wonderful discussion on issues that arise with being African American and gay in today's society. He does a wonderful job of making relevant issues known and connects the African American struggle from Frederic Douglass to Audre Lorde's Zami. Read it, you'll love it.

A Must Read
Intelligent, inspiring and insightful are just 3 of the great "I" words that describe "One More River To Cross." Never before has a book dealt with the issues of being part of multipleminority groups in such an honest way. The combination of politics and apeak into Boykins personal life really make this book hard to put down. Noteveryone will be able to relate and or agree directly to every point madein this book, even if they're exactly part of the subject matter. Even withthat obstacle the highs and lows of life for a specific group of Americans(whom to often go unnoticed and unacknowledged)are still brought to thesurface and told in a way that will enlighten all. A must read for anyonewho is supposedly a "minority." ... Read more

Isbn: 0385479832
Sales Rank: 138724
Subjects:  1. Afro-American gays    2. Gay Studies    3. Homophobia    4. Racism    5. Social Science    6. Social conditions    7. Sociology    8. Sociology - General    9. United States    10. Social Science / Gay Studies   

Speaking Truth to Power
by ANITA HILL
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (20 October, 1998)
list price: $15.00 -- our price: $10.20
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Editorial Review

In 1991, Anita Hill, a law professor, dropped a bombshell into the middle of Senate Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas: Thomas had, Hill alleged, harassed and embarrassed her with repeated requests for dates and discussions about pornography while supervising her at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Hill's allegations introduced a volatile mix of sex, race, and scandal into the proceedings, deeply dividing both the Senate and the entire country. The aftermath of the Thomas hearings saw plenty of books about Anita Hill--some supporting her, others attacking--but Hill remained silent... until now. In Speaking Truth to Power, Anita Hill finally sets the record straight.

Though much of the book details her side of the story and her professional relationship with Clarence Thomas, Speaking Truth to Power also provides interesting glimpses into Anita Hill, the person. From her early life as the youngest of 13 children on a farm in Oklahoma to her current position as a law professor, Hill offers details about her personal life and her motivations. Hill writes with forthright conviction; in this case of he said/she said, Speaking Truth to Power tilts the scales a little more heavily in Anita Hill's favor. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Courageous and SO, SO TRUTHFUL
Anita Hill proves that she was telling the truth with this book and I always knew that she was.

It's so sad that so many were able to demonize and scandalize this woman and her intentions, but in the end, the TRUTH always wins.

This powerful autobiography is a MUST READ, a book that you won't be able to put down or to forget.I'm so glad I read it.

The Greatest Book Ever Written
This is the greatest book ever written.True, it is powerful, and the power lies in the truth, but truth contains no lies, and that is the very essence of power, which is rooted in truth, and the the truth is very powerful, indeed, just as powerful as it is true, and as true as it is powerful.

She Continues to Deeply Touch My Life
When this book first came out, I was drawn to the cover, because I knew that there were many messages for me in this book.Yet, I hesitated to read this, because I had not voiced what I felt about those hearings.

I actually looked over my shoulders, when I glanced through this book, before buying it, because I had decided that so many people around me demanded my opinion of this tragedy.

When I watched the hearing, while I sat next to others, for whatever reason I waited to say whether or not I believed Dr. Hill.I wanted to process it all, in the privacy of my own space.

Watching her, on many levels I related to her.Yet, I had some unanswered questions that reading this book, along with other books that reference this tragedy helped me to make my own decisions about what happened.

Dr. Hill put a voice to many of the challenges that I had, as professional African-American woman, who wanted to speak about many issues that too high a number of African-Americans refused to communicate.Before reading this book, I wanted to be free to speak against some socialized rules that I grew up with, that are common in African-American families.But, I wanted to communicate that I am proud of being African-American.

And as a result of reading this book, I gained tremendous courage to fully live my life's mission, which is to guide women and girls to earn trust in themselves.

To this day, as a journalist, if an editor argues against Anita Hill, I refuse to write for that paper.

Thank you, Dr. Hill. ... Read more

Isbn: 0385476272
Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Law and legislation    6. Lawyers & Judges    7. People of Color    8. Sexual harassment of women    9. United States    10. Women    11. Women lawyers    12. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White
by Frank H. Wu
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (24 December, 2001)
list price: $26.00
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Editorial Review

Yellow by Frank H. Wu is an eclectic, incisive investigation-cum-meditation that, though focusing on Asian Americans, recasts the United States' ongoing debate about racial identity in all forms. Wu suggests that the widespread stereotyping of Asian Americans, while "superficially positive," is inherently damaging. Mixing personal anecdotes, current events, academic studies, and court cases, Wu not only debunks the myth of a "model minority" but also makes discomfiting observations about attitudes toward affirmative action, what he calls "rational" discrimination, mixed marriages, racial profiling, and the "false divisions" of integration versus pluralism and assimilation versus multiculturalism. Though its conclusions are unremarkable, Yellow is thought provoking. The book's strength--besides its clarity and thoughtfulness--is a lack of tendentiousness. Wu prefers to suggest, not posit; muse, not shout; and ask questions, not necessarily answer them. --H. O'Billovitch ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Its All Been Said Before
This was a disappointing book.Besides being long-winded and self-indulgent, if not downright egotistical,the book repeats that which has long been at the core of Asian American Studies scholarship.However, the book oversimplifies and overgeneralizes in ways that reputable scholarship never would.One thing is clear from the book -- Professor Wu really thinks highly of Professor Wu.

One viewpoint on U.S. race relations
If you have the reasonable expectation that the author of any book on race is unlikely to share all your views, then I'd recommend that you read this book. I like this book because it provides one viewpoint that is unique in many ways and is therefore a good addition to any person's collection of thoughts on race relations (whether you agree with Wu or not). By the way, Wu's opinions are his own, as he points out himself, and do not represent THE "Asian" viewpoint (there's no such thing). The following arguments are particularly interesting:

1. Wu argues that Asian-Americans ought to support affirmative action for underrepresented minority groups even if they themselves are not included, saying that this will put the needs of the nation at large ahead of self-centered gain. (Contrast this with the writings of K. Anthony Appiah, Dinesh D'Souza and Shelby Steele, for example, for 4 incredibly disparate views of affirmative action by 4 people of color).
2. Wu also presents a case against racial profiling in spite of the fact that he thinks it is sometimes both rational and non-racist (!)
3. Wu dissects the question "Where are you really from?" and explains how it reflects the "perpetual foreigner" stereotype of people of Asian descent.

Overall, this book was a thought-provoking, sometimes troubling, always interesting read.

I saw Frank Wu on "Booknotes" on CSPAN
I enjoyed listening to Frank Wu on CSPAN. I agree with him in many ways that people automatically assume things about you when you are of a certain ethinic stereotype. But a strongly agree with another reviewer about including South Asians and Hispanics (Hispanics who are actually the largest minority race). South Asians for many reasons because they go through the exact same things as others have...and especially after Sept. 11...the "Middle Eastern" profile...that's just dispicable. Those of the South Asian countries such as India, Nepal and Sri Lanka are all non-Muslim but still get stereotyper just because of their skin color. It goes to show how ignorant most Americans are. Also I don't believe at all in hyphinating Americans. But all people of color share a common bond that they have ALL been discriminated against by whites. And that's the plain and outright truth whether the whites want to hear it or not. Not only have they been discriminated against in America but their own countries which goes to prove that racism exists in all and it's most cruel forms. But, I'm glad to see white America changing. And the fact is that white America is the one that needs to assimilate into the multi-ethnic culture, which is the true represenatative culture of this great nation. Politically correct has nothing to do with it. ... Read more

Isbn: 0465006396
Subjects:  1. Asian Americans    2. Asians In The U.S.    3. Civil rights    4. Discrimination & Racism    5. Ethnic Studies - Asian American Studies    6. Ethnic Studies - General    7. Minority Studies - Ethnic American    8. Minority Studies - Race Relations    9. Race And Ethnic Relations    10. Race identity    11. Social Science    12. Social conditions    13. Sociology   

Notes of a White Black Woman: Race Color Community
by Judy Scales-Trent
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (01 March, 1995)
list price: $36.00 -- our price: $36.00
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Reviews (2)

Another White Black Woman
I too am a White Black woman and this book captures the complexities of our life experiences. The author is candid and honest and demonstrates the reality of living in two, same yet very different worlds. For those who ever wondered, get the book.

I really enjoyed this book.
As a biracial teenager I was delighted to read a book that addresses the issue of race identity.Judy Scales-Trent makes some excellent points regarding race divisions in today's society.Not only does Ms.Scales-Trent present her information in such a way that anyone can identifywith, but all the information in this book has been researched and is quitevalid.I learned about things, such as the racial purity law, that I nevernew existed.It really made me think about what my race means and how itshapes who I am.This is a great book for both teenagers and adults,biracial or not. ... Read more

Isbn: 027101430X
Sales Rank: 1074057
Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Discrimination & Racism    5. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    6. Human skin color    7. Minority Studies - Race Relations    8. Race And Ethnic Relations    9. Race awareness    10. Race identity    11. Social aspects    12. Sociology    13. United States    14. Women    15. Scales-Trent, Judy   

Becoming Gentlemen : Women, Law School, and Institutional Change
by Lani Guinier
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (10 December, 1997)
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Reviews (2)

Excellent review of law school
As a lawyer who graduated from a good law school in the 1980's, I found this book to be excellent.The findings resonnated with myown law school experience, which was alienating at best and miserable at worst.I was finally able to make sense of what happened to me in law school and why I found the work so frustrating.I was taught to be competitive and my nature was more compromising.As my experience and that of so many others who have worked in the court system, a lawyer's best skill is negotiation.The vast majority of cases filed in court today are settled.Those skills could be developed in law school more than the aggressive winner takes all approach.I'm glad I read this book.It is not for casual readers, but I would highly recommend it for any women lawyer or women who is even thinking of going to law school.

Reads like a research paper.Dry, dull and not helpful.
This book is a dated snapshot of one school and its culture towards female law students.It was hard to find any applicability system-wide. ... Read more

Isbn: 0807044059
Sales Rank: 130258
Subjects:  1. Education / Teaching    2. General    3. Law    4. Legal Education    5. Philosophy & Social Aspects    6. Sociology    7. Women's Studies - General    8. Law / General   

Lift Every Voice : Turning a Civil Rights Setback Into a New Vision of Social Justice
by Lani Guinier
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (07 April, 1998)
list price: $25.00
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Editorial Review

When Bill Clinton nominated University of Pennsylvania Law School Professor Lani Guinier to the position of Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in 1993, she was immediately beset upon by right-wing critics of the president. Taking her writings on cumulative and proportional voting out of context, they branded her a "quota queen." Guinier, on instructions from administration officials, made almost no effort to defend herself against this public smearing of her work and reputation. Then, to her surprise, Clinton himself withdrew her nomination, stating in a press conference that her views were "undemocratic."

The Tyranny of the Majority reprinted the articles that were the source of this controversy. Now, in Lift Every Voice, Professor Guinier explains the principles underlying those writings in layman's terms and offers her personal perspective on what happened in the spring and summer of 1993, taking us behind the scenes to meetings with Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno, and other Washington officials. But perhaps more importantly, she writes about how, after she was cut loose by an intimidated White House, she regained her confidence in the civil rights movement. Recalling the activism of ordinary people like her father and the clients she represented as a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Guinier reminds us that a better society cannot be built by governmental edict alone, but requires commitment on the part of the citizenry. A recent book on mathematics, K.C. Cole's The Universe and the Teacup, vindicated Guinier's theories on proportional representation at the statistical level. The debate sparked by Lift Every Voice may, in the long run, end up vindicating her at the political level as well. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

wonderful book
lani guinier's story marks the beginning of the awful, underhanded politics of smear that have only gotten worse in recent years.she is wise and resilient.it's a reminder that we all have to stay engaged to rescue the American process, no matter what the mudslinging.

dangerous woman abandoned by fair weather friends
In an irony that neither would be likely to appreciate much, Lani Guinier's account of being nominatedand then unnominated for the position of head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division isreminiscent of Robert Bork's Tempting of America (see Orrin's review).Both quickly came to beperceived more as symbols than human beings and, as such, ended up being subjected to really unfairpersonal attacks and having their philosophies caricatured.But what is really instructive about the twocases is the differences rather than the similarities.

Robert Bork's nomination split the Congress and the punditry on strictly party lines and it just sohappened that the Democrats controlled the Senate at that point in time, so he went down to defeat. However, he did get to have nomination hearings where he was questioned about his views howeverineptly bythe members of the Senate Judiciary committee.[Personally, I learned more of value aboutconstitutional law by watching the hearings than I did in my law school class.]Despite the fact that hisnomination was clearly doomed, President Reagan stood by him and insisted on putting the matter to avote, allowing Bork to lose honorably and granting him a sense of closure, albeit mixed with disgust, atthe end of the ugly process.Bork later wrote his book in order to explain and amplify his views on theconstitution and the legal system and, to a lesser degree, to give his perspective on the nominationfight.The result is a vital and readable contribution to our understanding of the degree to which ourjurisprudence has become politicized and of the dangers it entails, as well as a resigned, but bemused,look at the Senate by someone who ran afoul of the institution.

Lani Guinier's nomination, on the other hand, split the nation along racial lines, with even traditionalwhite allies abandoning black civil rights organizations to oppose her.Ultimately, even Bill Clinton,her longtime friend, repudiated his own nominee and withdrew her name before she got to the hearingsstage.This, understandably, left Guinier frustrated and humiliated, feeling that she had been denied theopportunity to defend her views and her own good name.In the most affecting passages in the book,she describes how she was about to appear on Nightline when Ted Koppel told her that the next day'sNew York Times and Washington Post announced that the White House had decided to pull her name,a fact of which she was unaware at the time.She also describes having old pal Hillary walk right pasther at the White House with a wave and a "Hey kiddo", obviously unwilling to stop and discuss thefiasco and she details her meeting with a dewey eyed President Clinton, who moments after telling herthat the meeting was one of the most difficult of his life went before the White House press corps anddenounced her as "antidemocratic".Guinier has written another book, Tyranny of the Majority, whichI honestly haven't read, but in this book she whines on ad nauseum about how the failure of hernomination was a catastrophe for the cause of civil rights in America.In the strangest maneuver of thebook, she introduces herself early on as someone who was forced to write controversial articles in orderto win tenure, then laments how those views were twisted by the press and hostile politicians, thenreturns at the end of the book to a defense of them as her true beliefs.The result is an enormouslyself-indulgent vanity piece, with insufficient consideration of, and a marked lack of honesty about, thecontroversial theories that ultimately sank her nomination.The book spreads more noise than light onthe issues.

The most serious flaw of the book, narrowly outweighing her egomaniacal catalogue of what appears tobe every compliment that she was ever paid in her life, is the disingenuous treatment of theimplications of her view of democracy.The essential fact is that Ms Guinier does not believe that theUnited States Constitution, with it's system of representative democracy, adequately defends the rightsof minorities.Therefore, she proposes adoption of schemes like cumulative voting, geared towardsallowing the losing minority to win actual representation regardless of their election loss.For instance,if a school board district voted 60% Republican and 40% Democrat, they would send three Republicansand two Democrats to the board. Now you could discuss the merits and drawbacks of these types ofRube Goldberg mechanisms until you were blue in the face, but the primary point here is that theyrepresent a radical departure from our current constitutional regime and are a fundamental attack onrepresentative democracy.There is no reason that we should not consider and debate these types ofmeasures, but intellectual honesty requires that their advocates describe them accurately.Guinier'srefusal to do so casts a shadow of deception over the book.

In the final analysis, where Judge Bork's book stands out in particular for the intellectual rigor of hisarguments and analysis, Guinier's is merely interesting as a portrait of the shallowness and duplicity ofher friends the Clintons.

GRADE: D+

Visionary, Hopeful, Stragetic: Mandatory Reading
Professor Guinier has seen beyond the veil which seems to have fallen over the civil rights movement for the past thirty years.Guinier uses the story of her dis-appointment (her phrase) by the Clinton Administration toexpose the inner workings of the political system and clarify her views. In so doing, she lays out a strategy that is simple, obvious, and doable. While so many "leaders" have been busy listening to one another,Guinier has been able to hear a still, small, powerful voice.This book isa must read for anyone who cares about democracy. ... Read more

Isbn: 0684811456
Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. African American women civil rights workers    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Civil rights movements    6. Civil rights workers    7. Current Affairs    8. General    9. History    10. People of Color    11. Political    12. Politics/International Relations    13. U.S. - Contemporary Politics    14. U.S. - Political And Civil Rights Of Blacks    15. United States    16. Women    17. Biography & Autobiography / Political    18. Clinton, Bill    19. Guinier, Lani   

Dreams from My Father: : A Story of Race and Inheritance
by BARACK OBAMA
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (18 July, 1995)
list price: $23.00
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Reviews (37)

A beautiful Assignment!
'Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance' , though one can almost feel the captivating intensity of the author's personal life in the pages of this memoir, Obama's winning combination derives mainly from his tell-it-like-it-is approach in addressing the multifaceted cold-stone reality that has continued to define the world in Black and White. He not only correlates the intricacies of racial relation that resonate across the continents but also sought to achieve workable solutions that would some day line up a ray of hope that points to a color blind society.
For the most part, it is hard not to identify with his story whether one grew up herding cows and goats, or having been born clutching a silver spoon in the mouth.

Inspiring
In Barack Obama's "Dreams from My Father" I discovered a fascinating brain and an accepting mind that came to terms with his dual inheritance. He provided us with an insight of the African-American experience, of the hopes and dreams of the people, of the realities they confronted and of their failures.
In his inspiring appearance at the Democratic convention, Obama emerges as a rising star in the American politically scene, a figure with a strong personality that is easy to relate to. The speech was very moving.In the manner of DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE, LE MIRADOR, COLLIN POWELL, MY LIFE,LONG WALK TO FREEDOM , this book captured the essence oflife's meaning.

The fact that this book was written before Obama gained so much political popularity, is the reason why it is so authentic, unlike many of the autobiographies we read. And as a mulatto, this book reminded me of Disciples of Fortune. It is so amazing how the heroes in these books came to terms with their inheritances.

Please Write Another Book--Obama is a Gifted Writer
Written years before he entered and successfully won the U. S. Senate race from Illinois, this autobiography is wonderful and masterfully written.I would read this book even if he was not a well-known politician.Barack Obama writes of life with great insight into his own life as well as the lives of the people he encounters.He is an old soul--mature beyond his years.This is a deep-thinking, sensitive, empathetic man.I hope he will write many more books--he is gifted with a natural talent for writing.I highly recommend reading this book. ... Read more

Isbn: 081292343X
Sales Rank: 548596
Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Biography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Ethnic Sociology    5. Obama, Barack    6. Racially mixed people    7. Racism    8. United States   

Fire in My Soul
by Joan Lester, Coretta Scott King
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (24 December, 2002)
list price: $25.00 -- our price: $25.00
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Reviews (12)

Remembering my past
Thank you Dr. Holmes and Dr. Lester for this exciting, informative and historicalbook.I was raised in the South (LA) and experienced many of the conditions described in Fire in My Soul.Remembering my blessings on this journey, I give thanks for all of my past experiences.My parents attempted to sheild me from many of the conditions of the south and in turn I was shielded from much of the history of the Civil Rights Movement of the 60's except for limited TV coverage.Fire in My Soul serves as a personal history lesson for me and is one that I will read more than once.Reading about the personal experiences and the 'inner' workings of the local, state and federal agencies that Dr. Holmes was/is a part of reminded me of many personal experiences in the private sector. Reading Fire in My Soul remeinded me that the absence of compassion for another person is not isolated to any specific location or sector of the nation.Reading the story of one who continues to live her passion for justice offers the encouragement to do what I can where I am for justice.

Both the writing and the subject get more than five stars
In Fire in My Soul, Dr. Lester accomplishes a rare feat for a biographer.While she avoids the trap of painting too pretty or too perfect a picture of her subject, including a number of descriptions that are less than flattering, she is at the same time able to clearly allow her respect and admiration for this remarkable woman to come through.
The effect is that we see a real life heroine, warts and all, and we find her all the more admirable for this.
This is an important book, and I look forward to Dr. Lester's next effort.

The Honorable Congresswoman Holmes Up Close and Personal
Joan Steinau Lester and Eleanor Holmes Norton met as college classmates at Antioch College in 1958. They became friends and marched together in civil rights marches in New England. Now forty-five years later, Ms. Steinau Lester, now a journalist/writer reunites with Congresswoman Holmes Norton in writing her biography in Fire In My Soul.

Congresswoman Holmes Norton's great grandfather, Richard John Holmes, escaped from Virginia into Washington D.C. to become a free man and elude his former owner. He eventually became one of the few black firemen in the nation's capital and persevered to become a sergeant in the department. He felt a black man was worthy of equal opportunity and it is no surprise she inherited some of her great grandfather'sfire for justice. With a legacy such as this, having descended from a strong, middle-class background, it is little wonder that she pursued a career in law that would one day put her in the limelight.

Already involved in civil rights activities, the Congresswoman, while a Yale Law School student, went to Mississippiin June 1963 to join the voter registration drive as a SNCC member. Twenty-four hours later Medgar Evers was dead, victim of an assassination and Holmes Norton had to make quick decisions concerning other members who were being falsely arrested.After law school, she obtained a clerkship with Judge A. LeonHigginbotham, Jr., the first black district court judge, in Philadelphia. She then met her future husband, Edward Norton, also an attorney, a man who was secure enough to not be threatened by her status or activities.

Holmes Norton's status did indeed rise as she ventured further into her profession as an attorney, became more involved with civil and human rights, and eventually going into politics. Her life was not always smooth. Her daughter, Katherine, was born with Down's Syndrome; however, she resisted health specialists advice to institutionalize her when she got older. She was very devoted to her.

This reviewer had the opportunity of seeing the Congresswomen twice this year. She is as formidable a presence in person as she is in the media. Her stature commands respect and her sense of belief in pursuing and preserving the rights of human life comes across instantaneously. She is a cheerleader for the people of Washington D.C., who she represents with candor and is respected by them as she respects them. This was a well-written biography of a powerful woman.

Dera Williams
APOOO BookClub ... Read more

Isbn: 0743407873
Sales Rank: 657431
Subjects:  1. African American women legisla    2. African American women legislators    3. American - African American & Black    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Legislators    9. Norton, Eleanor Holmes    10. Political    11. United States    12. Women    13. Women politicians    14. Biography & Autobiography / Political