Author: Theoharis, Jeanne author. Published: 2018 Call Number: 323.1196 Format: Books Summary: The civil rights movement has become national legend, lauded by presidents from Reagan to Obama to Trump, as proof of the power of American democracy. This fable, featuring dreamy heroes and accidental heroines, has shuttered the movement firmly in the past, whitewashed the forces that stood in its way, and diminished its scope. And it is used perniciously in our own times to chastise present-day movements and obscure contemporary injustice. In A More Beautiful and Terrible History, award-winning historian Jeanne Theoharis dissects this national myth-making, teasing apart the accepted stories to show them in a strikingly different light. We see Rosa Parks not simply as a bus lady but a lifelong criminal justice activist and radical; Martin Luther King, Jr. as not only challenging Southern sheriffs but Northern liberals, too; and Coretta Scott King not only as a "helpmate" but a lifelong economic justice and peace activist who pushed her husband's activism in these directions. Moving from "the histories we get" to "the histories we need," Theoharis challenges nine key aspects of the fable to reveal the diversity of people, especially women and young people, who led the movement; the work and disruption it took; the role of the media and "polite racism" in maintaining injustice; and the immense barriers and repression activists faced. Theoharis makes us reckon with the fact that far from being acceptable, passive or unified, the civil rights movement was unpopular, disruptive, and courageously persevering. Activists embraced an expansive vision of justice -- which a majority of Americans opposed and which the federal government feared. By showing us the complex reality of the movement, the power of its organizing, and the beauty and scope of the vision, Theoharis proves that there was nothing natural or inevitable about the progress that occurred.
Author: Hargrave, Courtney, author. Published: 2018 Call Number: 305.8 Format: Books Summary: "A harrowing true story of the modern Ku Klux Klan and an act of grace that shook a community in the Deep South. In 1996, the town of Laurens, South Carolina, was thrust into the international spotlight when a white supremacist named Michael Burden opened a museum celebrating the Ku Klux Klan on the community's main square. Journalists and protestors flooded the town, and hate groups rallied to the establishment's defense, dredging up the long history of racial violence in this formerly prosperous mill town. What came next is the subject of an upcoming major motion picture starring Forest Whitaker, Garrett Hedlund, Tom Wilkinson, Andrea Riseborough, and Usher Raymond. Shortly after his museum opened, Michael Burden abruptly left the Klan at the urging of a woman he fell in love with. Broke and homeless, he was taken in by Reverend David Kennedy, an African American preacher and leader in the Laurens community, who plunged his church headlong in a quest to save their former enemy. In this spellbinding Southern epic, journalist Courtney Hargrave uncovers the complex events behind the story told in the film, exploring the choices that led to Kennedy and Burden's friendship, the social factors that drive young men to join hate groups, the intersection of poverty and racism in the divided South, and the difference one person can make in confronting America's oldest sin"--
Author: Harpham, Heather Elise, 1967- author. Published: 2017 Call Number: B HARPHAM Format: Books Summary: Happiness begins with a charming courtship between hopelessly attracted opposites: Heather, a world-roaming California girl, and Brian, an intellectual, homebody writer, kind and slyly funny, but loath to leave his Upper West Side studio. Their magical interlude ends, full stop, when Heather becomes pregnant, Brian is sure he loves her, only he doesn't want kids. Heather returns to California to deliver their daughter alone, buoyed by family and friends. Mere hours after Gracie's arrival, Heather's bliss is interrupted when a nurse wakes her, "Get dressed, your baby is in trouble." This is not how Heather had imagined new motherhood, alone, heartsick, an unexpectedly solo caretaker of a baby who smelled "like sliced apples and salted pretzels" but might be perilously ill. Brian reappears as Gracie's condition grows dire; together Heather and Brian have to decide what they are willing to risk to ensure their girl sees adulthood. The grace and humor that ripple through Harpham's writing transform the dross of heartbreak and parental fears into a clear-eyed, warm-hearted view of the world. Profoundly moving and subtly written, Happiness radiates in many directions, new, romantic love; gratitude for a beautiful, inscrutable world; deep, abiding friendship; the passion a parent has for a child; and the many unlikely ways to build a family. Ultimately it's a story about love and happiness, in their many crooked configurations. When Heather becomes pregnant, Brian is sure he loves her, only he doesn't want kids. Heather returns to California to deliver their daughter alone, buoyed by family and friends. Mere hours after Gracie's arrival, a nurse wakes her: "Get dressed, your baby is in trouble." Brian reappears as Gracie's condition grows dire; together they have to decide what they are willing to risk to ensure their girl sees adulthood. Harpham writes about heartbreak and parental fears, the passion a parent has for a child, and the many unlikely ways to build a family.
Author: May, Elaine Tyler, author. Published: 2017 Call Number: 306.09 Format: Books Summary: "Fear has seeped into every area of American life: Americans own more guns than citizens of any other country, sequester themselves in barricaded houses and gated communities, and retreat from public spaces. And yet, since the 1990s crime rates have plummeted. Why then, are Americans so afraid? In Fortress America, award-winning historian Elaine Tyler May demonstrates how our obsession with security has made citizens fear each other and distrust the government, eroding American democracy. This trend is not merely an aftershock of 9/11--indeed, it dates back to the end of World War II. Cold War anxieties resulted in widespread nuclear panic. Officials encouraged Americans to build bunkers in their backyards and shun anyone they suspected of communist sympathies. In the 1960s and 1970s, Atomic Age anxieties gave way to misplaced fear of crime, leading to a preoccupation with "law and order." The media pointed to black men as dangerous and women as vulnerable, inaccurate claims that nevertheless led to mass incarceration of African Americans and women's exaggerated distrust of strangers. The threat of terrorism is only the most recent in a series of overblown fears that set Americans against each other. With fear on the rise, the concept of citizenship has deteriorated and concern for the common good has all but disappeared. In this remarkable work of history May charts the rise of a muscular national culture grounded in fear. Instead of a thriving democracy of engaged citizens, we have become a paranoid, bunkered, militarized, and divided vigilante nation."--Dust jacket flap.
Author: Brown, Brené, author. Published: 2017 Call Number: 158.2 Format: Books Summary: Social scientist Brené Brown, PhD, LMSW, has sparked a global conversation about the experiences that bring meaning to our lives -- experiences of courage, vulnerability, love, belonging, shame, and empathy. Now Brown redefines what it means to truly belong in an age of increased polarization. Brown argues that we're experiencing a spiritual crisis of disconnection, and introduces four practices of true belonging that challenge everything we believe about ourselves and each other. She writes, "True belonging requires us to believe in and belong to ourselves so fully that we can find sacredness both in being a part of something and in standing alone when necessary. But in a culture that's rife with perfectionism and pleasing, and with the erosion of civility, it's easy to stay quiet, hide in our ideological bunkers, or fit in rather than show up as our true selves and brave the wilderness of uncertainty and criticism. But true belonging is not something we negotiate or accomplish with others; it's a daily practice that demands integrity and authenticity. It's a personal commitment that we carry in our hearts." Brown offers us the clarity and courage we need to find our way back to ourselves and to each other. And that path cuts right through the wilderness. Brown writes, "The wilderness is an untamed, unpredictable place of solitude and searching. It is a place as dangerous as it is breathtaking, a place as sought after as it is feared. But it turns out to be the place of true belonging, and it's the bravest and most sacred place you will ever stand."
Author: Frankel, Laurie author. Published: 2017 Call Number: F FRANKEL Format: Books Summary: "This is how a family keeps a secret...and how that secret ends up keeping them. This is how a family lives happily ever after...until happily ever after becomes complicated. This is how children change...and then change the world. When Rosie and Penn and their four boys welcome the newest member of their family, no one is surprised it's another baby boy. At least their large, loving, chaotic family knows what to expect. But Claude is not like his brothers. One day he puts on a dress and refuses to take it off. He wants to bring a purse to kindergarten. He wants hair long enough to sit on. When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl. Rosie and Penn aren't panicked at first. Kids go through phases, after all, and make-believe is fun. But soon the entire family is keeping Claude's secret. Until one day it explodes. This Is How It Always Is is a novel about revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family. And it's about the ways this is how it always is: Change is always hard and miraculous and hard again; parenting is always a leap into the unknown with crossed fingers and full hearts; children grow but not always according to plan. And families with secrets don't get to keep them forever"--
Author: Corera, Gordon author. Published: 2016 Call Number: 327.1202 Format: Books Summary: Reveals the history of espionage and its use of and dependency on technology, beginning with the Second World War and continuing through the Cold War and into rhe present Internet age where hackers and surveillance are commonplace.
Author: Smith, Mychal Denzel, 1986- author. Published: 2016 Call Number: 305.42421 Format: Books Summary: "A prominent journalist and contributing writer to The Nation magazine describes his education and the experiences of black masculinity against a backdrop of the Obama administration, the death of Trayvon Martin, the career of LeBron James and other pivotal influences that have shaped race relations in today's America,"--NoveList. How do you learn to be a black man in America? For young black men today, it means coming of age during the presidency of Barack Obama; witnessing the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and too many more. Smith chronicles his own personal and political education during these tumultuous years, describing his efforts to come into his own in a world that denied his humanity.
Author: Talese, Gay author. Published: 2016 Call Number: 306.7709 Format: Books Summary: Reveals the story of a man who bought a motel and secretly observed his guests to satisfy his voyeuristic desires, and kept extensive journals capturing the changing sexual mores of the country.
Author: Carville, James author. Published: 2016 Call Number: 324.2734 CARVILLE Format: Books Summary: "In We're Still Right, They're Still Wrong, Carville analyzes how the Republican party has ultimately failed to deliver on its promises and how Donald J. Trump--the party's likely nominee in the 2016 presidential election--is the embodiment of that failure--and worse..."--Dust jacket.
Author: Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem, 1947- author. Obstfeld, Raymond, 1952- author. Published: 2016 Call Number: 305.5097 Format: Books Summary: Traces the evolution of the author's views on social justice, from his youth in the civil rights era to his current role as a cultural commentator on topics ranging from race and economic inequality to music and the influence of the media.
Author: Glaude, Eddie S., Jr., 1968- author. Published: 2016 Call Number: 305.896 GLAUDE Format: Books Summary: "A polemic on the state of black America that argues that we don't yet live in a post-racial society"--
Author: Damour, Lisa, 1970- author. Published: 2016 Call Number: 305.2352 Format: Books Summary: "Lisa Damour, Ph.D., director of the internationally renowned Laurel School's Center for Research on Girls, pulls back the curtain on the teenage years and shows why your daughter's erratic and confusing behavior is actually healthy, necessary, and natural. Untangled explains what's going on, prepares parents for what's to come, and lets them know when it's time to worry,"--Amazon.com.
Author: Grinspoon, David Harry author. Published: 2016 Call Number: 304.2 Format: Books Summary: "A NASA astrobiologist outlines optimistic messages about humanity's future in the face of climate change, explaining how the human role in managing the planet's evolution is determining the course of life,"--NoveList.
Author: Frankel, Bethenny, 1970- author. Adamson, Eve, author. Published: 2015 Call Number: 306.7 Format: Books Summary: "Bethenny is good at many things--being an entrepreneur, mom, and TV star--but when it comes to relationships, she is the first to admit that she has had many failures. The good news is, in working through the mistakes, she has already learned many things about what she doesn't want, that she won't accept, and that she shouldn't settle for. And most importantly, she still believes in love and that her perfect relationship is still to come. Filled with a mix of candid personal stories and the no-nonsense advice she's known for, I Suck at Relationships So You Don't Have To is the next step on Bethenny's A Place of Yes journey. This is a book by someone who has made many relationship mistakes and knows a thing or two because of it. Bethenny takes a deep look at her own dating and relationship history and gets to the heart of the mistakes women make and what it takes to find and sustain a meaningful connection. Look for Bethenny's take on hot topics such as: understanding your man; the dos and don'ts of dating; how to trust your gut; and much more. Despite all her relationship disasters, Bethenny remains an optimist; she keeps going, keeps trying, and continues to open her heart to love. She holds that failure ultimately adds up to something and, that in the end, all mishaps are stair steps to a greater success,"--Amazon.com.
Author: Brotherton, Rob author. Published: 2015 Call Number: 153.4 Format: Books Summary: "In Suspicious Minds, Rob Brotherton explores the history and consequences of conspiracism, and delves into the research that offers insights into why so many of us are drawn to implausible, unproven and unproveable conspiracy theories. They resonate with some of our brain's built-in quirks and foibles, and tap into some of our deepest desires, fears, and assumptions about the world,"--Amazon.com.
Author: Strahan, Michael, 1971- author. Chambers, Veronica author. Published: 2015 Call Number: 158.1 Format: Books Summary: Michael Strahan distills the wisdom he's gleaned from his childhood years in Europe where, he grew up as the youngest child in a tight-knit community on a military base, his time with the NFL where his sheer discipline and willpower made him a Hall-of-Fame, legendary football player, and his broadcast career, which puts him contact with the heartland of America every morning.
Author: Stiglitz, Joseph E. author. Published: 2015 Call Number: 305.5 Format: Books Summary: The author expands on the diagnosis and suggests ways to counter America's growing problem. With his signature blend of clarity and passion, he argues that inequality is a choice--the cumulative result of unjust politics and misguided priorities. Gathering his writings for popular outlets including Vanity Fair and the New York Times, he exposes in full America's world. From Reagan-era policies to the Great Recession and its long aftermath, he delves into the irresponsible policies--deregulation, tax cuts, and tax breaks for the 1 percent--that are leaving many Americans father and father behind and turning the American dream into an ever more unachievable myth. With formidable yet accessible economic insight, he urges us to embrace real solutions: increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy; offering more help to the children of the poor; investing in education, science, and infrastructure; helping out homeowners instead of banks; and, most importantly, doing more to restore the economy to full employment. He also draws lessons from Scandinavia, Singapore, and Japan, and he argues against the tide of unnecessary, destructive austerity that is sweeping across Europe. Ultimately he believes our choice is not between growth and fairness; with the right policies, we can choose both. His complaint is not so much about capitalism as such, but how twenty-first-century capitalism has been perverted. His is a call to confront America's economic inequality as the political and moral issue that it is. If we reinvest in people and pursue the other policies that he describes, America can live up to the shared dream of a more prosperous, more equal society.
Author: Davis, David Brion author. Published: 2014 Call Number: 306.362 Format: Books Summary: "From the revered historian-winner of nearly every award given in his field-the long-awaited conclusion of his magisterial three-volume history of slavery in Western culture that has been more than fifty years in the making. David Brion Davis is one of the foremost historians of our time, and in this final volume in his monumental trilogy on slavery in Western culture he offers highly original, authoritative, and penetrating insight into what slavery and emancipation meant to Americans. He explores how the Haitian revolution terrified and inspired white and black Americans respectively, and offers a commanding analysis of the complex and misunderstood significance of "colonization"-the project to move freed slaves back to Africa-to members of both races and all political persuasions. Davis vividly portrays the dehumanizing impact of slavery, as well as the generally unrecognized importance of freed slaves to abolition. And he explores the influence of religion on American ideas about emancipation. Above all, he captures the ways in which America wrestled with the knotty problem of moving forward into an age of emancipation. This is a landmark work: a brilliant conclusion to one of the great works of American history"--
