Selected New Materials: August 2008
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Biko Lives! Contesting the Legacies of Steve Biko. Andile Mngxitama et’al. Africana Library: DT1949 .B55 B54 2008
This collection looks at the on-going significance of Black Consciousness, situating it in a global frame, examining the legacy of Steve Biko, the current state of post-apartheid South African politics, and the culture and history of the anti-apartheid movements. (Bowker’s Books in Print)
Black and Blue: African Americans, the Labor Movement, and the Decline of the Democratic Party. Paul Frymer. Africana Library: HD8072 .F86 2008
In the 1930s, fewer than one in one hundred U.S. labor union members were African American. By 1980, the figure was more than one in five. "Black and Blue" explores the politics and history that led to this dramatic integration of organized labor. In the process, the book tells a broader story about how the Democratic Party unintentionally sowed the seeds of labor's decline. The labor and civil rights movements are the cornerstones of the Democratic Party, but for much of the twentieth century these movements worked independently of one another. Paul Frymer argues that as Democrats passed separate legislation to promote labor rights and racial equality they split the issues of class and race into two sets of institutions, neither of which had enough authority to integrate the labor movement. From this division, the courts became the leading enforcers of workplace civil rights, threatening unions with bankruptcy if they resisted integration. The courts' previously unappreciated power, however, was also a problem: in diversifying unions, judges and lawyers enfeebled them financially, thus democratizing through destruction. Sharply delineating the double-edged sword of state and legal power, "Black and Blue" chronicles an achievement that was as problematic as it was remarkable, and that demonstrates the deficiencies of race- and class-based understandings of labor, equality, and power in America. (Bowker’s Books in Print)
The Blind Kingdom. Veronique Tadjo. Africana Library: PQ3989.2 .T25 R6913 2008
The Blind Kingdom is a collection of short stories and poetic texts woven together to illustrate an African society on the brink of collapse. Writing in 1960 at a time when Cote d’Ivoire was in chaos after declaring its independence from France, Veronique Tad jo explores themes of love, independence, and renewal as she creates a new world of hope and creativity. Her illuminating political allegory will resonate with contemporary readers as they draw parallels between Cote d’Ivoire’s crisis of forty years ago and the turmoil facing the country today. (Bowker’s Books in Print)
Euro-Jews and Afro-Arabs: The Great Semitic Divergence in World History. Ali Mazrui. Africana Library: DS135 .E8 M39 2008
The impact of European and Semitic peoples upon world civilization and African history is addressed in this scholarly study. The Jewish wing of the Semitic people converged with the Western world; the Arab wing of the Semites converged with Africa. The three Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have confronted the racial divide between Caucasian people and people of color. This book explores the geographical regions of Africa, the Middle East, and the Western world in the context of fragile structures and resilient cultures. Book jacket. (Bowker’s Books in Print)
Against the Wall: 39 men died. The Story never will. New York: HBO Video, 2006 1 videodisc (ca. 111 min.).Africana Library: Videodisc 377
A dramatization of the 1971 Attica New York Prison uprising in which 10 guards were held hostage and state troopers and the National Guard killed 29 prisoners before regaining control. Participants: Kyle MacLachlan, Samuel L. Jackson, Clarence Williams III, Harry Dean Stanton.
The Organization. Santa Monica, CA: MGM Home Entertainment, 2001.1 videodisc (108 min.). Africana Library: Videodisc 376
Sidney Poitier’s third and final appearance as police officer - now lieutenant - Virgil Tibbs. Tibbs becomes a rebel as he tries to help a group of civilian citizens bust a major drug-smuggling ring in San Francisco. Participants: Sidney Poitier, Barbara McNair, Sheree North, Gerald S. O’Loughlin, Raul Julia, Fred Beir, Allen Garfield, Ron O’Neil, and Dan Travanti.
