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"The New H.N.I.C. brilliantly observes pivotal moments in hip hop and black culture as a whole... provocative[ly] raises the level of the hip hop discussion."
—Black Issues Book Review

"It was naive for Todd Boyd to subtitle his book The Death of Civil Rights and the Birth of Hip Hop, and not to expect people to wig out."
—Punk Planet

"Stand back! Todd Boyd brings the ruckus in this provocative look at how hip hop changed everything from the jailhouse to the White House—and why it truly became the voice of a new generation."
—Alan Light, Editor-in-Chief, Spin Magazine

"Elegantly script[s] the fall of the previous generation alongside the rise of a new hip-hop ethos…. [The New H.N.I.C] is built on the provocative premise that this generation's hip-hop culture has come to supersede the previous one's paradigm of civil rights. Highlighting various moments in recent rap history—the controversy over OutKast's naming a single after Rosa Parks; the white negro-isms of Eminem—Boyd offers hip-hop as the most suitable access point for understanding the social, political, and cultural experiences of African Americans born after the civil rights period."
—Village Voice

"Those who are hip have always known that Black music is about more than simply nodding your head, snapping your fingers, and patting your feet. Like the proverbial Dude, back on the block, Dr. Todd Boyd, in his groundbreaking book The New H.N.I.C., tells us that like the best of this oral tradition, hip hop is a philosophy and worldview rooted in history and at the same time firmly of the moment. Dr. Boyd's improvisational flow is on point like be bop Stacy Adams and The New H.N.I.C.,in both style and substance, breaks down how this monumental cultural shift has come to redefine the globe.With mad props and much love, Dr. Boyd's The New H.N.I.C. is the voice of a generation and stands poised at the vanguard of our future."
—Quincy Jones

"A convincing and entertaining case that hip-hop matters, Boyd's reading [of hip hop] is nothing less than inspired."
—Mother Jones

"If you want to understand the direction of music today, read thisbook.Boyd expertly chronicles the birth of Hip Hop, its impact on allmusic and how the language and music defines a generation."
— Tom Freston, CEO, MTV Networks

"Boyd's main observation is simple and mostly true: "Hip-hop has rejected and now replaced the pious, sanctimonious nature of civil rights as the defining moment of Blackness."
—Los Angeles Times

When Lauryn Hill stepped forward to accept her fifth Grammy Award in 1999, she paused as she collected the last trophy, and seeming somewhat startled said, "This is crazy, 'cause this is hip hop music.'"Hill's astonishment at receiving mainstream acclaim for music once deemed insignificant testifies to the explosion of this truly revolutionary art form.Hip hop music and the culture that surrounds it—film, fashion, sports, and a whole way of being—has become the defining ethos for a generation.Its influence has spread from the state's capital to the nation's capital, from the Pineapple to the Big Apple, from 'Frisco to Maine, and then on to Spain.

But moving far beyond the music, hip hop has emerged as a social and cultural movement, displacing the ideas of the Civil Rights era. Todd Boyd maintains that a new generation, having grown up in the aftermath of both Civil Rights and Black Power, rejects these old school models and is instead asserting its own values and ideas.Hip hop is distinguished in this regard because it never attempted to go mainstream, but instead the mainstream came to hip hop.

The New H.N.I.C., like hip hop itself, attempts to keep it real, and challenges conventional wisdom on a range of issues, from debates over use of the "N-word," the comedy of Chris Rock, and the "get money" ethos of hip hop moguls like Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Russell Simmons, to hip hop's impact on a diverse array of figures from Bill Clinton and Eminem to Jennifer Lopez.

Maintaining that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech is less important today than DMX's It's Dark and Hell is Hot, Boyd argues that Civil Rights as a cultural force is dead, confined to a series of media images frozen in another time.Hip hop, on the other hand, represents the vanguard, and is the best way to grasp both our present and future.

Customer Reviews (9)

Just a Good Read
Although I am not impressed w/ the "N" word, as does the author, one has to respect Todd Boyd for being one of few from the older generation for analysing the so called Hip Hop generation and contemporay Black American youth in general from a historical standpoint.

No one can deny that the Civil Rights Movement became less relevant among Black Youth during the rise of the 1970 Pro Black Power Era (The Black Panthers, Nation Of Islam, 5 Percenters, Malcom X, ect.) Even Martin Luther King recognized the presence of SNCC, and even moved beyond race matters to engage in international affairs (Vietnam, Aparthied, Biafra Civil Wars).

However, very little, if anything, has been mentioned about how the Pro Black Era was instrumental in influencing Hip Hop w/ the decline of the "We Shall Overcome" assimilation fantasies. Nothing cited about the popularity of featuring Black Nationalism speeches over hard core production (Ava Muhammad, Malcon X, Louis Farrakhan), the raised consciousness of Garveyism, the African Medallions or how many White journalist were caught off gaurd for attempting to challenge artist they thought were "stupid" (Chuck D., Sistah Souljah, Wise Intelligent). Not even any mention about social activism w/ P.Diddy's Daddy's House, Russell Simmons and LL Cool J's SUCCESFUL campaign for Black youth to speak out againsts outdated school books in New York, or how Jay-Z donated THOUSANDS of dollars in procedes from his concert to families of Columbine victims (of which will never reach newspapers). More also could have been addressed on Hip Hop's presence from a global prespective such as it's influence on the Black youth of South Africa-Post Aparthied or Africa in general.

He does address a few points, such as the critics of Hip Hop who blame it for the ills of society while turning a blind eye on comprimising Knee-Grow "leadership" and church curruption that has done a great job (unfortunately)of turning many Black Americans into "Sheep-ple", or differences on how White Americans are offered a free pass as individuals for equal immoral acts Black Americans (who are *not* monolithic) are often made to pay as a group.

This is just a good read and necessary for a good discussion on Hip Hop and the parities between the current generation and thier parents.

i really really wanted to like this book
unfortunately, it's a really superficial analysis of an important movement. it doesn't go into the ambiguities of hip hop (like its issue with sexism) or even why, exactly, the civil rights movement is no longer relevant. there are no stats, no citations, no nothing. it's a very long, very passionate essay written by someone who really just had enough solid research to write a 3 pager but stretched it out over a few chapters.

i was really, incredibly disappointed -- i really wanted this book to go into hip hop as a political force, to discuss the mtv rock the vote campaign, and the emergence of nh2ed, and instead it was like "thugs are cool! mlk is lame! wheeeeeeeeeee!"

Hip Hop Today, Hip Hop Tomorrow, Hip Hop Forever
In this well-written and highly entertaining tomb, Boyd provides commentary that is both insightful and thought-provoking on a subject whose popularity continues to baffle mainstream America.While there are many who wish hip hop would simply vanish the way of disco and the dinosaur, the art form once dubbed "the voice of the street" has instead become more popular than ever with no sign of slowing.Like it or hate it, hip hop is here to stay and the implications deserves closer inspection.Boyd does so here with gusto, delving into issues of class and race that desperately need to be delved into, especially as we move into an era where racial issues are still as omnipresent as ever, but have become increasingly more complex.All in all a great read.

Manifesto of Hip-Hop Culture
Dr. Boyd's book is not really like his other publications, "Am I Black Enough For You" is a scholarly investigation, "Young Black Rich and Famous" more of a standard non-fiction subject history approach.The New HNIC however is a manifesto.You won't find Boyd's words appended with footnotes and references.You won't find him carefully elaborating a declaration or assumption.He delineates his arena--drawing the line in the sand, putting the chip on the shoulder--in the entertaining introduction and that sets up how he'll play this game.This is one long rap.It's not a tome of scholarly resonance, it's Boyd telling things the way he sees it.It is his worldview, his opinions he doesn't back them up or justify them with the onerous works of other scholars that have approved tired old opinions.This feels fresh and vibrant.I disagree with some or a lot of what Boyd has to say, but his flow is so good that he makes you think and engage his words, ideas, rap.I'm not bound down trying to understand him having to sift through layers of obfuscation or completing missing a point because it's been clarified and backed up sixty times in one paragraph. No Boyd flows from one idea to the next, his flow is smooth and his position elegant enough to make it compelling, even to someone like me who would have disagreed with almost all of his positions before reading the book, but I can at least now understand them better having taken in this manifesto.

In the end I was left thinking this: When I dismiss hip-hop for cultural reasons--because I'm uncomfortable with the drugs, crime, language, bashing, sexism etc--when I hold these things in contempt and refuse to understand them I am committing the same cultural crime of the 'great' white settlers and crusaders of old whose creed was intolerance and dominance.If I look on what was done to Native Americans and other indigenous people treated as 'savages' with revulsion, wondering how man could do such a thing I need to examine myself and understand the potential within myself for that to carry on.I have come away with a better understanding and appreciation of what hip-hop is and its importance as a culture to be valued.Hip-hop should not feared because it is different--the other--because it refuses to assimilate to our expected cultural standards.Hip-hop should be embraced as an expression of diversity of American culture.

Self-serving drivel
This book is great for anyone with a thin knowledge of hip-hop culture.Boyd drops a lot of names and poses hard but doesn't leave the thoughtful reader with very much by way of hard analysis.He doesn't even really explain what his thesis is beyond solipsistically refering to a generation's hunger to "get paid."The fact that NYU Press published this book and sanctioned it as "scholarly" work is a sad commentary on how deeply the ethos of entertainment and racial posturing have permeated contemporary American life.Boyd will certainly live to regret the title of this book. ... Read more

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"Bumiller is among several scholars who have questioned the excessive reliance on law, especially constitutional law and the Supreme Court, as a means of solving social problems in the United States. The book will generate much discussion among those scholars interested in critical legal studies, sociology of law, race and gender relations, the social psychology of victimization, and social stratification." -- Darnell F. Hawkins, Contemporary Sociology.

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"An unusually challenging illumination of our still veryunfinished history of equal protection of the laws. No classroom,library, or legislature at any level should be without it, and nearlyeveryone will want to argue with parts of it."

--Nat Hentoff, author of Living the Bill of Rights and Free Speech for Me--But Not for Thee

"Civil Rights Since 1787 is one of those rare documentary collectionsthat rewrites history. Birnbaum and Taylor not only take a long andwide view of the movement, but they persuasively re-define civilrights to encompass many criticle struggles for social justice. Thisbook is indispensable."

--Robin D.G. Kelley, author of Race Rebels: Culture, Politics, and the Black Working Class

"This is a particularly valuable collection, an excellent reader on the struggle for racial equality."

--Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States

Contrary to simple textbook tales, the civil rights movement did notarise spontaneously in 1954 with the landmark Brown v. Board ofEducation decision. The black struggle for civil rights can be tracedback to the arrival of the first Africans, and to their work in theplantations, manufacturies, and homes of the Americas. Civil rightswas thus born as labor history.

Civil Rights Since 1787 tells the story of that struggle in its fullcontext, dividing the struggle into six major periods, from slavery toReconstruction, from segregation to the Second Reconstruction, andfrom the current backlash to the future prospects for a ThirdReconstruction. The "prize" that the movement has sought has oftenbeen reduced to a quest for the vote in the South. But all involved inthe struggle have always known that the prize is much more than thevote, that the goal is economic as well as political. Further, indistinction from other work, Civil Rights Since 1787 establishes thelinks between racial repression and the repression of labor and theleft, and emphasizes the North as a region of civil rights struggle.

Featuring the voices and philosophies of orators, activists, andpoliticians, this anthology emphasizes the role of those ignored byhistory, as well as the part that education and religion have playedin the movement. Civil Rights Since 1787 serves up an informative mixof primary documents and secondary analysis and includes the work ofsuch figures as Ella Baker, Mary Frances Berry, Clayborne Carson,Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. DuBois, Eric Foner, Herb Gutman, FannieLou Hamer, A. Leon Higginbotham, Darlene Clark Hine, Jesse Jackson,Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Manning Marable, Nell Painter, FrancesFox Piven and Richard Cloward, A. Philip Randolph, Mary ChurchTerrell, and Howard Zinn. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Dr. Clarence Taylor and Dr. Birnbaum gathered excellent information.
If you really want to know what the Civil Rights Movement accomplished, you should read this novel that has annotations and reference pages.The book quotes Reconstruction and Civil Rights experts.
The book details how blacks were able to manage schools,the limit and broadness of the tobacco trade, the labor movement and how the African-American struggle assisted this movement.
The book gives statistics that purport the glass ceiling.It is an informative text that should be read by people who want to appreciate and comprehend the history of struggles for equality.

i haven't read this book but.......
this guy is my professor this semester, i figured a little sucking up wouldn't hurt.on a more serious note, i have to admit that mr. taylor (smart-ass comments aside) is fully versed on a number of historical themes, it is truly admirable.he seems to be a strict individual but not to the point of being unyielding.i trust that his book will be an engaging read.

A powerful, informative, insightful, source-based history.
Civil Rights Since 1787 is a reader on the black struggle since 1787 thatprovides a powerful collection of articles which rewrites history, chartingan earlier struggle for civil rights than most titles would present andusing primary documents and secondary analysis to spice the presentation.Works by DuBois, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Baker, Manning Marable and more areoutstanding presentations. ... Read more

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People with disabilities forging the newest and last human rights movement of the century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Enjoyed by person with 20+ years advocacy
I gave this as a gift to someone who has been a local and national advocate for disabled persons for 20+ years.She said she liked it.I give it high marks because of her level of experience with legal and personal matters surrounding the topic.

A Primer for the Independent Living Movement
Its important for anyone who wants to read about the disability rights movement that this is first book to read, even if one has a negative impression of it. The goal of the independent living movement as identified in the book is for full community integration for people with disabilities and complete civil rights and equal rights. Unfortunately when one reads about the disability rights movement, there is talk about "politically correct language", "burdensome lawsuits" and the like and I can't deny that these things happen (as with any movement there are extremists and people who focus on surface issues) but "No Pity" details the independent living movement starting with Ed Roberts (who had been paralyzed to the point where he required a respirator, then called an iron lung, his whole life) who founded the independent living movement from scratch and from there, there were networks of these centers and now they are a vital resource. And its not just linguistics but the thinking behind them, empowerment, integration and the idea that disability is ultimately a universal experience. And the important thing is for every negative experience you hear about you can read about workable constructive solutions, many of which save taxpayer's money and put people to work and most importantly people with disabilities being thought of not as "the other" but as people in general. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but if you have a negative impression of the disability rights movement why not read through "No Pity" and then post a review after as you'll have a fuller understanding. And as a disability rights activist myself and someone who has pushed for the Olmstead Decision, Mental Health Parity and the upcoming Community Choice Act whom many of the people discussed in here initiated (you can look up these terms for more information) you can see that the end goal is yet another civil rights movement with equality and social justice as the end goal and a community that people often eventually become a part of as disability is a universal experience. So take a fresh mindset, read this and know that much has been achieved and much remains to but often the first steps towards understanding people with disabilities must come from self acceptance and a willingness to understand new ideas. This primer will give you some key ideas and if you are a person with a disability yourself, in understanding the term "no pity" you may understand the essential empowering nature of the ever expanding freedoms that are part of America and want in whatever way you can contribute. A book that changed my life in real world terms and may do the same for others.

We need No Pity part 2.Great read!
I am a college student studying to be a Special Education Teacher and this book is a must for anyone working with people with special needs.I found this a fascinating read.I have yet to find a well rounded, well written, history book about people with special needs, and this book delivers.Although it took me a long time to process and read through the abundance of information Shapiro provided, it was interesting and complete for the time it was written.I would love to read an updated version of this book or a continuation of this book because it was dated.The book was written in 1993, just a short time after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.There have been so many new developments and new policies since 1993 that this book contains a huge gap in its all important story.Many of the references and issues Shapiro brought up are obsolete now in 2008, and I don't know which issues.I also know there are many new issues and laws that have drastically changed the lives of many people with special needs and I would love to find a resource as well written as No Pity that would explain the impact of these new developments.

No Pity
I ordered 2 books simultaneously, one new (this one) through you, Amazon, and one used, from one of your used book dealers. In ordering, I did not see on the form where I could change the shipping address, and then the transaction was suddenly over. I called right back to change the address. With you it was no problem. But in changing the address for the other book, your phone rep (who called herself JADE)told me it was changed and everything was fine. That was not true. I kept checking and it was never changed on the order. I emailed the other dealer and they said there was nothing could do. I called you back several times - even spoke to your supervisor (MAHENDRA) who offered no help. I have never received the book. It was a college book - I had to drive 75 miles to get another book. I would like my money refuned. It has been almost 6 weeks.

great book
This book is a must read for anyone wants to understand the history of independent living and the Disability Rights Movement!Well worth the read. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

"Let the world see what I've seen"
This wonderful book captures extraordinary moments in the Civil Rights movement, starting for me during the period from my late teens. I grew up in a small farming community in Wisconsin; there were no African Americans closer than ten miles away, and it was a shock to visit southern Illinois and see segregated toilets.

But my first real exposure to the cultural struggles occured during a student exchange trip to Texas; my exchange partner's mother was adamant that her grandchildren would never attend segregated schools as had been recently mandated in the Brown decision. Her intensity of feeling made a deep impression, and I resolved to learn a great deal more about race and America.

One of my first discoveries in the stacks at the University of Wisconsin library was a "Life" magazine look alike called "Ebony". I read ten years worth of issues, and was shocked at images I had never seen before, including the battered face of Emmett Till. A few months later when the bus boycotts began, similar images began to appear in the local and then the national press.

Over the next several years I became much more aware of the struggle, serving as a volunteer lawyer in Mississippi with the President's Committee, among other things. And, of course, the number and intensity of the images proliferated. But they tended to be isolated in my mind, tied to specific events and people.

As the publisher writes, "This is the first comprehensive examination of the ways images mattered in the struggle, and it investigates a broad range of media including photography, television, film, magazines, newspapers, and advertising."

It's an examination that anyone interested in the history of the modern United States simply has to see. Otherwise, you will remain as naive and uninformed as I was as a Wisconsin farm boy many years ago.

Robert C. Ross 2010 ... Read more

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In 1957 Ghana became one of the first sub-Saharan African nations to gain independence from colonial rule. Over the next decade, hundreds of African Americans--including Martin Luther King Jr., George Padmore, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Richard Wright, Pauli Murray, and Muhammed Ali--visited or settled in Ghana. Kevin K. Gaines explains what attracted these expatriates to Ghana and how their new community was shaped by the convergence of the Cold War, the rise of the U.S. civil rights movement, and the decolonization of Africa.

Posing a direct challenge to U.S. hegemony, Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's president, promoted a vision of African liberation, continental unity, and West Indian federation. Although the number of African American expatriates in Ghana was small, in espousing a transnational American citizenship defined by solidarities with African peoples, these activists waged along with their allies in the United States a fundamental, if largely forgotten, struggle over the meaning and content of the formal American citizenship conferred on African Americans by civil rights reform legislation. ... Read more

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Providing a well-rounded presentation of the constitution and evolution of civil rights in the United States, this book will be useful for students and academics with an interest in civil rights, race and the law.

Abraham L Davis and Barbara Luck Graham's purpose is: to give an overview of the Supreme Court and its rulings with regard to issues of equality and civil rights; to bring law, political science and history into the discussion of civil rights and the Supreme Court; to incorporate the politically disadvantaged and the human component into the discussion; to stimulate discussion among students; and to provide a text that cultivates competence in reading actual Supreme Court cases.

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This is the compelling story of Barrios Unidos, the Santa Cruz-based organization founded to prevent gang violence amongst inner-city ethnic youth. An evolving grass-roots organization that grew out of the Mexican-American civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 1970s, Barrios Unidos harnessed the power of culture and spirituality to rescue at-risk young people, provide avenues to quell gang warfare, and offer a promising model for building healthy and vibrant multicultural communities.

Co-founder Daniel "Nane" Alejandrez spent his childhood following the crops from state to state with his family. His earliest recollection of "home" was a tent in a labor camp. Later, he was drafted in to the Army and sent to Vietnam. "Flying bullets, cries of anguish and being surrounded by death have a way of giving fuel to epiphany. This war made as little sense to me as the war raging on the streets of the barrios back home." He decided that when he returned home, he would dedicate himself to peace. Nane Alejandrez's story of personal transformation, from heroin-addicted gang banger to social activist and youth advocate, is closely tied to that of Barrios Unidos.

Through interviews, written testimonies, and documents, Frank de Jesus Acosta re-constructs the development of Barrios Unidos--or literally, united neighborhoods--from its early influences and guiding principles to its larger connection to the on-going struggle to achieve civil rights in America. Today, Barrios Unidos chapters exist in several cities around the country, including San Francisco; Venice-Los Angeles; Salinas; San Diego; Washington, DC; Yakima; San Antonio; Phoenix; and Chicago.

With a foreword by Luis Rodriguez, former gang member and author of La Vida Loca: Always Running, the book also includes historical photos and commentaries by leading civil rights activists Harry Belafonte, Dolores Huerta, Tom Hayden, Manuel Pastor, and Constance Rice. Mandatory reading for anyone interested in peace and social justice, The History of Barrios Unidos gives voice to contemporary inter-generational leaders of color and will lead to the continuation of necessary public dialogue about racism, poverty, and violence. ... Read more

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"[Women in the Civil Rights Movement] helps break the gender line that restricted women in civil rights history to background and backstage roles, and places them in front, behind, and in the middle of the Southern movement that re-made America.... It is an invaluable resource which helps set history straight." -- Julian Bond

"... remains one of the best single sources currently available on the unique contributions of Black women in the desegregation movement." -- Manning Marable

Rewrites the history of the civil rights movement, recognizing the contributions of Black women.

Customer Reviews (1)

Great
this is a good book from a historical perspective.It will fill in the blanks for those who did or did not live through that era. ... Read more

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In this beautifully written book, Gary Selby shows how Martin Luther King, Jr. used the biblical story of Exodus to motivate African Americans in their struggle for freedom from racial oppression. Through an examination of King's major speeches, Selby illuminates the ways in which King drew from the Exodus narrative to offer his listeners a structure that explained their present circumstances, urged united action, and provided the conviction that they would succeed. Selby explains how King constructed a symbolic framework for interpreting the setbacks of the Civil Rights movement, even as he challenged them to remain faithful to the cause. ... Read more

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In the 1930s, the Roosevelt administration-unwilling to antagonize a powerful southern congressional bloc-refused to endorse legislation that openly sought to improve political, economic, and social conditions for African Americans. Instead, as historian Lauren Rebecca Sklaroff shows, the administration recognized and celebrated African Americans by offering federal support to notable black intellectuals, celebrities, and artists.

Sklaroff illustrates how programs within the Federal Arts Projects and several war agencies gave voice to African Americans such as Lena Horne, Joe Louis, Duke Ellington, and Richard Wright, as well as lesser-known figures. She argues that these New Deal programs represent a key moment in the history of American race relations, as the cultural arena provided black men and women with unique employment opportunities and new outlets for political expression. Equally important, she contends that these cultural programs were not merely an attempt to appease a black constituency but were also part of the New Deal's larger goal of promoting a multiracial nation. Yet, while federal projects ushered in creativity and unprecedented possibilities, they were subject to censorship, bigotry, and political machinations.

With numerous illustrations, Black Culture and the New Deal offers a fresh perspective on the New Deal's racial progressivism and provides a new framework for understanding black culture and politics in the Roosevelt era. ... Read more

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The urgency to create equity in schools has never been greater, especially since legislatorsare considering the re-authorization of No Child Left Behind as a means to eliminating theachievement gap. Studies continue to show that increased standards, testing, and accountability have simply maintained the status quo. In response, this book proposes alternative ways of addressing these educational inequities, taking an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the complex historical, social, and global issues that stand in the way of ensuring that all students have access to literacy—issues that policy makers and educators canno longer ignore. Literacy as a Civil Right assembles an impressive group of essays that broadenthe conversation taking place about school reform, unmasking an ideology that maintainsunequal relations of power in school and society. The ideas presented here will help readersre-imagine success in schools by understanding the possibilities that grow from a democraticvision of education. Together, this book provides an alternative framework toincreased testing, offering a more humane vision of education that values agency, rigor,civic responsibility, and democracy. ... Read more

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This collection of papers grew out of editor John MarkTucker's discussions with Donald G. Davis Jr., professor of libraryand information science at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin. Inthe early 1990s, the Special Collections Department of the UniversityLibraries at UT obtained the papers of James Farmer, founder of theCongress of Racial Equality (CORE). Davis had learned that thesepapers contained documents about libraries established by civil rightsworkers engaged in the Mississippi Freedom Summer project of 1964, andhe recognized the research potential of these materials. Atapproximately the same time Tucker became vice/chair and chair/electof the Library History Round Table (LHRT) of the American LibraryAssociation (ALA) with responsibilities for the Round Table's programsession and research forum for the ALA conference at Miami Beach inJune 1994.

This conference offered the opportunity to mark the 30th anniversaryof Freedom Summer, and presentations from the "Libraries, Books andthe Civil Rights Movement" session are included in Untold Stories, asare papers received by the Round Table's research forum and otheravenues of collection. The 15 articles are arranged by theme: Legaciesof Black Librarianship, Chronicles from the Civil Rights Movement,Resources for Library Personnel, Services and Collections.Whilethese authors are not the first to write about civil rights, librariesand black librarianship, they seek to add their own special testimonyto the power of books, libraries, printed words, and the human spirit. ... Read more

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Prior to the 1960s, when African Americans had little access to formal political power, black popular culture was commonly seen as a means of forging community and effecting political change.

But as Richard Iton shows in this provocative and insightful volume, despite the changes brought about by the civil rights movement, and contrary to the wishes of those committed to narrower conceptions of politics, black artists have continued to play a significant role in the making and maintenance of critical social spaces. Iton offers an original portrait of the relationship between popular culture and institutionalized politics tracing the connections between artists such as Paul Robeson, Lorraine Hansberry, Richard Pryor, Bob Marley, and Erykah Badu and those individuals working in the protest, electoral, and policy making arenas. With an emphasis on questions of class, gender and sexuality-and diaspora and coloniality-the author also illustrates how creative artists destabilize modern notions of the proper location of politics, and politics itself.

Ranging from theatre to film, and comedy to literature and contemporary music, In Search of the Black Fantastic is an engaging and sophisticated examination of how black popular culture has challenged our understandings of the aesthetic and its relationship to politics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

All white people must be evil...
If you want a book that tells you how all white people are secretly racist and want to protect thier "white supremacy" then this is the book for you. Nothing more then a list of how whitie is keeping the poor minorities down with sources that share the same feeling. Do not expect to find any actual debate.

Co-Winner of 2002 ASA Oliver C. Cox Award
This book was the co-winner of the 2002 Oliver C. Cox award given by the American Sociological Association. The book combines powerful theoretical chapters with substantive chapters describing the subtle and slippery yet effective post-civil rights' racial structure (he labels it "the new racism) and racial ideology (color blind racism) of the United States. This is a solid contribution to the area of race and ethnicity and an excellent choice for courses on racial and ethnic matters in the United States. Professors searching for a challenging book on the nature of contemporary racial discourse need not look elsewhere.

Award Winner
This book won the 2002 Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for the best sociology book on race (awarded by the American Sociological Association's Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities).

Provocative, Innovative, and Insightful Book
Professor Eduardo Bonilla-Silva has written a provocative, innovative, and insightful book that will add much to our understanding of racism in the 21st Century. White Supremacy and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era is well-written, conceptually sound, and convincing. The study is well documented with quantitative data, in-depth interviews, and qualitative research on race relations. The book does an excellent job of discussing, summarizing, and critiquing several prominent works that minimize the prevalence and impact of racism. Because it offers comprehensive coverage of the "anything but racism" literature, it can serve as an excellent sourcebook. The book also offers new theoretical breakthroughs and powerful typologies that shed a great deal of light on how and why blacks, whites and others think about racial policy and racial inequality. Generally, it is written in a manner that is accessible to undergraduates and a general audience, but it is based on solid social science research that will meet the expectations of professional social scientists. I believe that no person interested in racial inequality , race relations and the changing nature of racial discourse in America should fail to read this work. Overall, this book, written by a scholar whose star is on the rise, makes important contributions to the growing social science literature on contemporary racism. It will be important reading for those concerned with how this issue will continue to manifest itself in the 21st Century.

Racism in the new era
This book presents us with a "smack you in the face" conceptualization of race and white supremacy in the U.S.Although uncomfortable for some, it sums up very accurately the way that racism has been transformed over time and how it continues to plague America. ... Read more

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The African American struggle for freedom and equality is one of the truly heroic elements of American history. Yet even today, African Americans as a whole still do not fully share in the American dream. This encyclopedia explores the struggle's successes and setbacks, from emancipation to the beginning of the 21st century. ... Read more

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Founded by Mexican American men in 1929, the League of United Latin-American Citizens (LULAC) has usually been judged according to Chicano nationalist standards of the late 1960s and 1970s. Drawing on extensive archival research, including the personal papers of Alonso S. Perales and Adela Sloss-Vento, No Mexicans, Women, or Dogs Allowed presents the history of LULAC in a new light, restoring its early twentieth-century context.

Cynthia Orozco also provides evidence that perceptions of LULAC as a petite bourgeoisie, assimilationist, conservative, anti-Mexican, anti-working class organization belie the realities of the group's early activism. Supplemented by oral history, this sweeping study probes LULAC's predecessors, such as the Order Sons of America, blending historiography and cultural studies. Against a backdrop of the Mexican Revolution, World War I, gender discrimination, and racial segregation, No Mexicans, Women, or Dogs Allowed recasts LULAC at the forefront of civil rights movements in America.

Customer Reviews (3)

Good Book
Just arrived today, is a nice book. Got it New and for a very good price. The Shipping though, took more time than what I excepted it :/ but it was worth the wait.

For What It's Worth
Yesterday's radical is today's conservative. Cynthia Orozco documents that the reverse is true in this survey of the rise of the Mexican-American civil rights movement. In a textbook account set in the Southwest, she takes the reader back to the late 1920s and 30s to witness the point at which persons whose ancestors came from Mexico began to view themselves as Americans. Despite the promised protections of the U.S. Constitution, many basic rights were not afforded to these persons of color. It remained up to the gentlemen who founded the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) to lead the struggle for dignity and independence.

In this book, Orozco shows us that the fight was battle was not just one for the rights granted to white citizens, but also a fight to distinguish the Mexicans born in this country from those born in Mexico. As M.C. Gonzales said, "We decided to go ahead and separate ourselves from the citizens of Mexico." Orozco marvelously shows us that this was the true beginning of Mexican-American activism, and it preceded the movement (La Causa) of the 1960s and 70s. Orozco's written a better draft of history here, one which honors the original heroes of a fight for equality.

Reviewed by: Joseph Arellano

A fresh look at an often overlooked part of the civil rights movement
This is a look at the rise of the Mexican-American civil rights movement in south Texas in the period 1910-1930, focusing on the founding of LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) in 1929. The emphasis is organizational, concentrating on the four predecessor organizations that merged into LULAC, on the people involved, and on the challenges and controversies in LULAC's founding.

The book provides some background on the discrimination against Mexican-Americans in this period, but there is just enough information to show the motivation for such organizations as LULAC and it is not a major focus of the book. Just as with blacks in other parts of the country at this time, Mexican-Americans were subjected to exclusion, persecution, and occasional lynching. Many stores and services posted signed reading "No Mexicans Allowed" (or sometimes "No Dogs or Mexicans Allowed", giving dogs top billing).

The book is intended partly as a rebuttal to scholarship rising out of the Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s, that tended to emphasize a separate Mexican-American identity and to view LULAC as assimilationist: encouraging the adoption of white American characteristics and abandoning the Mexican heritage. The book shows that the issues were more nuanced than that, and there were several factions pulling in different directions. A particularly-controversial issue was whether Mexican citizens resident in the US could be members of LULAC; even though this group was in the majority at the organizing meeting, its members were excluded from the newly-formed organization. Women were also excluded until 1933, although Orozco was able to interview several women who worked in the background to help build the organization while they were officially excluded. ... Read more

Product Description
The two dozen essays assembled in Creating Change examine some of the most bitterly contested and controversial public events and public policy battles in American history. These writings, each by a leading activist or scholar, recount how a specific constituency—gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons, and their allies—achieved tremendous progress despite seemingly insurmountable barriers. With each of the chapters written by an activist or scholar integral to the specific area of discussion, this is a work of scholarship and a work of passion about the way the American political and cultural landscape became what it is today.It is the story of how social change is made.
Amazon.com Review
Like those '40s dance marathons, where the winners were thecouple that stayed on their feet the longest, public policy change issometimes just a matter of endurance. Over the past 30 years, despite asteady shift to the right in federal and state politics, lesbians and gayshave made tremendous social and political advances, thanks to theunremitting efforts of activists and sympathetic legislators and policymakers. This inspiring and highly readable anthology, which includes BarneyFrank on immigration law, Rich Tafel on gay Republicans, Marj Plumb onlesbian health in the Clinton years, and David L. Chambers on marriage anddomestic partnership, describes the incremental but essential changes inAmerican public policy on gay rights since 1970. Creating Changereminds us of the big picture: that gay issues now have a national stage,and that queer lives are braver and hipper than anyone else's. This bookshould be in every gay library, but especially on the shelves of youngerreaders, who may not be familiar with the pre-ACT-UP world. --JackConnolly ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Inspiring words for trying times
As a progressive activist, I immensley enjoyed this anthology of movers and shakers in the GLBT movement. Introspective, energetic and visionary, they remind both allies and GLBT peoplealthough much has been accomplished, there is no shortage of public policy issues to focus their work on.AIDS, securuty clearances, lesbian feminism and dual identity conflicts of GLBT people of color are issues that will not go away until we deal with them substantively.

While I was famillar with some names...I was introduced to several unsuing heroes and role models. My only regret is that the book tended to gloss over instaces where the movement was not doing as well as it could have been. I believe this would have made some of the anthology more coherent. There are gaps which take away from the individual policy papers.

Even if I understood the National Gay Task Force eventually bevame the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to disadvow sexism, other readers might not be aware of the reason for the name change. More information on the Romer vs. Evans decision (which invalidated Colorado's virulently homophobic Amendment Two), a real victory at a time when the Supreme Court has no shortage of conservatives. The authors simply assume that people know the important bits and pieces that give the riveting stories meaning and importance. Given their backgrounds, this tendency is both troubling and unusual, little is accomplished by preaching to the choir

Still, the format of this book means it can also be used as a college textbook on GLBT issues and theory. Thus it is important to consider the book's above mentioned flaws as a fair description rather than a deliberate pan. Flaws and all, this book is recomended for anybody who wants to know what the "newest" civil rights movement has and is doing to improve American society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fabulous, Should be Required Reading in Every American History Class
"Tennessee originated much of the movement for change in the history of the modern Civil Rights advances as Dr. Lovett, Tennessee State University history professor illustrates with events and heroes from Memphis, Nashville and Knoxville." ... Read more