Social and cultural history Books

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Brent M. S. Campney details lynchings and other forms of anti-Black violence from the antebellum era to the 1940s in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. . . . Hostile Heartland succeeds in demonstrating that the Midwest was not paradise for African Americans." --Journal of African American History"With clear, engaging prose, Campney's Hostile Heartland: Racism, Repression, and Resistance in the Midwest speaks to the historiographies of the Midwest's importance, lynching and antiblack violence more generally, and activism." --American Historical Review"Brent M. S. Campney returns to the themes of his groundbreaking work This is Not Dixie: Racist Violence in Kansas, 1861-1927 in which he argued that white Kansans liked to imagine that their state was a model of enlightened progress in race relations. . . . Hostile Heartland thoroughly and convincingly documents the chilling ferocity of racist violence." --Kansas History"Hostile Heartland challenges assumptions about the 19th-century Midwest as ‘a land of pastoral virtue – a ‘Garden of Eden’ – where racist violence was anomalous.’ On the contrary, Campney argues that in the antebellum era ‘white mobs in the Midwest most certainly lynched free blacks and fugitive slaves. . . . The entire text would be useful in upper-division undergraduate courses and is essential for graduate-level study on racist violence and Midwestern history." --Choice"Hostile Heartland is the result of prodigious research informed by recent scholarship that grapples with the definition of lynching itself. . . . [Campney] is careful to never reduce the black residents of the Midwest to mere victims and devotes considerable space to accounts of black agency and resistance. . . . Campney’s most timely argument [is] that in the twentieth century an increasingly professional police force and court system both quelled racist mobs and essentially assumed their role in maintaining white supremacy. [Campney makes] a notable contribution by positing a long history of northern lynching, and this work will be of interest to scholars of U.S. racial violence and black exclusion." --Pacific Historical Review"Campney has written an ambitious, well-researched, and valuable study that deepens our understanding of just how commonplace and horrific mob violence . . . was over the course of more than a century. . . . He is particularly sensitive to what he calls ‘the multigenerational effects’ of racial violence on African Americans. " --Missouri Historical Review"There is much in this volume that is smart and thought-provoking, and I believe that it will inspire a number of more-detailed studies of such violence in the Midwest…. Campney provides a thought-provoking discussion of the possibility of numerous private lynchings in the 1930s and beyond, episodes driven into obscurity by concern over how they would reflect upon communities; I believe that on this subject and the others raised in this volume, multiple dissertations will be launched." --Indiana Magazine of History"In this very smart book, Brent Campney builds upon his vast research unearthing the history of racist violence in America's heartland. Hostile Heartland is a thorough and impressive work that challenges Midwesterners' time-honored penchant for claiming progressive superiority over the South when it comes to matters of racial egalitarianism and violence. Any reader who has ever contemplated race relations or racist violence in the Midwest today will find clear answers and lines linking the present to the past within these pages. Hostile Heartland opens much-needed windows onto the histories of race relations in the Midwest and the Great Migrations of African Americans to the region."--Kidada E. Williams, author of They Left Great Marks on Me: African American Testimonies about Racial Violence from Emancipation to World War I "Hostile Heartland is a thickly researched survey that draws a striking picture of just how precarious life was for African American migrants to the Midwest." --Journal of Southern History "Brent Campney's Hostile Heartland: Racism, Repression, and Resistance in the Midwest is an excellent and much needed historical account. . . . Well-written and succinct, this book powerfully documents an oft-forgotten practice in the Midwest, decentering the South as the only region with a very long history with anti-black violence." --Annals of Iowa

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"The color line in the United States has historically been and continues to be White vs. Black, yet the salient strength of Raced to Death is to make evident that the color line is, more accurately, White vs. Non-White."--Karen L. Ishizuka, author of Serve the People: Making Asian America in the Long Sixties "Okamura's work opens the door for further reflection on how this history fits into larger patterns of U.S. race relations." --Nichi Bei Weekly"A fascinating account linking racism to colonialism, labor, and criminal justice in an unexpected setting. Okamura’s book makes it impossible to forget Hawai i when studying comparative race and ethnic relations."--Lon Kurashige, author of Two Faces of Exclusion: The Untold History of Anti-Asian Racism in the United States

Read more less

Book SynopsisLongstanding Mexican and Puerto Rican populations have helped make people of mixed nationalitiesMexiGuatamalans, CubanRicans, and othersan important part of Chicago's Latina/o scene. Intermarriage between Guatemalans, Colombians, and Cubans have further diversified this community-within-a-community. Yet we seldom consider the lives and works of these Intralatino/as when we discuss Latino/as in the United States.In Negotiating Latinidad, a cross-section of Chicago's second-generation Intralatino/as offer their experiences of negotiating between and among the national communities embedded in their families. Frances R. Aparicio's rich interviews reveal Intralatino/as proud of their multiplicity and particularly skilled at understanding difference and boundaries. Their narratives explore both the ongoing complexities of family life and the challenges of fitting into our larger society, in particular the struggle to claim a spaceand a sense of belongingin a Latina/o America that remains higTrade Review"A valuable and welcome addition to the literature in Latina/o studies. I commend Aparicio on this important work. It will be a significant contribution to thinking about multicultural identities in immigrant-descendant generations, and about the traditional paradigm of American assimilation."--Rina Benmayor, coeditor of Memory, Subjectivities, and Representation: Approaches to Oral History in Latin America, Portugal, and Spain"Aptly interweaving humanities and social science approaches to identity, Aparicio sets up some of the building blocks for what Latino Studies will become in the twenty-first century. Her compelling engagement with storytelling by Latinos articulating intraLatina/o identities in Chicago is a groundbreaking intervention in the study of U.S. Latinidad that transcends while honoring cultural nationalist models that may not always serve to capture our realities. Her use of the concepts 'horizontal hierarchies' and 'affective essentializing' to analyze co-existence, competition, love, conflict, and solidarity leaves us rethinking our lives in inter-Latino communities and how we describe them. While reading about linguistic battles between parents, grandmas seeking to win over their intraLatina/o children through food, and college students trying to find a sense of belonging to inter-Latino families, communities, and college settings, the reader witnesses intimate spaces of kinship building by intraLatina/os and is deeply engaged by the courageous truths of our communities."--Alaí Reyes-Santos, author of Our Caribbean Kin: Race and Nation in the Neoliberal Antilles

Read more less

Book SynopsisMemoir typically places selfhood at the center. Interestingly, the genre's recent surge in popularity coincides with breakthroughs in scholarship focused on selfhood in a new way: as an always renewing, always emerging entity. Suzanne Bost draws on feminist and posthumanist ideas to explore how three contemporary memoirists decenter the self. Latinx writers John Rechy, Aurora Levins Morales, and Gloria E. Anzaldua work in places where personal history intertwines with communities, environments, animals, plants, and spirits. This dedication to interconnectedness resonates with ideas in posthumanist theory while calling on indigenous worldviews. As Bost argues, our view of life itself expands if we look at how such frameworks interact with queer theory, disability studies, ecological thinking, and other fields. These webs of relation in turn mediate experience, agency, and lift itself.A transformative application of posthumanist ideas to Latinx, feminist, and literary studies, Shared SelTrade Review"Shared Selves mines the Latinx archive by placing lesser-known texts into conversation with authors such as Ortiz Cofer and Rechy. A must-read for anyone interested in the variability of the life-writing form and its continuing relevance for Latinx literary criticism."--David J. Vázquez, author of Triangulations: Narrative Strategies for Navigating Latino Idenity"I really admire this book! Suzanne Bost offers a reading of Latinx life writing that moves us all toward an elsewhere that transcends the humanistic individual and toward a sense of being that emphasizes webs of relations. This is necessary work that positions us to better encounter today’s ethical and material challenges, including the inequities of climate crisis."--Priscilla Solis Ybarra, author of Writing the Goodlife: Mexican American Literature and the Environment

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewFirst Book Award, African Literature Association, 2017. "Drawing on extensive research in repositories on both sides of the Atlantic, Robolin demonstrates that a transnational literary culture is not only imagined--a virtual geography--but also an active network painstakingly constructed by 'constructive engagements' among writers: Richard Rive drawing a map of literary Cape Town for Langston Hughes, then, or Alice Walker describing her garden in a letter to Bessie Head. Elaborating the ways African American and South African writers have striven to render their worlds visible to each other, Grounds of Engagement reminds us that diaspora is knitwork, a complex interweaving of discrete gestures of belonging." --Brent Hayes Edwards, author of The Practice of Diaspora: Literature, Translation, and the Rise of Black Internationalism "Grounds of Engagement fills a wide gap in existing scholarship and is a joy to read. The chapters on Richard Rive and Peter Abrahams will be a revelation to people who have not yet immersed themselves in the literature of that generation. The book's work on Keorapetsie Kgositsile is a landmark intervention."--Aldon Nielsen, author of Integral Music: Languages of African American Innovation"Robolin's study succeeds so admirably because he is alive to the simultaneous promise and danger of solidarity, and the complexities of attempts to remap relations across borders without reinscribing power relations."--Wasafiri "Grounds of Engagement challenges readers of African American and South African literature and history to rethink and revisit the discourse about the relationships between race, identity, and place. . . . A well written and noteworthy contribution to comparative literary history."--Journal of African American History"Robolin provides an invigorating model for analyzing spatial poetics and politics."--American Literature "This fascinating, well-documented study makes a significant contribution to understanding the intertextual and transnational interactions of South African and African American writers at a time of crucial struggles against racism in both countries. Highly recommended."--Choice"Stéphane Robolin has brilliantly taken his cue from the geographical and race-laden correspondence between Langston Hughes and Richard Rive to forge an expansive reading of literary relationships and artistic texts. Reading spaces of cultural synergy and mapping transnational black imaginaries, he expertly brings together the social, cultural, and physical geography of South African and African American writers during the era of segregation and apartheid. Within a dual focus on literary history and racial history, he skillfully navigates the complex intellectual terrain of under-explored artistic networks and linked geographies and does so with a superb mastery of cultural theory and spatial theory. The rewarding result in Grounds of Engagement is substantial grounds for celebration; it is a cutting edge scholarship and a major contribution to transnational and global studies."--Thadious M. Davis, author of Southscapes: Geographies of Race, Region, and Literature

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Weems is an extremely diligent researcher and provides an excellent introduction to Overton. The book is as much a history of Black business in Chicago during Overton's life as a conventional biography and a picture of an era." --Journal of American History"In The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago: Anthony Overton and the Building of a Financial Empire, historian Robert E. Weems Jr. offers a comprehensive biography of an important Black businessman who has largely faded in public memory. . . . Weems is appropriately critical of Overton throughout. . . . An excellent book that is both rich in historical detail and eminently readable." --Journal of African American History"The Merchant Prince of Black Chicago clears the air around one of Black America's most successful businessmen and his time . . . a fascinating read." --Business History Review "An excellent business study of Anthony Overton . . . Weems skillfully evaluates Overton's neglected career, his diverse holdings, and the importance of his family in overseeing the corporate empire." --Choice"Robert E. Weems Jr. recalls the booms and busts of one of the leading African American entrepreneurs of the twentieth century and restores him to his rightful place in American business history." --Publishers Weekly"Mixes business history with a fascinating profile to tell the story of Anthony Overton." --Chicago Sun-Times​"Weems has produced a pioneering study of Chicago's preeminent financial titan of the Black Metropolis Era of the 1920s and beyond. This first full-length, thoroughly documented account of Anthony Overton meticulously details how he amassed a business fortune while building an empire that became a major source of empowerment for women ranging from executive and managerial appointments to essential clerical positions.”—Christopher R. Reed, The Rise of Chicago's Black Metropolis, 1920–1929

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis fresh and fascinating exploration of Ebony's political, social, and historical content illuminates the intellectual role of the iconic magazine and its contribution to African American scholarship. The magazine's status as a consumer publication helped to mediate its representation of African American identity in both past and present.Trade ReviewOne of the Chicago Sun-Time's Books Not to Miss A Black Perspectives Best Black History Book of 2020 Honorable Mention, Research Society for American Periodicals, 2021 "By emphasizing Bennett's role and placing the magazine within the context of each stage of the postwar Black Freedom Struggle, West thoughtfully connects Black Americans' historical perspectives with the social transformations occurring in postwar America." --Journal of African American History"West thoroughly dispels the critical tendency to dismiss or overlook a magazine like Ebony as too commercially oriented to be of cultural or historical significance." --American Literary History"West presents media scholars and educators with a new way of viewing Ebony and its founder, John Harold Johnson. Thanks to West, researchers are better able to visualize Ebony as more than 'a black counterpart to Life magazine' and Johnson as more than just an entrepreneur who targeted his magazine's content to the black bourgeois." --American Journalism”E. James West’s book is the first major examination of Ebony as a forum for black historical discourse and the magazine’s long-time executive editor Lerone Bennett Jr.’s multifaceted thought, work, and scholarship as a leading popular historian of the black past and vital contributor to the post-war black history movement. A well-researched and accessible study situated within the growing field of black intellectual history, Ebony Magazine and Lerone Bennett Jr. is a major contribution to our understanding of what West aptly calls 'popular black history.'”—Pero G. Dagbovie, author of Revisiting the Black Past: The Use and Misuse of African American history in the Twenty-First Century"West expertly chronicles how Ebony magazine and its executive editor Lerone Bennett Jr. shaped cultural perception of African-American history. . . . This astute history shines a welcome light on a pioneering journalist. " --Publishers Weekly"A fantastic, deeply-contextualized new book about Ebony and Bennett." --IMixWhatILike"This concise, illuminating book serves as a useful marker for a full-fledged (and long overdue) critical history of Ebony, a major American magazine, in all its glories and travails." --PopMatters"Recommended." --Choice

Read more less

Book SynopsisAfrican Americans who moved to California in hopes of finding freedom and full citizenship instead faced all-too-familiar racial segregation. As one transplant put it, The only difference between Pasadena and Mississippi is the way they are spelled. From the beaches to streetcars to schools, the Golden Statein contrast to its reputation for toleranceperfected many methods of controlling people of color.Lynn M. Hudson deepens our understanding of the practices that African Americans in the West deployed to dismantle Jim Crow in the quest for civil rights prior to the 1960s. Faced with institutionalized racism, black Californians used both established and improvised tactics to resist and survive the state''s color line. Hudson rediscovers forgotten stories like the experimental all-black community of Allensworth, the California Ku Klux Klan''s campaign of terror against African Americans, the bitter struggle to integrate public swimming pools in Pasadena and elsewhere, and segregTrade Review"West of Jim Crow explores the surge of violence precipitated by the second iteration of the Ku Klux Klan. . . . Black Californians responded with grassroots activism as they continued to demand access to homeownership, schools, and public spaces. Through the men and women themselves, Hudson provides incredible insight to California's racial battlegrounds." --Pacific Historical Review "Hudson's book illuminates just that: how contestations over public and private spaces as they related to race were tied together through the web of resistance that Black Californians engaged in as they utilized tactics that would become better known in the mid-twentieth century." --Journal of American Ethnic History "Outstanding history and an absorbing read. . . . Highly recommended." --ChoiceTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1 Freedom Claims: Reconstructing the Golden State 2 “This is Our Fair and Our State”: Race Women, Race Men, and the Panama Pacific International Exposition 3 “The Best Proposition Ever Offered to Negroes in the State”: Building an All-Black Town 4 A Lesson in Lynching 5 Burning Down the House: California’s Ku Klux Klan 6 “The Only Difference Between Pasadena and Mississippi is the Way They Are Spelled”: Swimming in the Southland Epilogue: Remembering (and Forgetting) Jim Crow Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisBy subverting comedy''s rules and expectations, African American satire promotes social justice by connecting laughter with ethical beliefs in a revolutionary way. Danielle Fuentes Morgan ventures from Suzan-Lori Parks to Leslie Jones and Dave Chappelle to Get Out and Atlanta to examine the satirical treatment of race and racialization across today''s African American culture. Morgan analyzes how African American artists highlight the ways that society racializes people and bolsters the powerful myth that we live in a post-racial nation. The latter in particular inspires artists to take aim at the idea racism no longer exists or the laughable notion of Americans not seeing racism or race. Their critique changes our understanding of the boundaries between staged performance and lived experience and create ways to better articulate Black selfhood. Adventurous and perceptive, Laughing to Keep from Dying reveals how African American satirists unmask the illusioTrade Review"Many comics hone their craft primarily to amuse, but with this thoughtful, academic work, Morgan explores the idea of Black satire with an added function: to more or less safely rock the boat, expressing ideas that might otherwise be tuned out or provoke uncomfortable or even dangerous backlash." --Library Journal"Morgan explores a radical impulse in recent Black comedy, arguing that performers like Dave Chappelle or films like 'Get Out' aim to highlight racial boundaries." --New York Times"In Laughing to Keep from Dying, Danielle Fuentes Morgan crafts an innovative and well-considered account of African-American satire. . . . Morgan's prose is clear and engaging, and her language accessible and compelling." --Journal of American Culture"Exceedingly well-written, well-researched . . . Recommended." --Choice "A satisfying read for anyone with an interest in how entertainment responds to a shifting social landscape." --Atlantic"Laughing to Keep from Dying: African American Satire in the Twenty-First Century is a must-read for anyone (like us) who has needed reminding lately why the risks of irony are worth taking." --Humor"Danielle Fuentes Morgan's Laughing to Keep from Dying is a major contribution to African American literary and cultural studies and to the study of satire and other forms of humor in the United States. Taking as her focus satirical texts in the twenty-first century, Morgan argues that recent African American satirical works reassert an ethical position present in black cultural expressions since slavery, that literature and art instantiate a humanity that its authors perennially assume to be a matter of fact. But rather than positing respectability politics, contemporary African American satire advocates a 'kaleidoscopic blackness,' one that embraces the many subtle and subversive ways that black people make meaning. Contemporary African American satire, as the title indicates, is more than a salve for oppression; its purpose is to keep black people from dying. In this stunning debut, Morgan places herself in the company of Glenda Carpio, Terrence Tucker, and most recently Lisa Guerrero."--Darryl Dickson-Carr, author of Spoofing the Modern: Satire in the Harlem Renaissance"Danielle Fuentes Morgan attunes readers to the variable registers and resonances of Black laughter in the present moment. Examining a wide range of media, from novels and television series to standup comedy and performance art, Morgan shows how the satirical impulse in Black cultural production expresses not only collective histories of subversion but individual practices of survival. A bold account of humor’s capacity to traverse the realms of sociality and interiority, Laughing to Keep from Dying is a model of Black study for the twenty-first century." --Kinohi Nishikawa, author of Street Players: Black Pulp Fiction and the Making of a Literary UndergroundTable of ContentsAcknowledgments< br/>Introduction: The Satirical Mode and African American Identity< br/>1 "The Storm, the Whirlwind, and the Earthquake": Slavery and the Satiric Impulse< br/>2 "Race is Just a Made-Up Thing": Abject Blackness and Racial Anxiety< br/>3 "When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong": Vulnerability and Satiric Misfires< br/>4 "How Long Has This Been Goin’ On, This Thang?": Centering Race in the Twenty-First Century< br/>Conclusion: Black Futurity and the Future of African American Satire< br/>Notes< br/>Works Cited< br/>Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"What makes this book a priceless contribution to the field of sport history is Ariail's argument that the athletic victories of Black women in track and field surpassed the sports stage and directly impacted political relationships with the Unites States and forged America's image. . . . I highly recommend this book as it intermingles foreign politics, American values, and challenges experienced by Black women in track and field seeking to reach the epitome of athleticism." --Journal of Sport History"Ariail's intersectional analysis of race and gender is detailed in explication of white and Black press representations of--as well as coaches', track-and-field officials', and politicians' public statements about--Black women track and field athletes. . . . Passing the Baton is an important reconsideration of Black women athletes' physical and representational performances as ideological work equivalent to other cultural workers and civil rights leaders." --Journal of American History​"Passing the Baton is engaging, optimistic, and unsentimental--it elucidates a rarely discussed period of American athletic history and thus offers much value to any demographic." --Journal of African American Studies"Cat Ariail's Passing the Baton is a thoughtful and engaged study that brings a focus on the personal to the scholarship focused on the importance of track stars to the development of a Cold War sporting culture in the United States. . . . Ariail's attention to uncovering and illuminating the voices of these young track stars invigorates her study and provides a detailed understanding of how Black women moved in spaces that were defined by whiteness and masculinity." --Journal of African American History"A worthwhile addition to public-library collections on Black American sports, Olympic history, and gender studies." --Booklist"Ariail pinpoints how important the women of track and field were to changing opinions in both white and black communities about the accomplishments of women of color. But she also powerfully argues that this story does not end with victory. Rather, she reminds us how much work gender did (and does) to undergird racism."--Katherine C. Mooney, author of Race Horse Men: How Slavery and Freedom Were Made at the RacetrackTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1. Raising the Bar: Alice Coachman and the Boundaries of Postwar American Identity, 1946-1948 Chapter 2. Sprints of Citizenship: Identity Politics and Black Women’s Athleticism, 1951-1952 Chapter 3. Passing the Baton Toward Belonging: Mae Faggs and the Making of the Americanness of Black American Track Women, 1954-1956 Chapter 4. Winning as American Women: The Heteronormativity of Black Women Athletic Heroines, 1958-1960 Chapter 5. “Olympian Quintessence”: Wilma Rudolph, Athletic Femininity, and American Iconicity, 1960-1962 Conclusion. The Precarity of the Baton Pass: Race, Gender, and the Enduring Barriers to American Belonging Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisConsidering the development and ongoing influence of Black thought From 1900 to the present, people of African descent living in the United States have drawn on homegrown and diasporic minds to create a Black intellectual tradition engaged with ideas on race, racial oppression, and the world. This volume presents essays on the diverse thought behind the fight for racial justice as developed by African American artists and intellectuals; performers and protest activists; institutions and organizations; and educators and religious leaders. By including both women’s and men’s perspectives from the U.S. and the Diaspora, the essays explore the full landscape of the Black intellectual tradition. Throughout, contributors engage with important ideas ranging from the consideration of gender within the tradition, to intellectual products generated outside the intelligentsia, to the ongoing relationship between thought and concrete effort in the quest for liberatioTrade Review"Argues for a more expansive field of Black intellectual history that includes, not just other genres of writing, but also art and cultural practices of specific communities. . . and race-conscious social organizations and institutions, such as the early Black masonic lodges and later HBCUs and the 'Divine Nine' fraternities and sororities that sent forth generations of Black activists, scholars, and artists." --Society for U.S. Intellectual History "Thoughtful, thought-provoking, and well-documented. . . The Black Intellectual Tradition provides information and insights of great value to educators and scholars of all disciplines, genders, and racial/ethnic identities." --Journal of American History

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Best 184-page love letter to Chicago." --Chicago Reader"This is a beautiful and hopeful ode to Black Chicago: its music, dance, creativity, innovation, hustle, history, connections, generations and more." --Ms. Magazine"Contreras's Chicago is a place where the dreams of the driven come true. Her world, elaborately described with poetic language, is not only a nice place to visit but one where those of us who envision a brighter and better Chicago must take up residency if we want our visions to become manifest." --Chicago Magazine"This book reads like an excellent DJ’s set on a night out: filled with hits and some satisfying B-sides and a unique blend that only a real master could muster." --TRiiBE"[Contreras is] a sharp connector of local history, with a knack for weaving seemingly disparate threads of Black Chicago into a fresh portrait." --Chicago Tribune"Contreras puts virtually every aspect of Black Chicago culture, music, business breakthroughs, and more on the table, then shows exactly how they are all interconnected. She writes the book as the Black experience is actually lived--this guy knows that guy, but the other guy used to work for the two of them. And none of it would’ve happened were it not for a certain audacious manner of hope and optimism found in Black Chicago."--Lee Bey, author of Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago's South Side"In Energy Never Dies, Ayana Contreras crafts an intensely intimate and loving portrait of Black Chicago that that will illuminate, even to lifelong South and West Siders, the distinctiveness of our cultural history and worldview. This book offers urgently needed blueprints for extending the work and actualizing the dreams of the Great Migrants."--Jacqueline Najuma Stewart, coeditor of L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Advantaged by the journalistic backgrounds of its writers, the book horrifies as it explains the role of southern white newspapermen in ending Reconstruction, ushering in Jim Crow, and disguising it all in a narrative of 'The New South' . . . . The book dramatically shows the blood on the hands of the white southern press in lynching and then looks closely at the role of newspapers in spreading and resisting white supremacy in case studies of most southern states." --Black Perspectives"A powerful collection of essays exploring how white journalists helped created Jim Crow and how Black journalists fought for something better. . . . All parts of the book are grounded in relevant scholarship and polished for clarity." --Journal of Southern History"Journalism and Jim Crow is well-researched and, for an edited volume, remarkably consistent in quality. . . . The book convincingly supports its argument. Each chapter is filled with facts and insights that every journalist and student of journalism should know." --H-Net Reviews"The research and sourcing are rich, with sixty to one hundred citations per chapter. Historical events are placed in a 2020s context. Journalism and Jim Crow is a relevant read." --American Journalism"Assembling penetrating scholarship on the complex roles that newspapers and their personnel (editors, publishers, reporters) played in both establishing white supremacy in the postbellum South and in resisting its imposition, Journalism and Jim Crow offers much fresh insight based on original research. Together, the collected essays highlight the pivotal role of a set of actors (some of them prominent, many previously neglected) and institutions, making substantial contributions to scholarship on the origins of Jim Crow as well filling a major gap in journalism history and media studies."--Bruce J. Schulman, The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics

Read more less

Book SynopsisSoul food has played a critical role in preserving Black history, community, and culinary genius. It is also a response to--and marker of--centuries of food injustice. Given the harm that our food production system inflicts upon Black people, what should soul food look like today?Christopher Carter's answer to that question merges a history of Black American foodways with a Christian ethical response to food injustice. Carter reveals how racism and colonialism have long steered the development of US food policy. The very food we grow, distribute, and eat disproportionately harms Black people specifically and people of color among the global poor in general. Carter reflects on how people of color can eat in a way that reflects their cultural identities while remaining true to the principles of compassion, love, justice, and solidarity with the marginalized. Both a timely mediation and a call to action, The Spirit of Soul Food places today's Black foodways at the crossroads of food jusTrade Review"The Spirit of Soul Food is a must-read for anyone interested in challenging the industrial food system in practical terms." --Reading Religion "Christopher Carter's The Spirit of Soul Food is a deeply enlightening discussion of food, foodways, and how the lived experiences of people can shape and be shaped by what they grow, acquire, and eat." --Journal of Folklore Research Reviews “I've never read a book like this before! Part history book, part cookbook, part call-to-action and resource for spiritual formation. The Spirit of Soul Food is suited for a variety of audiences ready for the timely challenge of inviting a deeper integration of our ethics, actions, and daily bread.”--Rev. Dr. Heber Brown III, Pleasant Hope Baptist ChurchTable of ContentsPreface ix Introduction: Knowing, Eating, and Believing 1 1 Transatlantic Soul 22 2 Food Pyramid Scheme 57 3 Being Human as Praxis 87 4 Tasting Freedom 122 Conclusion: Food Deserts and Desserts 157 Notes 165 Index 179

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisOften seen as ethnically monolithic, the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in fact successfully pursued evangelism among diverse communities of indigenous peoples and Black Indians. Christina Dickerson-Cousin tells the little-known story of the AME Church's work in Indian Territory, where African Methodists engaged with people from the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles) and Black Indians from various ethnic backgrounds. These converts proved receptive to the historically Black church due to its traditions of self-government and resistance to white hegemony, and its strong support of their interests. The ministers, guided by the vision of a racially and ethnically inclusive Methodist institution, believed their denomination the best option for the marginalized people. Dickerson-Cousin also argues that the religious opportunities opened up by the AME Church throughout the West provided another impetus for Black migration. Insightful and Trade Review"An excellent study that analyzes the role of the AME Church members in westward expansion and migration who provided stability and institution building to many Black settlements in the West, incorporated Black Indians within the larger African American community, and evangelized among Native American populations."--Lawrence S. Little, author of Disciples of Liberty: The African Methodist Episcopal Church in the Age of Imperialism, 1884-1916Table of ContentsPreface ixAcknowledgments xiA Note on Terminology xiiiIntroduction: The Drums of Nonnemontubbi 11 Richard Allen, John Stewart, and Jarena Lee: Writing Indigenous Outreach into the DNA of the AME Church, 1816–1830 122 Seeking Their Cousins: The AME Ministries of Thomas Sunrise and John Hall, 1850–1896 343 The African Methodist Migration and the All-Black Town Movement 574 “Ham Began . . . to Evangelize Japheth”: The Birth of African Methodism in Indian Territory 825 “Blazing Out the Way”: The Ministers of the Indian Mission Annual Conference 1006 Conferences, Churches, Schools, and Publications: Creating an AME Church Infrastructure in Indian Territory 1197 “All the Rights . . . of Citizens”: African Methodists and the Dawes Commission 154Notes 173Index 227

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Brilliant scholar and literary critic, Koritha Mitchell, shows us just how radical the act of successful homemaking was for Black women in the face of the violence it elicited from white people. Analyzing canonical Black women's texts, she shows us just how committed, loving, and defiant Black women have been in creating home in the world and in literature." ―Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times Bestselling author of What the Truth Sounds Like"This project on homemade citizenship will reframe the conversation around anti-blackness by mapping how black women intellectuals, activists and artists continually respond–and with great success–to attacks and infringements upon their collective creative efforts. This work is a needed subtlety, as it approaches categories like 'achievement' and 'success' from the fabric of black cultural production, rather than the font of white supremacy’s violent response to black existence. From Slave Cabins to the White House encourages us to ask new questions, one of which is certainly how did we/do we make a home and sustain it creatively in the midst of ongoing hostilities?"--Sharon Patricia Holland, author of The Erotic Life of Racism"This deeply researched, thoughtful volume made me think in new ways about how Black women have navigated, redefined and articulated concepts of home, domesticity, family, place and citizenship in American culture and politics; it is also a true pleasure to read."--Rebecca Traister, New York Times bestselling author of All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation"An essential, scholarly volume for academic and larger public library collections devoted to the literary traditions and history of African American women throughout U.S. history." * Library Journal *"Mitchell sheds light on Black homemaking in the midst of anti-Blackness and oppression." * Ms. *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: House Slaves, Housekeepers, Homemakers Chapter 1. A Home of One’s Own Chapter 2. No, Really: A Home of One’s Own Chapter 3. New Negroes, New Homes Chapter 4. Home as Human Right and Black Power Chapter 5. Still the Master’s House? Chapter 6. The Ultimate Home: Michelle Obama in the White House Coda: From Mom-in-Chief to Predator-in-Chief Notes Works Cited Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review• Honorable Mention, Mary Nickliss Prize in U.S. Women's and/or Gender History, Organization of American Historians, 2023 • Honorable Mention, Letitia Woods Brown Book Award, Association of Black Women Historians, 2023 "Using literary analysis and comprehensive archival research, Thaggert resituates Pauli Murray's legal theorization of 'Jane Crow' into the context of Black female railroad travel, considering how Black women's experiences as passengers and workers trouble depictions of the train as a technological symbol of American progress." --Hypatia"Over the long twentieth century, black women navigated the gendered, sexualized, racialized hierarchies of American railroads, producing something new in American cultural history, a counter-story of Black female railroad history. With meticulous and creative archival research, Thaggert tells the story of Black female fugitive slaves, Black Pullman maids, Black female food vendors, and elite Black women travelers, who challenged the violence and humiliations of race and gendered train spaces and even, in some instances, secured their constitutional right to freedom and mobility."--Mary Helen Washington, author of The Other Blacklist: The African American Literary and Cultural Left of the 1950s"In this well-researched and accessible volume, Miriam Thaggert explores the little-known histories of railroads and Black women, as passengers, food vendors and maids." --Ms. Magazine"This extremely well written scholarly work addresses the fact that much of the history of Black Americans has been tied to their inability to freely move about the nation." --Library Journal, starred review"Riding Jane Crow is a must-read for anyone interested in the life of the train in American history, and especially the racial underpinnings that are less frequently the topic of its story. But the book also represents the undertaking of an astonishing scholar, furnishing hundreds of primary sources by which the reader can and should continue to educate themselves on the topic. While Thaggert expertly toes the line between her voice and those that are not her own, she takes care to present those voices with grace, genuine curiosity, and above all, historical import." --Pilgrim House"This book expands and extends the history of passenger rail travel -- and history work on railroads -- in interesting and engaging ways. . . . Riding Jane Crow deftly mixes literary analysis with case studies of a variety of aspects of Black women's railroad experiences." --H-Net Reviews“This well-argued, expansively researched book completely and powerfully reframes our understanding of the American railroad through the eyes of previously overlooked Black women travelers and workers on the rails. The racialized politics of rail travel that this book so deftly illumines has given me new appreciation for the harrowing journeys of the Black women reformers and laborers who showed us that it was not the building of trains or the laying of thousands miles of track, but rather the choice to treat or not treat the Black women riding those trains with dignity, that mark the limits and possibilities of American progress.” –Brittney Cooper, author of New York Times bestseller Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower and award-winning author of Beyond Respectability: The Intellectual Thought of Race Women"Riding Jane Crow brilliantly explores the experiences of Black women as passengers and workers on trains in post-Reconstruction America. This meticulously researched and well-written book takes the reader on a powerful journey that unveils the intricacies of race, gender, and class in travel history."--Keisha N. Blain, co-editor of the No. 1 New York Times bestseller 400 Souls and award-winning author of Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis first volume of Music in Black American Life collects research and analysis that originally appeared in the journals American Music and the Black Music Research Journal, and in the University of Illinois Press''s acclaimed book series Music in American Life. In these selections, experts from a cross-section of disciplines engage with fundamental issues in ways that changed our perceptions of Black music. The topics includes the culturally and musically complex Black music-making of colonial America; string bands and other lesser-known genres practiced by Black artists; the jubilee industry and its audiences; and innovators in jazz, blues, and Black gospel. Eclectic and essential, Music in Black American Life, 1600–1945 offers specialists and students alike a gateway to the history and impact of Black music in the United States.Contributors: R. Reid Badger, Rae Linda Brown, Samuel A. Floyd Jr., Sandra Jean Graham, Jeffrey Magee, Robert M.Trade Review"Although the essays in this volume provide a selective history of early Black American music, they illustrate a desire to extend and enrich our understanding of Black musicking. As such, they have fulfilled the editorial goals of their original publications while contributing to new narrative strategies for American music history."--Sandra Jean Graham, from the Introduction

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis second volume of Music in Black American Life offers research and analysis that originally appeared in the journals American Music and Black Music Research Journal, and in two book series published by the University of Illinois Press: Music in American Life, and African American Music in Global Perspective. In this collection, a group of predominately Black scholars explores a variety of topics with works that pioneered new methodologies and modes of inquiry for hearing and studying Black music. These extracts and articles examine the World War II jazz scene; look at female artists like gospel star Shirley Caesar and jazz musician-arranger Melba Liston; illuminate the South Bronx milieu that folded many forms of black expressive culture into rap; and explain Hamilton''s massive success as part of the 'tanning' of American culture that began when Black music entered the mainstream. Part sourcebook and part survey of historic music scholarship, Music in BlTrade Review"Each of these chapters unearth, explore, and explain ideas, facts, events, phenomena, and records that have been neglected, forgotten, ignored, falsified or were unknown. They invoke musicological contexts that are grounded in archival and ethnographical research that illuminates the evolution of black music-making as it shifts from the insularity of communal spaces to the public medium of popular culture and precipitated the aberration of racial, social, and gender norms."--Tammy L. Kernodle, from the Introduction

Read more less

Book SynopsisUbiquitous illegal lotteries known as policy flourished in Chicago's Black community during the overlapping waves of the Great Migration. Policy queens owned stakes in lucrative operations while women writers and clerks canvased the neighborhood, passed out winnings, and kept the books. Elizabeth Schroeder Schlabach examines the complexities of Black women's work in policy gambling. Policy provided Black women with a livelihood for themselves and their families. At the same time, navigating gender expectations, aggressive policing, and other hazards of the infromal economy led them to refashion ideas about Black womanhood and respectability. Policy earnings also funded above-board enterprises ranging from neighborhood businesses to philanthropic institutions, and Schlabach delves into the various ways Black women straddled the illegal policy business and reputable community involvement. Vivid and revealing, Dream Books and Gamblers tells the stories of Black women in the underground ecTrade Review“Dream Books and Gamblers is a must read! Schlabach impressively weaves together a fascinating narrative about Chicago’s policy racket between 1890 and 1968. A major contribution to the fields of business and Black women’s histories, Schlabach illuminates Black women’s important and multifaceted role in the urban gambling enterprises. Dream Books and Gamblers is certain to transform our understanding of African American history, leaving scholars with new ways of researching and discussing Black life and culture.”--LaShawn Harris, author of Sex Workers, Psychics, and Numbers RunnersTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction “The Best Job I Ever Had” Chicago’s First Policy Queens Chicago’s Most Famous Policy Queen Dream Books, Fortune-Tellers, and Mediumship What Arrest Records Reveal Legal Strategies for Policy Women Conclusion Notes Select Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAChoice Outstanding Academic Title for 2023 Large numbers of Latino migrants began to arrive in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the 1950s. They joined a small but established Spanish-speaking community of people from Texas, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Delia Fernández-Jones merges storytelling with historical analysis to recapture the placemaking practices that these Mexicans, Tejanos, and Puerto Ricans used to create a new home for themselves. Faced with entrenched white racism and hostility, Latinos of different backgrounds formed powerful relationships to better secure material needs like houses and jobs and to recreate community cultural practices. Their pan-Latino solidarity crossed ethnic and racial boundaries and shaped activist efforts that emphasized working within the system to advocate for social change. In time, this interethnic Latino alliance exploited cracks in both overt and structural racism and attracted white and Black partners to fight for equaTrade Review“This is an original, indispensable, and beautifully poetic book that weaves together stories of migration, placemaking, and activism to show how Mexicans and Puerto Ricans made a home in Grand Rapids. With rich oral histories and archival research in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S., Delia Fernández-Jones has written an insightful and inspiring book that makes a vital contribution to fields of Latino and Midwestern history.”--Felipe Hinojosa, author of Apostles of Change: Latino Radical Politics, Church Occupations, and the Fight to Save the Barrio"Fernández-Jones draws upon both classic texts of Latina/o history and primary sources to develop this passionate, in-depth historical analysis, which contributes significantly to the scholarly literature on Latino communities in the Midwest and is sure to inspire future research in this area. Anyone interested in Chicana/o or ethnic histories of the US will enjoy this book, which should also become a staple in library collections on Chicana/o studies and ethnic studies. Highly recommended." --ChoiceTable of ContentsINTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1: “TRAINED AND TRACTABLE LABOR” CHAPTER 2: “FAMILIES HELPED EACH OTHER” CHAPTER 3: “A GATHERING PLACE” CHAPTER 4: “LATINS WANT PARITY” CHAPTER 5: “NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY” CHAPTER 6: “TANGLED WITH THE POLICE” CHAPTER 7: "JUSTICE FOR OUR KIDS” EPILOGUE BIBLIOGRAPHY

Read more less

Book SynopsisCovering the breadth of Native musical experience, from traditional to contemporary stylesTrade Review"Essential reading for ethnomusicologists, Native music scholars, and other readers who are interested in the musical journeying of people and repertoires across North America."--Great Plains Quarterly"Tara Browner's edited volume on American Indian music, originally published in 2009 and issued as a paperback in 2022, provides context and analysis that sheds light on key areas where music intersects prominently with Indian cultures: dance, identity, mythology, poetics, and spiritual power." --Journal of Folklore Research Reviews"This anthology offers an exciting variety of scholarly studies of musical practices of First Peoples. This highly influential work undoubtedly makes an important contribution to the field of ethnomusicology, containing essays that will become widely cited."--Beverley Diamond, author of Native American Music in Eastern North America: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture"A fascinating and innovative collection of case studies, including work by Native American scholars as well as articles co-authored by non-Native scholars and Native community members. This collection's special strength is the rich variety of methodological approaches and communities presented, some of which have been underrepresented in previous literature in American Indian ethnomusicology. This work will certainly appeal to scholars in ethnomusicology, anthropology, folklore, linguistics, Native American studies, and cultural studies."--Victoria Lindsay Levine, author of Writing American Indian Music: Historic Transcriptions, Notations, and Arrangements

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWinner, J. G. Ragsdale Book Award in Arkansas History, Arkansas Historical Association, 2021 "Conflicted is certainly the appropriate term to capture the content and outlook of this second volume of the history of the Ozarks. . . . This engaging volume contains a wealth of local stories and personalities, while closing with a heartfelt epilogue hoping to revive the region's reputation with a literary (even romantic) flourish, referencing The Shepherd of the Hills (1907)." --Journal of American History"A History of the Ozarks will undoubtedly become the standard history of that upland region for years to come." --Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette​"A well-researched and detailed account of the violent life of the Ozarks during and after the Civil War." --St. Louis Post Dispatch​"With purpose, wit, and clarity, Blevins has produced an excellent introduction to the region's history." --Missouri Historical Review​"No states suffered the Uncivil War more than Missouri and Arkansas, and no region of these states witnessed the fullest measure of incivility than the Ozarks. Brooks Blevins's masterful second volume offers a fine-grain narrative of people who might be unfamiliar to many."—Silas Turnbo, William Monks, Sempronius H. Boyd, Alf Bolin, William T. Leeper, Lina Hermann, and the Bald Knobbers​"Brooks Blevins’s second volume of A History of the Ozarks is the work of a premier historian and a master storyteller. Whether the topic is Civil War guerrillas or postwar Bald Knobbers, Blevins peels away the layers of myth and legend to reveal the region’s heritage and history in all its complexity. Highly recommended for both the scholar and the general reader."--William Garrett Piston, coauthor of Wilson’s Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It​"Blevins draws on an impressive array of sources to craft a deeply researched story that he tells with insight and verve. . . . The end result is a significant contribution that surely will serve as the standard telling of the era for many years to come." --Arkansas Historical Quarterly​"With a detailed and captivating narrative, Blevins strategically inserts scholarly research to underscore his points. . . . Civil War historians and regional scholars alike will enjoy his second volume on the history of the Ozarks." --Journal of Southern History "Blevins's work is an important addition to the scholarship on the region and a much needed detailed look at the antebellum years, the Civil War, and Radical Reconstruction in the Ozark Mountain region of Missouri and Arkansas." --Arkansas Review "In five tightly organized chapters, Blevins weaves the history of the Ozarks from roughly the beginning of the Civil War through the so-called Long Reconstruction period." --Kansas HistoryTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction A Region on the Divide War on the Border The Savagery of War The Struggle for Reconciliation and Control Reconstructing Society and the Economy in the Ozarks Epilogue Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Well researched and engaging . . . Valuable background reading for anyone interested in sports activism." --Kirkus Reviews“In his insightful book, Gregory Kaliss traces the revolutionary undercurrents that charged American sports during the Sixties. His collection of essays reveals how the era’s political and cultural forces transformed the sporting arena into a stage for political activism among athletes of nearly every background. Kaliss deftly investigates how The Athletic Revolution, as it was known, redefined American sports and produced a backlash in its wake.”--Johnny Smith, J.C. “Bud” Shaw Professor of Sports History, Georgia TechTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Timeline of Key Events Prologue: Cassius Clay Declares Independence Introduction: The Fire This Time 1. Playing for “Green Power”: Sports and Economic Uplift 2. Getting into the Race: Women Runners / Women’s Rights 3. College Athletes Flex Their Muscles 4. Black Men / Black Gladiators: Redefining Black Manliness through Sports 5. The ABA and the Origins of Hip-Hop America Conclusion: Activism Unfinished Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“This book is a breath of fresh air. Kristie Soares recuperates joy and its multiple Latinx variants, such as gozando, choteo, and silliness, as radical empowering practices. It is a brilliant challenge to critical approaches that only focus on Latinx negative affect.”--Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, author of Translocas: The Politics of Puerto Rican Drag and Trans PerformanceTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Dancing in My Parents’ Living Room and Other Stories About Joy Gozando: Gendered Discourses of Pleasure in Early Salsa Precise Joy: The Gendered Performance of Affect in the Young Lords Party Choteo and the Family Sitcom: Poking Fun at Cuban Masculinities in ¿Qué Pasa U.S.A.? Dancing with Death: Celia Cruz’s Azúcar and Queer of Color Survival Dale: Queer Racialized Excess in Pitbull’s Miami Coda Politicized Silliness in a Time of Crisis: Notes on Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow one family built an empire while promoting a small town 's progressTrade ReviewKrause brings writing talent, local knowledge, and professional familiarity to her narrative. . . . Ultimately, Showers Brothers Funiture Company serves as a history of Bloomington itself, telling the story of how an industry helped drive the development of one of the Midwest's most vital university towns. * Bloom *Table of ContentsIntroductionShowers family information1. The Reverend and His Family2. Showers & Hendrix3. Legal Troubles4. The Brothers Enter Business5. The Booming '80s6. Death and Fire7. Prosperity and Loss8. Boom and Bust9. Moving Towards Modernity10. Houses and a Hospital11. "The World's Largest Furniture Factory"12. The "Shop Notes" years13. Another Beginning14. Final Successes15. Everything Changes16. Legacy

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe story of Wildflecken through the eyes of very different groupsTrade ReviewIn clear, straightforward prose, Seipp does yeoman's work with his extensive use of both primary and secondary sources. . . . His treatment of the pentagonal interaction of the camp's residents, the town of Wildflecken, the US Army, the UNRRA and the Land of Bavaria contributes to a greater understanding of just how complex the reconstruction of a country's socio-political infrastructure must necessarily be in the aftermath of a major conflict. * German History *This book is a carefully crafted treatment of how one community, Wildflecken, in rural eastern West Germany fared with its various refugees and US occupation troops while the world transitioned from the horrors of WWII to the tensions of the Cold War. . . . Highly recommended. * Choice *Strangers in the Wild Place is a mix of social, government, and military history. The book capably captures individual plight, describes group interactions, and sets all these relationships in an understandable historical context of the place of Wildflecken. It is definitely a work of imaginative and sound scholarship. . . . Strangers in the Wild Place is worth exploring for the complex human tale that it so imaginatively reveals. * Journal of Military History *[T]his book makes an important contribution to a more nuanced understanding of how (West) Germans negotiated the transition from Nazism to democracy, from war to postwar.47.4 Dec. 2014 * CENTRAL EUROPEAN HISTORY *Well written and based on an abundance of local, national, and international sources, Strangers in the Wild Place reveals the inner 'workings of rural society in occupied and semi-sovereign West Germany'. . . . [T]his book makes an important contribution to a more nuanced understanding of how (West) Germans negotiated the transition from Nazism to democracy, from war to postwar. * Central European History *Seipp has written a meticulously researched, enlightening study. * Journal of Modern History *Strangers in the Wild Place is well written, and the history it provides would be a valuable supplementary text for a graduate course. Seipp's extensive use of previously untapped sources is impressive. * Oral History *Table of ContentsIntroduction1. The Wild Place, 1933-19452. The Seigneurs of Wildflecken, 1945-19473. Keeping Refugees Occupied, 1945-19484. These People, 1947-19495. A Victory for Democracy, 1949-1952ConclusionBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisReveals the ways in which many Minsk Jews acculturated to Soviet society in the 1920s and 1930sTrade ReviewThis well-written, thoroughly researched book is a superb case study of the complex and contradictory effects of the Soviet regime in one of the most important centers of Jewish life in pre-Holocaust Russia. . . . A major contribution to understanding a crucial aspect of modern Jewish history in eastern Europe. . . . Highly recommended. * Choice *[T]his is an excellent book, offering a fascinating case study of how a Soviet-Jewish identity in a particular Soviet city came into being. * The NEP Era: Soviet Russia 1921-1928 *[A] book that is highly readable and brimming with novel facts and insights . . . Becoming Soviet Jews is a rich and engaging portrayal of a previously overlooked period and place. * H-Judaic *Becoming Soviet Jews opens a window into the almost entirely forgotten wealth of Soviet Yiddish life. . . . Bemporad's detailed focus on the city of Minsk gives a much deeper sense of what communism and Yiddish culture meant in the 1920s to thousands of individual Jews, in all the diversity of their politics, beliefs, gender, and class backgrounds. * New Politics *This thoroughly researched study illustrates the tenacity of Jewish identity in the face of significant repression. * The Russian Review *This book is built on a rich source base of archival materials. . . . Bemporad does not simply rehearse archival material for its own sake. Rather, she brings a wealth of sources to support each of her arguments. . . . There is a lot that is new in Bemporad's study. Most important, the focus on daily experience complements other approaches and offers a fuller understanding of Jewish Minsk during the first two decades of Soviet rule. * Jewish History *The acculturation of Western European Jewry that occurred in the nineteenth century (i.e., Jews in their outward appearance came to be more or less indistinguishable from their compatriots, spoke the local languages, and made contributions to local cultures) was telescoped in the newly established Soviet Union. How this rapid transformation took place in one city, Minsk, is the subject of Elissa Bemporad's fine book. * American Historical Review *With this history of Jewish Minsk, the distinguished roster of books on Soviet Jewry has acquired a new and endlessly rewarding addition. Elissa Bemporad's focus on this single, once largely Jewish, city gives us both the local picture and the larger one. . . . the details are fascinating, and the author's analysis is nuanced and respectful of human limitations. * Slavic Review *[An] excellent, deeply-researched book . . . . [A]n exemplary work of scholarship. * SheldonKirshner.com *This book is one of the most accessible of a number of recent studies that both analyze and describe [the transformation of Jewish life in the USSR]. . . . Although technically the focus of this book is on social history, it is also an important contribution to the history of Jewish religion in the USSR. * Religious Studies Review *Elissa Bemporad's Becoming Soviet Jews presents a fascinating account of the ways in which Minsk Jews continued to observe Jewish traditions and maintain their Jewish identity, during the 1920s and early 1930s, despite Soviet pressures on Jews to assimilate. On the basis of extensive research in Belarusian historical archives, Yiddish and Russian newspapers, memoirs in Yiddish, Russian, and Hebrew, and other sources, Bemporad shows that despite the Soviet attack on synagogues and on Jewish political organizations . . . Jewish culture and identity survived and even, in some respects, thrived, during this period. * Canadian Slavonic Papers *Bemporad has written an exemplary book in terms of its research, analysis, and argumentation. Becoming Soviet Jews should be essential reading for anyone interested in the transformation of Jewish society under Lenin and Stalin and how Jewish identity became uprooted from its religious foundations yet managed to endure in the 1920s and 1930s. * Journal of Modern History *[This is] a clearly written, well-researched and impressive study that enriches our understanding of Soviet Jewish life before the Second World War. * Revolutionary Russia *By bringing together local factors as well as the Soviet and international contexts, Bemporad opens new ways of looking at Soviet Jewish history and reveals not only the uniqueness of the Minsk context but also the personal and collective strategies adopted by Jews to accommodate their religious, ethnic, social, and economic identities to the new context. * Ab Imperio *[Significantly advances] the scholarly understanding of the history of Soviet Jews. [Makes] a valuable contribution to the recent historiography that attempts to construct a balanced picture of the cultural, ethnic, and professional profile of Soviet Jewry. * Kritika : Explorations Russian & Eurasian History *Using Minsk as a case study of the Sovietization of Jews in the former Pale of Settlement, Elissa Bemporad reveals the ways in which many Jews acculturated to Soviet society in the 1920s and 1930s while remaining committed to older patterns of Jewish identity, such as Yiddish culture and education . . . . * Jewish Book Council *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1 Historical Profile of an East European Jewish City2 Red Star on the Jewish Street3 Entangled Loyalties: The Bund, the Evsekstiia, and the Creation of a "New" Jewish Political Culture4 Soviet Minsk: The Capital of Yiddish5 Behavior Unbecoming a Communist: Jewish Religious Practice in a Soviet Capital6 Housewives, Mothers and Workers: Roles and Representations of Jewish Women in Times of Revolution7 Jewish Ordinary Life in the Midst of Extraordinary Purges: 1934-1939ConclusionNotes BibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents original research that elucidates the social, intellectual, and ideological roots of the "new" anti-Semitism and the place it has come to occupy in the public sphereTrade ReviewThis book makes valuable contributions to the academic and extra-academic efforts to sort out what antisemitism is and why it continues to occur. -- Sol Goldberg - University of Toronto * Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies *The editor has culled articles from outstanding, thorough and sophisticated scholars representing diverse disciplines. The result is a brilliantly nuanced geographical and ideological atlas which analyzes the coordinates of antisemitism in its malevolent tentacles all over the world. The breadth of the inquiry is astonishing . . . * Jewish Post & Opinion *The present collection lays bare the double-think, identifies modern libels, and counters them with historical knowledge; it maps paths for further retrieval of such knowledge. It grants its audience a fuller understanding of the resurgent antisemitism not only as a social but also as an intellectual phenomenon, a nexus of different strands of cultural history. * Modern Judaism *The authors make their case for paying closer attention to contemporary expressions of antisemitism. Interested academic and general readers will want to do so through this book. * Library Journal *This new book . . . comes as a bright flare of warning about the renewal of the ancient hatred of Jews . . . Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in wiping out European Jewry. Today his goal has gone global. * National Catholic Reporter *Despite its more than 500 pages, the book's many subjects and perspectives ensure it never ceases to be interesting, and it does an outstanding job of describing the chilling diversity of anti-Semitism today. * ForeWord Reviews *More than an excellent survey, Resurgent Antisemitism heralds the emergence of an international study of anti-Semitism, replete with both grand established figures and emerging young stars. * Brandeis Brief *Resurgent Antisemitism is an important study and includes numerous interesting voices, not merely academics, but also activists and writers. * Jerusalem Post Magazine *Resurgent Antisemitism is a key text that helps to frame the intellectual debates now developing in the field of Antisemitism Studies and as such it has the potential to help move the field forward intellectually, something which is indeed crucial at this moment in time. * Scholars for Peace in the Middle East *Resurgent Antisemitism: Global Perspectives helps to frame the debates now current in the field of Antisemitism Studies. As such, the book moves the field forward at a crucial time in its development. * Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs *Resurgent Antisemitism: Global Perspectives is a key text that helps to frame the intellectual debates now developing in the field of Antisemitism Studies and as such it has the potential to help move the field forward intellectually, something which is indeed crucial at this moment in time. * Israel Book Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroduction Alvin H. Rosenfeld1 Anti-Zionism, Anti-Semitism, and the Rhetorical Manipulation of Reality Bernard Harrison 2 Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism as a Moral Question Elhanan Yakira 3 Manisfestations of Antisemitism in British Cultural and Intellectual Life Paul Bogdanor 4 Between Old and New Antisemitism: The Image of Jews in Present-day Spain Alejandro Baer 5 Antisemitism Redux: On Literary and Theoretical Perversions Bruno Chaouat 6 Anti-Zionism and the Resurgence of Antisemitism in Norway Eirik Eiglad 7 Antisemitism Redivivus: The Rising Ghosts of a Calamitous Inheritance in Hungary and Romania Szilvia Peremiczky 8 Comparative and Competitive Victimization in the Post-Communist Sphere Zvi Gitelman 9 The Catholic Church, Radio Maryja, and the Question of Antisemitism in Poland Anna Sommer Schneider 10 Antisemitism among Young European Muslims Gunther Jikeli 11 The Banalisation of Hate: Antisemitism in Contemporary Turkey Rifat Bali 12 Antisemitism's Permutations in the Islamic Republic of Iran Jamsheed Choksy 13 The Israeli Scene – Political Criticism and the Politics of Anti-Zionism Ilan Avisar 14 The Roots of Antisemitism in the Middle East: New Debates Matthias Küntzel 15 Anti-Zionist Connections: Communism, Radical Islam, and the Left Robert Wistrich 16 Present-day Antisemitism and the Centrality of the Jewish Alibi Emanuele Ottolenghi 17 Holocaust Denial and the Image of the Jew or: "They Boycott Auschwitz as an Israeli Product" Dina Porat 18 Identity Politics, the Pursuit of Social Justice, and the Rise of Campus Antisemitism: A Case Study Tammi Rossman-Benjamin 19 The End of the Holocaust and the Beginnings of a New Antisemitism Alvin Rosenfeld List of contributors Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents an engrossing story of loss and rebirth, political faith and disillusionment, and the persistence of Jewishness redefined as an integral element of the post-war generation's PolishnessTrade ReviewPoignant and nuanced, this work is an important contribution. . . . Highly recommended. * Choice *Auerbach's work deserves the highest praise as it is the first attempt at a comprehensive study of Jewish assimilation across generational lines covering the last eighty years of post-Holocaust Poland. . . . Auerbach's book is undoubtedly an achievement. Beautifully written and skillfully contextualized, her study of Jewish assimilation in postwar Poland will become a must read for everyone interested in twentieth-century Polish-Jewish history. * H-Poland H-Net Reviews *Amply illustrated with photographs of the families whose lives Auerbach chronicles, the book reverberates with hope and trembles with the tentative efforts of the people to rekindle the flames of their humanity after inestimable loss and trauma. * Jewish Book Council *This is an interesting and often moving tableau about the efforts of some wounded people to overcome their personal tragedies while redefining their communal loyalties. * Booklist *This imaginative and innovative monograph offers quite a new way of looking at the development of Jewish identity in People's Poland. . . . This book is certainly essential reading for all those interested in the history of postwar Poland and its Jewish minority. * Slavic Review *Table of ContentsGlossary of namesIntroduction1 "History Brushed Against Us": The Adlers and the Bergmans2 The Jewish Families of 16 Ujazdowskie Avenue, 1900-19483 "The Entire Nation Builds Its Capital": Ujazdowskie Avenue and Reconstructed Warsaw 4 "Stamp of a Generation": Parents and Children5 "Ostriches in the Wilderness": Children and Parents6 "Finding the Eradicated Traces of the Path": Seeds of RevivalEpilogue: Present and PastNotesBibliography and works cited

Read more less

Book SynopsisReveals the underlying causes of the revolts by identifying key trends during the last two decades leading up to the recent insurrectionsTrade Review[T]he contributors to The Arab Revolts . . . do an excellent job of filling in some of the gaps in Western media coverage, going beyond the dominant narrative of spontaneous youthful protests, aided by the use of social media, to show a foundation of protest built over decades. . . . This is not a book written by academics for academics, but rather serves as an introduction to readers from any background. The articles are generally free from convoluted jargon or theoretical frameworks that could otherwise limit potential readership. The authors tackle complex problems, but present them in a way that is useful for scholars, teachers, students, and general readers. * H-Empire *The editors of this exceptionally well-conceptualized collection have chosen writings that complement each other well. Each section begins with the present-day situation, and the subsequent essays describe the historical background of mass protests. At the end of each section is a writing that connects the historical themes back to the modern protest movements. * Against the Current *This excellent collection of articles from Middle East Report provides an unusually deep and wide analysis of the phenomena collectively known as the Arab Spring. . . . The articles are well written and accessible to students, as well as to general readers, and hold much interest to specialists in Middle East politics as well. * Review of Middle East Studies *For anyone trying to understand the processes of popular revolt and mechanisms of repression, The Arab Revolts is a good place to start. * Anthropology of Contemporary Middle-East and Central Eurasia *Table of ContentsIntroductionI. Tunisia1. Tunisia's Wall Has Fallen Nadia Marzouki2. Tunisia's Post-Ben Ali Challenge: A Primer Amy Aisen Kallander3. Authoritarianism and Civil Society in Tunisia: Back from the Democratic Brink Christopher Alexander4. Structural Adjustment and Rural Poverty in Tunisia Stephen King5. The Making of North Africa's Intifadas Laryssa Chomiak and John P. Entelis6. Beyond Ghannouchi: Social Change and Islamism in Tunisia Francesco Cavatorta and Rikke Hostrup HaugbolleII. Egypt7. The Praxis of the Egyptian Revolution Mona El-Ghobashy8. Worlds Apart: An Egyptian Village and the International Tourism Industry Timothy Mitchell9. Strikes in Egypt Spread from Center of Gravity Joel Beinin and Hossam El-Hamalawy10. Striking Back at Egyptian Workers Hesham Sallam11. Sightings of the Egyptian Deep State Issandr El Amrani12. Egypt's Generals and Transnational Capital Shana Marshall and Joshua StacherIII. Yemen13. No Exit: Yemen's Existential Crisis Sheila Carapico14. The Economic Dimension of Yemeni Unity Sheila Carapico15. Cracks in the Yemeni System Sarah Phillips16. The Snake with a Thousand Heads: The Southern Cause in Yemen Susanne Dahlgren17. Tawakkul Karman as Cause and Effect Stacey Philbrick YadavIV. Syria18. Asad's Lost Chances Carsten Wieland19. The Resilience of the Syrian Regime Bassam Haddad20. The Evolution of Kurdish Politics in Syria Christian Sinclair and Sirwan Kajjo21. Dramas of the Authoritarian State Donatella Della Ratta22. Beyond the Fall of the Syrian Regime Peter Harling and Sarah BirkeV: Bahrain23. A Revolution Paused in Bahrain Cortni Kerr and Toby Jones24. Bahrain's Crisis Worsens Joe Stork25. The Battle Over Family Law in Bahrain Sandy Russell Jones26. Bahrain's Sunni Awakening Justin Gengler27. In the Kingdom of Teargas Gregg Carlstrom

Read more less

Book SynopsisReveals the underlying causes of the revolts by identifying key trends during the last two decades leading up to the recent insurrectionsTrade Review[T]he contributors to The Arab Revolts . . . do an excellent job of filling in some of the gaps in Western media coverage, going beyond the dominant narrative of spontaneous youthful protests, aided by the use of social media, to show a foundation of protest built over decades. . . . This is not a book written by academics for academics, but rather serves as an introduction to readers from any background. The articles are generally free from convoluted jargon or theoretical frameworks that could otherwise limit potential readership. The authors tackle complex problems, but present them in a way that is useful for scholars, teachers, students, and general readers. * H-Empire *The editors of this exceptionally well-conceptualized collection have chosen writings that complement each other well. Each section begins with the present-day situation, and the subsequent essays describe the historical background of mass protests. At the end of each section is a writing that connects the historical themes back to the modern protest movements. * Against the Current *This excellent collection of articles from Middle East Report provides an unusually deep and wide analysis of the phenomena collectively known as the Arab Spring. . . . The articles are well written and accessible to students, as well as to general readers, and hold much interest to specialists in Middle East politics as well. * Review of Middle East Studies *For anyone trying to understand the processes of popular revolt and mechanisms of repression, The Arab Revolts is a good place to start. * Anthropology of Contemporary Middle-East and Central Eurasia *Table of ContentsIntroductionI. Tunisia1. Tunisia's Wall Has Fallen Nadia Marzouki2. Tunisia's Post-Ben Ali Challenge: A Primer Amy Aisen Kallander3. Authoritarianism and Civil Society in Tunisia: Back from the Democratic Brink Christopher Alexander4. Structural Adjustment and Rural Poverty in Tunisia Stephen King5. The Making of North Africa's Intifadas Laryssa Chomiak and John P. Entelis6. Beyond Ghannouchi: Social Change and Islamism in Tunisia Francesco Cavatorta and Rikke Hostrup HaugbolleII. Egypt7. The Praxis of the Egyptian Revolution Mona El-Ghobashy8. Worlds Apart: An Egyptian Village and the International Tourism Industry Timothy Mitchell9. Strikes in Egypt Spread from Center of Gravity Joel Beinin and Hossam El-Hamalawy10. Striking Back at Egyptian Workers Hesham Sallam11. Sightings of the Egyptian Deep State Issandr El Amrani12. Egypt's Generals and Transnational Capital Shana Marshall and Joshua StacherIII. Yemen13. No Exit: Yemen's Existential Crisis Sheila Carapico14. The Economic Dimension of Yemeni Unity Sheila Carapico15. Cracks in the Yemeni System Sarah Phillips16. The Snake with a Thousand Heads: The Southern Cause in Yemen Susanne Dahlgren17. Tawakkul Karman as Cause and Effect Stacey Philbrick YadavIV. Syria18. Asad's Lost Chances Carsten Wieland19. The Resilience of the Syrian Regime Bassam Haddad20. The Evolution of Kurdish Politics in Syria Christian Sinclair and Sirwan Kajjo21. Dramas of the Authoritarian State Donatella Della Ratta22. Beyond the Fall of the Syrian Regime Peter Harling and Sarah BirkeV: Bahrain23. A Revolution Paused in Bahrain Cortni Kerr and Toby Jones24. Bahrain's Crisis Worsens Joe Stork25. The Battle Over Family Law in Bahrain Sandy Russell Jones26. Bahrain's Sunni Awakening Justin Gengler27. In the Kingdom of Teargas Gregg Carlstrom

Read more less

Book SynopsisJudenjagd, hunt for the Jews, was the German term for the organized searches for Jews who, having survived ghetto liquidations and deportations to death camps in Poland in 1942, attempted to hide "on the Aryan side." This book tells the story of the Judenjagd in Dabrowa Tarnowska, a rural county in southeastern Poland.Trade Review...[A] grim, compelling work of research...The author followed the fates of 337 Jews who tried to survive in the county, of which 51 managed to hide until liberation, while 286 died between 1942 and 1945. Grabowski breaks down each group with meticulous research. * Kirkus Reviews *Eschewing facile generalizations about latent or active anti-Semitism, Grabowski considers the motivations of both those who aided Jews and those who attacked them...Grabowski's highly detailed reconstruction challenges the conventional wisdom of dividing the population into victims, perpetrators, and bystanders...Recommended for all serious Holocaust collections. * Library Journal *This important, often disturbing, exploration of how genocides happen is on par with works from Hannah Arendt and Gitta Sereny and is enriched by the author's clear compassion for those who were compromised or lost. * ForeWord Reviews *Now, in path-breaking research, Jan Grabowski . . . reveals what happened to those Jews who tried to hide in rural Poland after the Nazis violently emptied the ghettos. * Maclean's *Here is an absolutely essential addition to any Holocaust library or a read for anyone interested in Polish-Jewish relations. * AJL Reviews *One concludes from Grabowski's important study that without the often unforced, and sometimes enthusiastic, support of non-German volunteers and helpers, the Germans would not have succeeded as completely as they did during the Holocaust. . . . Recommended. * Choice *This book is a significant contribution to the scholarly and public debate on Polish-Jewish relations during the Holocaust. . . . All in all, Hunt for the Jews should become required reading for scholarsand students of Polish-Jewish relations. * Slavic Review *Grabowski has amassed an admirable amount of original research and presented to the reader a study that explains much about the mechanisms of destruction and how the Germans used local Poles in the Nazi extermination campaign against the Jews. Hunt for the Jews is one of a growing number of studies coming out of Poland that are puncturing the myth of Polish innocence during the Holocaust. * Journal of Modern History *Grabowski offers incredible insight into how Poles in rural Poland reacted to and, not infrequently, were complicit with, the German practice of genocide. Grabowski also, implicitly, challenges us to confront our own myths and to rethink how we narrate British (and American) history of responding to the Holocaust. * European History Quarterly *Hunt for the Jews is a must-read for all those interested in Polish-Jewish relations and Holocaust studies. * American Historical Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsList of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Dąbrowa Tarnowska2. Jews and Poles in Dąbrowa Tarnowska Before 19393. First Years of Occupation4. The Destruction of Dąbrowa Tarnowska5. Judenjagd – Hunt for the Jews 6. Rural Society and the Jews in Hiding 7. In the Dulcza Forest 8. The German Police9. The Polish "Blue" Police 10. Baudienst11. Last Months of War12. Different Kinds of Help 13. The Righteous Conclusion Documents & TablesBibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisRobert Weinberg's account of the Beilis Affair explores the reasons why the tsarist government framed Beilis, shedding light on the excesses of antisemitism in late Imperial Russia.Trade Review[A] riveting history. . . Weinberg has culled documents from the trial transcripts, newspaper articles, and Beilis's memoirs, many appearing for the first time in English, to bring us face to face with this notorious trial.Fall 2014 * Jewish Book World *Weinberg has assembled and translated a collection of documents from the case, such as contemporary newspaper accounts and excerpts from the verbatim trial scripts [] The documents convincingly illustrate not only the virulent anti-Semitism of the right wing press, which pushed forward the ritual murder idea at the time when most investigators found the concept ludicrous, but also the contradictory testimonials and unreliable witness statements that the prosecution used to builds its case against Beilis.September 19, 2014 * Times Literary Supplement *A first-rate summary of how leading historians of the period now view the trial's backdrop can be found in Robert Weinberg's excellent new volume . . . which tells the story through well-chosen and translated primary documents together with an insightful analysis.Winter 2015 * Jewish Review of Books *The combination of text and sources make this very useful for studies of religious prejudice and the over-coming of religious prejudice. The book is also a fascinating read. It is a basic study for collections dealing with the Jewish experience in Eastern Europe as well as Eastern Christianity. * Religious Studies Review *Weinberg's research is based on a wealth of published and unpublished sources, including trial transcripts, newspaper articles, political cartoons and Beilis's memoirs. . . This is an excellent historical reconstruction told in a gripping and deeply engaging style.Feb/March 2015 * Assn Jewish Libraries *This is an excellent historical reconstruction told in a gripping and deeply engaging style. Highly recommended for all library collections. * AJL Reviews *Overall this book succeeds in providing both a concise yet thorough account of the trial and an exploration of the significance of the Beilis Affair for late imperial Russian society. It also provides a historical perspective on an important case from the history of antisemitism, and in so doing contributes to our understanding of the social history of late imperial Russia. * Slavonic & East European Review *This concisely written book forcefully tells the story of the outrageous ritual murder trial of Mendel Beilis in Kiev. Through careful review of published and unpublished sources . . . the author lays out the process resulting in a trial during which the state prosecution attempted to convict the entire Jewish religion of the crime of ritual murder. . . What concerns the author is that readers should come to recognize the power of prejudice, hatred, fear, and suspicion, combined with state interest, to suppress challenges to traditional authority.11/14/14 * Jewish Book Council *Weinberg's short work provides a sober and informed analysis of the affair, coupled with a collection of relevant primary source documents. * Slavic Review *In 1913, in the most sensational trial of its kind until then, Menachem Mendel Beilis, a 39-year-old Jewish factory manager in Kiev, went on trial for ritual murder, a crime dredged from the twisted fantasies of Russian reactionaries. An international cause celebre, the trial confirmed once and for all that Czar Nicholas II's autocratic regime was a bastion of deep-seated antisemitism. Robert Weinberg . . . skillfully reconstructs the events that led to this appalling miscarriage of justice.5/20/14 * SheldonKirshner.com *In an accessible volume, Robert Weinberg has offered readers historical analysis and a selection of primary documents from the trial. * Canadian Slavonic Papers *Boasting depth as well as breadth, this book is an invaluable resource for scholars, undergraduates, and graduate students in the fields of Russian and European history, Jewish studies, and religious studies. * Journal of Modern History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsDramatis PersonaeIntroduction: A Murder Without a Mystery1. The Initial Investigation2. The Case Against Beilis3. The Trial4. Summation and VerdictEpilogueDocumentsBibliographyNotesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisAt the turn of the 20th century, Jewish families scattered by migration could stay in touch only through letters. Jews in the Russian Empire and America wrote business letters, romantic letters, and emotionally intense family letters. This book deals with this topic.Trade ReviewReproductions of brivnshtelers form the core of the book and comprise the majority of the text, providing a ground-level window into a largely obscured past. * Publishers Weekly *Dear Mendl, Dear Reyzl delivers more than one would expect because it goes beyond a linguistic study of letter-writing manuals and explicates their genre and social function. It is appropriate for students of Jewish life generally and Yiddishists of any age. * Slavic Review *...[C]overs a neglected aspect of Jewish popular culture and deserves a wide readership. For all serious readers of Yiddish and immigrant Jewish culture and customs. * Library Journal *A great deal of history is covered in this book as the authors discuss the social and economic stressesthat Jews faced on both sides of the ocean throughout this time period. Each section begins with anexplanation of a particular issue, but the real delight of the book is in reading the letters themselves. . . . Highly Recommended. * AJL Reviews *...These manuals provide us with a lens to better understand Jewish life at the time, as they mirror many of the challenges and concerns that Russian and American Jews were experiencing, and as they resonate with the emotional registers found in Yiddish literature and letters more generally. * Jewish Book Council *Table of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsTranslation and Romanization1. The World of Brivnshtelers Encountering modernity The brivnshteler and traditional education The brivnshteler and the history of model letters Yiddish language, Yiddish publishing, and the brivnshteler The brivnshteler and literature What makes the brivnshteler Jewish?2. From the Pages of Brivnshtelers Modernity and mobility Parents and children: Russia Parents and children: America Courtship and marriage: Russia Courtship and marriage: America Business Judaism and Jewish Identity Imagining America3. Beyond LettersBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisAt the turn of the 20th century, Jewish families scattered by migration could stay in touch only through letters. Jews in the Russian Empire and America wrote business letters, romantic letters, and emotionally intense family letters. This book deals with this topic.Trade ReviewReproductions of brivnshtelers form the core of the book and comprise the majority of the text, providing a ground-level window into a largely obscured past. * Publishers Weekly *Dear Mendl, Dear Reyzl delivers more than one would expect because it goes beyond a linguistic study of letter-writing manuals and explicates their genre and social function. It is appropriate for students of Jewish life generally and Yiddishists of any age. * Slavic Review *...[C]overs a neglected aspect of Jewish popular culture and deserves a wide readership. For all serious readers of Yiddish and immigrant Jewish culture and customs. * Library Journal *A great deal of history is covered in this book as the authors discuss the social and economic stressesthat Jews faced on both sides of the ocean throughout this time period. Each section begins with anexplanation of a particular issue, but the real delight of the book is in reading the letters themselves. . . . Highly Recommended. * AJL Reviews *...These manuals provide us with a lens to better understand Jewish life at the time, as they mirror many of the challenges and concerns that Russian and American Jews were experiencing, and as they resonate with the emotional registers found in Yiddish literature and letters more generally. * Jewish Book Council *Table of ContentsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsTranslation and Romanization1. The World of Brivnshtelers Encountering modernity The brivnshteler and traditional education The brivnshteler and the history of model letters Yiddish language, Yiddish publishing, and the brivnshteler The brivnshteler and literature What makes the brivnshteler Jewish?2. From the Pages of Brivnshtelers Modernity and mobility Parents and children: Russia Parents and children: America Courtship and marriage: Russia Courtship and marriage: America Business Judaism and Jewish Identity Imagining America3. Beyond LettersBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisFocusing on everyday rituals, this book includes essays that look at spheres of social action and the places throughout the Atlantic world where African-descended communities have expressed their values, ideas, beliefs, and spirituality in material terms.Trade ReviewThis book marks an important advance in research on the archaeology of the black Atlantic; that is, the archaeological study of contacts, parallelisms, and ruptures that marked Old and New World communities during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. . . . Highly recommended. * Choice *Table of ContentsPreface1. On the Materiality of Black Atlantic Rituals / Akinwumi Ogundiran and Paula Saunders2. Reconstructing the Archaeology of Movement in Northern Ghana: Insights into Past Ritual Posture and Performance / Timothy Insoll and Benjamin W. Kankpeyeng 3. Sacred Vorticies of the African Atlantic World: Materiality of the Accumulative Aesthetic in the Hueda Kingdom, 1650-1727 / Neil Norman4. Cowries and Rituals of Self-Realization in the Yoruba Region, West Africa, ca. 1600–1860 / Akinwumi Ogundiran5. Spiritual Vibrations of Historic Kormantse and the Search for African Identity Diaspora Identity and Freedom / E. Kofi Agorsah6. Rituals of Iron in the Black Atlantic World / Candice Goucher7. Transatlantic Meanings: African Rituals and Material Culture from the Early Modern Spanish Caribbean / Pablo F. Gómez8. "Instruments of Obeah": The Significance of Ritual Objects in the Jamaican Legal System, 1760 to Present / Danielle Boaz9. Charms and Spiritual Practitioners: Negotiating Power Dynamics in an Enslaved African Community in Jamaica / Paula Saunders10. Mundane or Spiritual? – The Interpretation of Glass Bottle Containers Found on Two Sites of the African Diaspora / Matthew Reeves11. Ritual Bundle in Colonial Annapolis / Mark P. Leone, Jocelyn E. Knauf and Amanda Tang 12. Dexterous Creation: Material Manifestations of Instrumental Symbolism in the Americas / Christopher C. Fennell13. Ritualized Figuration in Special African-American Yards / Grey Gundaker14. "I Cry 'I Am' For All to Hear Me": The Informal Cemetery in Central Georgia / Hugh B. Matternes and Staci Richey15. Spatial and Material Transformations in Commemoration on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands / Helen C. Blouet16. "As Above, So Below": Ritual and Commemoration in African-American Archaeological Contexts in the Northern United States / Cheryl J. LaRoche17. Cape Coast Castle and Rituals of Memory / Brempong Osei-TutuBibliographyList of ContributorsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisTells the story of the land and people of Banaba, a small Pacific island, which, from 1900 to 1980, was heavily mined for phosphate, an essential ingredient in fertilizer. This book offers an insight into the plight of other island peoples facing forced migration as a result of human impact on the environment.Trade ReviewTeaiwa deals with the great sense of betrayal, loss, and displacement indigenous Banabans suffered through as well as the harsh physical toll decades of excessive mining has taken on the land. With a justified sense of outrage, Teaiwa educates her audience without alienating it, laying bare the consequences of reaping such a natural bounty at the expense of others. * Publishers Weekly *Recommended. * Choice *A detailed ethnography of Banaba undertaken by a researcher who hails from this 'very, very small island' . . . is an example of reflectivity and insightful scholarship. This is not a book to be taken lightly, but rather should be suggested to anyone with an interest in material culture, globalization, and post-colonial and ecological studies. * Antipode *Teaiwa displays artfully the powerful potential of interdisciplinarity as an approach toward gaining a richer and deeper understanding of Pacific pasts and peoples. * The Contemporary Pacific *By bringing gritty ethnographic detail, an omnivorous approach to sources, and surprising narrative innovations to bear on such topics, Teaiwa's book moves the social history of Earth's biogeochemical cycles into fertile new terrain. * The Journal of Pacific History *Table of ContentsPrelude: Three Global StoriesAcknowledgmentsNotes on Orthography and GeographyPart I. Phosphate Pasts1. The Little Rock That Feeds2. Stories of P 3. Land from the Sea Part II. Mine/lands4. Remembering Ocean Island5. Land from the Sky6. Interlude: Another Visit to Ocean Island7. E Kawa te aba: The Trials of the Ocean Islanders8. Remix: Our Sea of Phosphate (photo essay)Part III. Between Our Islands9. Interlude: Coming Home to Fiji10. Between Rabi and Banaba Coda Ocean Island/Banaba TimelineNotesBibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisTells the story of the land and people of Banaba, a small Pacific island, which, from 1900 to 1980, was heavily mined for phosphate, an essential ingredient in fertilizer. This book offers an insight into the plight of other island peoples facing forced migration as a result of human impact on the environment.Trade ReviewTeaiwa deals with the great sense of betrayal, loss, and displacement indigenous Banabans suffered through as well as the harsh physical toll decades of excessive mining has taken on the land. With a justified sense of outrage, Teaiwa educates her audience without alienating it, laying bare the consequences of reaping such a natural bounty at the expense of others. * Publishers Weekly *Recommended. * Choice *A detailed ethnography of Banaba undertaken by a researcher who hails from this 'very, very small island' . . . is an example of reflectivity and insightful scholarship. This is not a book to be taken lightly, but rather should be suggested to anyone with an interest in material culture, globalization, and post-colonial and ecological studies. * Antipode *Teaiwa displays artfully the powerful potential of interdisciplinarity as an approach toward gaining a richer and deeper understanding of Pacific pasts and peoples. * The Contemporary Pacific *By bringing gritty ethnographic detail, an omnivorous approach to sources, and surprising narrative innovations to bear on such topics, Teaiwa's book moves the social history of Earth's biogeochemical cycles into fertile new terrain. * The Journal of Pacific History *Table of ContentsPrelude: Three Global StoriesAcknowledgmentsNotes on Orthography and GeographyPart I. Phosphate Pasts1. The Little Rock That Feeds2. Stories of P 3. Land from the Sea Part II. Mine/lands4. Remembering Ocean Island5. Land from the Sky6. Interlude: Another Visit to Ocean Island7. E Kawa te aba: The Trials of the Ocean Islanders8. Remix: Our Sea of Phosphate (photo essay)Part III. Between Our Islands9. Interlude: Coming Home to Fiji10. Between Rabi and Banaba Coda Ocean Island/Banaba TimelineNotesBibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn early 20th-century Yemen, a sizable Jewish population was subject to sumptuary laws and social restrictions. This book draws on autobiographical writings to study the careers of three Jewish intermediaries who used their knowledge of Islamic law to manipulate the shari'a for their own benefit and for the good of their community.Trade ReviewThis book offers an important contribution to the understanding of Jewish-Muslim relations under the shari'a, and to the study of Yemeni Jews. * Journal of Modern Jewish Studies *This book is broad and interesting and opens a new window for the study of the legal status of the Jews of Yemen in the twentieth century. * Journal of the American Oriental Society *Jews and Islamic Law in Early 20th-Century Yemen . . . is a monograph that draws on literature studies, Islamic legal studies, history and anthropology. Students and scholars from all these fields as well as Yemeni studies in general will find this a rich and well written book. * Arabian Humanities *Mark S. Wagner has made an important and original contribution to the growing body of adaemic studies on Yemenite Jewish history and culture. . . Although the book's theme is how Jews negotiated life in a traditional Muslim society in which the Sharia was theoretically the overarching governing framework, Wagner also offers fascinating insights into the complexities of daily social, economic, and political life in Yemen. * AJS Reviews *A fascinating study indispensable to students and libraries interested in the tentative relationship between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East. * AJL Reviews *During the early twentieth century, Yemeni Jews operated within a legal structure that defined them as dhimmi, that is, non-Muslims living as a protected population under the sovereignty of an Islamic state . . . Wagner's work deepens our understanding of Muslim-Jewish relations in Yemen and the place of non-Muslims in Islamic law in general.6/20/15 * New Books in Jewish Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on Transliteration Introduction1. The Islamic Judicial System and the Jews2. Changing God's Law3. Muslim Jews and Jewish Muslims4. Concord and Conflict in Economic Life5. Intercommunal Violence and the Shari'aConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn early 20th-century Yemen, a sizable Jewish population was subject to sumptuary laws and social restrictions. This book draws on autobiographical writings to study the careers of three Jewish intermediaries who used their knowledge of Islamic law to manipulate the shari'a for their own benefit and for the good of their community.Trade ReviewThis book offers an important contribution to the understanding of Jewish-Muslim relations under the shari'a, and to the study of Yemeni Jews. * Journal of Modern Jewish Studies *This book is broad and interesting and opens a new window for the study of the legal status of the Jews of Yemen in the twentieth century. * Journal of the American Oriental Society *Jews and Islamic Law in Early 20th-Century Yemen . . . is a monograph that draws on literature studies, Islamic legal studies, history and anthropology. Students and scholars from all these fields as well as Yemeni studies in general will find this a rich and well written book. * Arabian Humanities *Mark S. Wagner has made an important and original contribution to the growing body of adaemic studies on Yemenite Jewish history and culture. . . Although the book's theme is how Jews negotiated life in a traditional Muslim society in which the Sharia was theoretically the overarching governing framework, Wagner also offers fascinating insights into the complexities of daily social, economic, and political life in Yemen. * AJS Reviews *A fascinating study indispensable to students and libraries interested in the tentative relationship between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East. * AJL Reviews *During the early twentieth century, Yemeni Jews operated within a legal structure that defined them as dhimmi, that is, non-Muslims living as a protected population under the sovereignty of an Islamic state . . . Wagner's work deepens our understanding of Muslim-Jewish relations in Yemen and the place of non-Muslims in Islamic law in general.6/20/15 * New Books in Jewish Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsNote on Transliteration Introduction1. The Islamic Judicial System and the Jews2. Changing God's Law3. Muslim Jews and Jewish Muslims4. Concord and Conflict in Economic Life5. Intercommunal Violence and the Shari'aConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisErica Lehrer is Associate Professor in the History and Sociology/Anthropology Departments at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, where she also holds the Canada Research Chair in Post-Conflict Memory, Ethnography, and Museology.Michael Meng is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Clemson University, South Carolina.Trade ReviewLehrer and Meng have done an admirable job both in obtaining essays from authors in a wide variety of disciplines and in making this material accessible to non-specialists. * Studies in Contemporary Jewry *Lehrer and Meng have edited an important interdisciplinary work, which should make an immediate impact on the field of Polish Jewish Studies. * Religious Studies Review *There has been a surge of interest in the history and lives of Polish Jews by Polish Gentiles and the descendants of Holocaust survivors in recent decades. . . This collection offers deep insights into and thoughtful analysis of this fascinating phenomenon. Highly recommended. * Choice *Jewish Space in Contemporary Poland evokes a revolution – the word is not too strong – in the possibilities, new goals, and shifting facts on the ground associated with Jewish history and lives in Poland today. * Canadian Jewish News *[T]he authors' understanding of the Jewishness of 'Jewish space' encompasses the plurality of Jewish expression. As the editors note, their approach seeks 'to break out of predetermined, normative views of Jewishness to explore how history and identity inform each other, raise questions about difference and solidarity, and recognize that Jewish culture is shaped in a field of interactions with other cultures.' From the vantage point of Poland, the editors see their work as part of a national discourse, looking to the construction of a new, post-communist Polish identity.May 2015 * Literary Review of Canada *[This] collection is an important step toward deeper and clearer understanding of what Poland's Jewish spaces were, are, and may yet become.October 2016 * H-SAE *The diversity and uniqueness of examples presented in 'Jewish Space in Contemporary Poland' make this book a significant contribution to Polish-Jewish memory studies.10/13/15 * Pol-Int *Table of ContentsIntroduction / Erica Lehrer and Michael Meng1. "Oświęcim"/ "Auschwitz": Archeology of a Mnemonic Battleground / Geneviève Zubrzycki2. Restitution of Communal Property and the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland / Stanislaw Tyszka3. Muranów as a Ruin: Layered Memories in Postwar Warsaw / Michael Meng4. Stettin, Szczecin, and the "Third Space." Urban nostalgia in the German/Polish/Jewish borderlands / Magdalena Waligórska5. Rediscovering the Jewish Past in the Polish Provinces: The Socio-Economics of Nostalgia / Monika Murzyn-Kupisz6. Amnesia, Nostalgia, and Reconstruction: Shifting Modes of Memory in Poland's Jewish Spaces / Slawomir Kapralski7. Jewish Heritage, Pluralism, and Milieux de Memoire: the case of Krakow's Kazimierz / Erica Lehrer8. The Ethnic Cleansing of the German-Polish-Jewish 'Lodzermensch' / Winson Chu9. Stony Survivors: Images of Jewish Space on the Polish Landscape / Robert L. Cohn10. Reading the Palimpsest / Konstanty Gebert11. A Jew, a Cemetery, and a Polish Village: A Tale of the Restoration of MemoryJonathan Webber12. The Museum of the History of Polish Jews: A Post-War, Post-Holocaust, Post-Communist Story / Barbara Kirshenblatt-GimblettEpilogue: Jewish Spaces and their Future / Diana PintoNotesContributorsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewLehrer and Meng have done an admirable job both in obtaining essays from authors in a wide variety of disciplines and in making this material accessible to non-specialists. * Studies in Contemporary Jewry *Lehrer and Meng have edited an important interdisciplinary work, which should make an immediate impact on the field of Polish Jewish Studies. * Religious Studies Review *There has been a surge of interest in the history and lives of Polish Jews by Polish Gentiles and the descendants of Holocaust survivors in recent decades. . . This collection offers deep insights into and thoughtful analysis of this fascinating phenomenon. Highly recommended. * Choice *Jewish Space in Contemporary Poland evokes a revolution – the word is not too strong – in the possibilities, new goals, and shifting facts on the ground associated with Jewish history and lives in Poland today. * Canadian Jewish News *[T]he authors' understanding of the Jewishness of 'Jewish space' encompasses the plurality of Jewish expression. As the editors note, their approach seeks 'to break out of predetermined, normative views of Jewishness to explore how history and identity inform each other, raise questions about difference and solidarity, and recognize that Jewish culture is shaped in a field of interactions with other cultures.' From the vantage point of Poland, the editors see their work as part of a national discourse, looking to the construction of a new, post-communist Polish identity.May 2015 * Literary Review of Canada *[This] collection is an important step toward deeper and clearer understanding of what Poland's Jewish spaces were, are, and may yet become.October 2016 * H-SAE *The diversity and uniqueness of examples presented in 'Jewish Space in Contemporary Poland' make this book a significant contribution to Polish-Jewish memory studies.10/13/15 * Pol-Int *Table of ContentsIntroduction / Erica Lehrer and Michael Meng1. "Oświęcim"/ "Auschwitz": Archeology of a Mnemonic Battleground / Geneviève Zubrzycki2. Restitution of Communal Property and the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland / Stanislaw Tyszka3. Muranów as a Ruin: Layered Memories in Postwar Warsaw / Michael Meng4. Stettin, Szczecin, and the "Third Space." Urban nostalgia in the German/Polish/Jewish borderlands / Magdalena Waligórska5. Rediscovering the Jewish Past in the Polish Provinces: The Socio-Economics of Nostalgia / Monika Murzyn-Kupisz6. Amnesia, Nostalgia, and Reconstruction: Shifting Modes of Memory in Poland's Jewish Spaces / Slawomir Kapralski7. Jewish Heritage, Pluralism, and Milieux de Memoire: the case of Krakow's Kazimierz / Erica Lehrer8. The Ethnic Cleansing of the German-Polish-Jewish 'Lodzermensch' / Winson Chu9. Stony Survivors: Images of Jewish Space on the Polish Landscape / Robert L. Cohn10. Reading the Palimpsest / Konstanty Gebert11. A Jew, a Cemetery, and a Polish Village: A Tale of the Restoration of MemoryJonathan Webber12. The Museum of the History of Polish Jews: A Post-War, Post-Holocaust, Post-Communist Story / Barbara Kirshenblatt-GimblettEpilogue: Jewish Spaces and their Future / Diana PintoNotesContributorsIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisProvides an account of the theatrical strategies used by consumers, farmers, agricultural laborers, and the federal government to negotiate competing rights to food and the moral contradictions of capitalist society in times of economic crisis.Trade ReviewPlowed Under provides a fertile field for future research on New Deal agiculture and social activism. . . . White's merging of performance studies and history will also offer a useful model to analyze the theatrical and cultural strategies that inform public protest in America. * Register of the Kentucky Historical Society *Plowed Under is thoroughly researched and skilfully conceived. Its performance-oriented approach illuminates genuine tensions and disagreements between the administration and many of the nation's citizens and provides intriguing insights into New Deal culture. * Modern Drama *[A] stimulating study of New Deal America * The Annals of Iowa *White's study makes an invaluable contribution to history, theater history, cultural studies, American studies, and other fields. * Journal of American History *Plowed Under will prove useful for scholars of agriculture, public policy, political culture, and the New Deal, and it presents an invaluable perspective for any historian of the twentieth century. * Indiana Magazine of History *[White's] book offers an insightful examination of how performance, and particularly food in performance, defines and questions the ethics of food production, sale, and consumption. Plowed Under contributes significantly to ongoing studies of the performance of food and the performativity of protests, and also serves as an important history of the Great Depression itself. * Theatre Journal *Table of ContentsIntroduction1. The New Deal Vision for Agriculture: USDA Exhibits at the 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair2. Milk Dumping Across America's Dairyland: The May 1933 Wisconsin Dairymen's Strike3. Playing "Housewife" in an Urban Polonia: The Hamtramck (Mich.) Women's 1935 Meat Boycott4. Hunger on the Highway in the Cotton South: The 1939 Missouri Sharecroppers' Demonstration5. Staging the Agricultural Adjustment Act: The Federal Theatre Project's Triple-A Plowed Under (1936)EpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewNew York Noise's invigorating discussion of the limits, unevenness, and incoherencies of culture offers a seminal contribution to the fields of ethnomusicology, musicology, cultural studies, American studies, and Jewish studies. * Project MUSE *"New York Noise will certainly be the standard text for fans and scholars of the RJC moment as well as an important reference for those interested in the downtown scene and contemporary Jewish musical practices." * Journal of the Society for American Music *A welcome addition to the literature on contemporary Jewish identity politics. * Jewish Book World *The book is detailed, well documented, and a fascinating analysis of a musical milieu that was less visible than the neo-klezmer movement . . . Just as valuable as the text is the availability of supplemental audio and video through a free account at ethnomultimedia.org . . . An outstanding study of a fascinating slice of New York culture. * Library Journal *Barzel provides plenty of sociohistorical contextualization to root her wider discussion of the role of Jewishly identified music in the downtown scene in New York City in the 1990s. Moreover, her inclusion of audio clips available on the publisher's website provides a soundtrack for critical listening, which is both practical and necessary. The book is expertly detailed in its musicological analysis. * H-Judaic *Recommended. * Choice *Questions of identity and musical originality are broached and compellingly entwined in Barzel's study, which is highly informative and refreshingly free of the dryness or excessive earnestness that can sometimes blight an account of a 'movement' of this kind. * Jazzwise *New York Noise fills an important void in the study of contemporary Jewish music and provides an array of insights into a unique efflorescence of Jewish culture that is sure to stimulate fans and scholars alike. * AJS Review *New York Noise only scratches the surface of potential research in this area, but Barzel adroitly tackles the larger questions of Jewish identity that Radical Jewish Culture wrestles with. Essential for Jewish libraries. * AJL Reviews *This book is appropriate for all academic collections and for the well informed and curious lay reader who is prepared for a very heavy read. It might easily serve as a textbook for a course on the subject. This book is highly recommended. * AJL Reviews *As the first book to tackle RJC in a closely studied manner, Barzel has provided an excellent foundation for future studies, as well as a very high bar by which they will be judged. * Musaica Judaica *Table of ContentsEthnomusicology Multimedia Series PrefaceAcknowledgementsIntroduction: The Downtown Scene1. Jewish Music: The Art of Getting it Wrong2. "Radical Jewish Culture": A Community Emerges3. From the Inexorable to the Ineffable: John Zorn's Kristallnacht and the Masada Project4. Queer Dada Judaism: G-d Is My Co-Pilot and the "Inbetween Space"5. Shelley Hirsch and Anthony Coleman: Music and Memory from the "Nowhere Place"EpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less