Brando Skyhorse

Lisa Frazier Page

"For some, "passing" means opportunity, access, or safety. Others don't willfully pass but are "passed" in specific situations by someone else. We Wear the Mask, edited by authors Brando Skyhorse and Lisa Page, is an illuminating and timely anthology of original essays that examines the complex reality of passing in America."--

15 True Stories of Passing in America

We Wear the Mask

Carlotta Walls LaNier

“A searing and emotionally gripping account of a young black girl growing up to become a strong black woman during the most difficult time of racial segregation.”—Professor Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School “Provides important context for an important moment in America’s history.”—Associated Press When fourteen-year-old Carlotta Walls walked up the stairs of Little Rock Central High School on September 25, 1957, she and eight other black students only wanted to make it to class. But the journey of the “Little Rock Nine,” as they came to be known, would lead the nation on an even longer and much more turbulent path, one that would challenge prevailing attitudes, break down barriers, and forever change the landscape of America. For Carlotta and the eight other children, simply getting through the door of this admired academic institution involved angry mobs, racist elected officials, and intervention by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was forced to send in the 101st Airborne to escort the Nine into the building. But entry was simply the first of many trials. Breaking her silence at last and sharing her story for the first time, Carlotta Walls has written an engrossing memoir that is a testament not only to the power of a single person to make a difference but also to the sacrifices made by families and communities that found themselves a part of history.

My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School

A Mighty Long Way

Bill Clinton

Carlotta Walls Lanier

Mighty Long Way

Sampson Davis

A riveting personal exploration of the healthcare crisis facing inner-city communities, written by an emergency room physician who grew up in the very neighborhood he is now serving Sampson Davis is best known as one of three friends from inner-city Newark who made a pact in high school to become doctors. Their book The Pact and their work through the Three Doctors Foundation have inspired countless young men and women to strive for goals they otherwise would not have dreamed they could attain. In this book, Dr. Davis looks at the healthcare crisis in the inner city from a rare perspective: as a doctor who works on the front line of emergency medical care in the community where he grew up, and as a member of that community who has faced the same challenges as the people he treats every day. He also offers invaluable practical advice for those living in such communities, where conditions like asthma, heart disease, stroke, obesity, and AIDS are disproportionately endemic. Dr. Davis’s sister, a drug addict, died of AIDS; his brother is now paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair as a result of a bar fight; and he himself did time in juvenile detention—a wake-up call that changed his life. He recounts recognizing a young man who is brought to the E.R. with critical gunshot wounds as someone who was arrested with him when he was a teenager during a robbery gone bad; describes a patient whose case of sickle-cell anemia rouses an ethical dilemma; and explains the difficulty he has convincing his landlord and friend, an older woman, to go to the hospital for much-needed treatment. With empathy and hard-earned wisdom, Living and Dying in Brick City presents an urgent picture of medical care in our cities. It is an important resource guide for anyone at risk, anyone close to those at risk, and anyone who cares about the fate of our cities. Praise for Living and Dying in Brick City “A pull-no-punches look at health care from a seldom-heard sector . . . Living and Dying isn’t a sky-is-falling chronicle. It’s a real, gutsy view of a city hospital.”—Essence “Gripping . . . a prescription to help kids dream bigger than their circumstances, from someone who really knows.”—People “[Dr. Davis] is really a local hero. His story has inspired so many of our young people, and he’s got his finger on the pulse of what is a challenge in Newark, and frankly all across America. . . . I think his book is going to make a big impact.”—Cory Booker “Some memoirs are heartfelt, some are informative and some are even important. Few, however, are all three. . . . As rare as it is for a book to be heartfelt, well written and inspirational, it’s even rarer for a critic to say that a book should be required reading. This ought to be included in high school curricula—for the kids in the suburbs who have no idea what life is like in the inner cities, and for the kids in the inner cities to know that there is a way out.”—The Star-Ledger “Dramatic and powerful.”—New York Daily News “This book just might save your life. Sampson Davis shares fascinating stories from the E.R. and addresses the inner-city health crisis. His book is an important investment in your most valuable resource: your health.”—Suze Orman, author of The Money Class

Stories from the Front Lines of an Inner-City E.R.

Living and Dying in Brick City

George Jenkins

Rameck Hunt

Follows the experiences of the authors, three friends who grew up in impoverished families in Newark, New Jersey, and who supported one another in their dreams of becoming doctors in spite of tremendous disadvantages.

Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream

The Pact

Howard Fuller

This book tells the story of one mans life journey in the heart of the struggle to reform the nation's schools. Fuller has always believed that it is important for poor and working class Black people to gain access to the levers of power dictating their lives. He believes that those of us who are educated and resourceful have a moral and historical responsibility to help them, and that is what he has always tried to do. Early in his life he found truth in the words of the great Frederick Douglass: “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will.” “So struggle we must” says Fuller. That understanding of the relationship between struggle and progress is what propelled him down dark alleys and dirt roads in some of North Carolina's poorest communities in the 1960s and pushed him into the bush, mountains, and war-torn villages of Africa nearly a decade later.“It is what pushes me still in the fight over one of the most contentious education issues of this era: parental choice. I believe deep in my heart that giving low-income and working class parents the power (and the money) to make choices about the schools their children attend will not only revolutionize education but provide the compass to a better life for the many poor, Black children stuck in failing systems. … Education reform is one of the most crucial social justice issues of our time, and I will spend the rest of my days fighting for my people, most especially those without the power or the resources to fight for themselves.”

A Warrior's Life from Black Power to Education Reform

No Struggle, No Progress

B. Doyle Mitchell, Jr.

Patricia A. Mitchell

Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a bank holiday on March 5, 1933, closing banks across the country until they proved financial soundness. Meanwhile, as the United States crawled out of the Great Depression, Jesse H. Mitchell and a group of black businessmen accomplished the extraordinary--they started a black-owned bank on a street known as "Black Broadway" in the nation's capital. Mitchell, a Howard University-educated lawyer and realtor, and his friends sold $65,000 in stock, and in the sweltering heat on August 20, 1934, Industrial Bank of Washington opened for business. A range of black investors rallied around the effort, from individuals, churches, and service-oriented organizations to savvy business owners. The bank has carried on for three generations: Mitchell's son B. Doyle Mitchell Sr. succeeded him as president in 1953, who was then succeeded in 1993 by his grandson B. Doyle Mitchell Jr. as president and CEO and his granddaughter Patricia A. Mitchell as executive vice president.

Lisa Frazier Page

Books

Your next favorite book is out there