Download or read book Madam St Clair Queen of Harlem written by Raphael Confiant and published by . This book was released on 2020-01-15 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fiction. African & African American Studies. Latinx Studies. Women's Studies. Translated by Patricia Hartland and Hodna Bentali Gharsallah Nuernberg. MADAM ST. CLAIR, QUEEN OF HARLEM is the story of a real-life woman's rise from the slums of Martinique to the heights of Sugar Hill during the Harlem Renaissance. In the years following her arrival on Ellis Island with little more than a razor and a slim roll of bank notes, St. Clair would become queen of the numbers game, facing off against both the black underworld and the white mafia. Traversing the era from the First World War, Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Second World War and the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, she became an iconic figure of the Harlem Renaissance, as a ruthless lady gangster but also as consort and benefactor to such heroes of the movement as W.E.B. Du Bois, Countee Cullen, and Langston Hughes. "MADAM ST. CLAIR, QUEEN OF HARLEM pulls you into the life of an unforgettable woman, who will capture your imagination. This is a rare, whirling, energetic book.��Maurice Carlos Ruffin

Download or read book The World of Stephanie St Clair written by Shirley Pamela Stewart and published by Black Studies and Critical Thinking. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book profiles the compelling story and lineage of Stephanie St. Clair, a black female Caribbean immigrant in the early twentieth century. Upon entering the US, St. Clair created and managed a highly lucrative policy bank in Harlem ‒ earning a quarter of a million dollars a year. The author also explores St. Clair's lineage and the factors that influenced her decision to become an entrepreneur and activist.

Download or read book Harlem Godfather written by Mayme Hatcher Johnson and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The first and only full biography on legendary Harlem gangster, Bumpy Johnson who was depicted in the movies Cotton Club, Hoodlum, and American Gansgster. ... Bumpy was a man whose contradictions are still the root of many an argument in Harlem. But there is one thing on which both his supporters and detractors agree in his lifetime, Bumpy was the man in Harlem." --p. [4] of cover.

Download or read book Let s Play White written by Chesya Burke and published by Apex Publications. This book was released on 2011-04-26 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: White brings with it dreams of respect, of wealth, of simply being treated as a human being. It's the one thing Walter will never be. But what if he could play white, the way so many others seem to do? Would it bring him privilege or simply deny the pain? The title story in this collection asks those questions, and then moves on to challenge notions of race, privilege, personal choice, and even life and death with equal vigor. From the spectrum spanning despair and hope in "What She Saw When They Flew Away" to the stark weave of personal struggles in "Chocolate Park," Let's Play White speaks with the voices of the overlooked and unheard. "I Make People Do Bad Things" shines a metaphysical light on Harlem's most notorious historical madame, and then, with a deft twist into melancholic humor, "Cue: Change" brings a zombie-esque apocalypse, possibly for the betterment of all mankind. Gritty and sublime, the stories of Let's Play White feature real people facing the worlds they're given, bringing out the best and the worst of what it means to be human. If you're ready to slip into someone else's skin for a while, then it's time to come play white. Reviews: "The label of "dark fantasy and horror" fits this collection both ironically and genuinely. Haunted by history and past wrongs, Burke's characters are never alone, never safe, never comfortable. She weaves African and African-American historical legend and standard horror themes into stories that range from gritty subway gore fests to a sympathetic take on zombies. The magnificent closing novella, "The Teachings and Redemption of Ms. Fannie Lou Mason," follows a "hoodoo woman" as she nurtures and protects twin girls with similar powers and shows them what they are meant to do. If the urban realism doesn't always seem quite realistic, the depth of Burke's characters, the weight of their decisions, and their choices make this the very opposite of escapist fantasy. (July 2011)" Publishers Weekly "Let's Play White is a brutally honest book and the fact that the unthinkable happens, like a talking rat, a few zombies or communication with the dead, the underlying truthfulness is so powerful that it supersedes any implausible element. Although race is an essential backdrop to the stories, this is not a book about white racism against blacks. Instead, Burke touches on a variety of prejudices to let the reader know that color is not the only way in which we discriminate. Although some might cringe at the idea of reading a book about unfairness, racism and the dark tendencies of human nature, Burke's impeachable openness and undeniable writing skills make "Let's Play White" a very enjoyable read that fans of all literature should enjoy." Austin Post, Gabino Iglesias "Human is many different things all at once. "Let's Play White" is a collection of short stories from Chesya Burke as she discusses issues of race and the problems we face regardless of it, and what links us all together in our plight of life. Thoughtful and thought provoking, "Let's Play White" is a fine choice that is a worthy addition to any literary short fiction collection, highly recommended." Midwest Book Review " Chesya Burke’s writing style is just mesmerizing – there is an undeniable lyricism there but also a tangible darkness and pain. Readers who enjoy their fantasy decidedly dark and deep should check out this profoundly moving collection asap." Paul Goat Allen, B&N Books Club Blurbs: "These raw, brutal stories, often with intriguingly open endings, display an odd and unsettling relationships to the poetry of violence. These dark tales announce the arrival of a formidable new master of the macabre." —Samuel R. Delany, author of Dhalgren and Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders "What a stunning collection. Let’s Play White… and so on time. [Chesya Burke has] touched something special in [her] stories. I’m a big Octavia Butler fan and I see a peek of that as well as some latter-day Toni Morrison [within these pages]. I see the light and warmth [Chesya is] offering. There definitely is magic in that. The short story, next to poetry, is the most difficult writing form. [Chesya has] tamed it and made it yield to [her] touch." --Nikki Giovanni, Grammy-nominated spoken word artist and poet

Download or read book Rejected Princesses written by Jason Porath and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-10-25 with total page 653 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blending the iconoclastic feminism of The Notorious RBG and the confident irreverence of Go the F**ck to Sleep, a brazen and empowering illustrated collection that celebrates inspirational badass women throughout history, based on the popular Tumblr blog. Well-behaved women seldom make history. Good thing these women are far from well behaved . . . Illustrated in a contemporary animation style, Rejected Princesses turns the ubiquitous "pretty pink princess" stereotype portrayed in movies, and on endless toys, books, and tutus on its head, paying homage instead to an awesome collection of strong, fierce, and yes, sometimes weird, women: warrior queens, soldiers, villains, spies, revolutionaries, and more who refused to behave and meekly accept their place. An entertaining mix of biography, imagery, and humor written in a fresh, young, and riotous voice, this thoroughly researched exploration salutes these awesome women drawn from both historical and fantastical realms, including real life, literature, mythology, and folklore. Each profile features an eye-catching image of both heroic and villainous women in command from across history and around the world, from a princess-cum-pirate in fifth century Denmark, to a rebel preacher in 1630s Boston, to a bloodthirsty Hungarian countess, and a former prostitute who commanded a fleet of more than 70,000 men on China’s seas.

Download or read book Liqueur of Aloe written by Jocelyne Laâbi and published by Dialogos / Lavender Ink. This book was released on 2021-11 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A woman's memoir of love and awakening and struggle against a repressive regime. Translated by Terence Golding. This moving memoir by Jocelyne Laâbi chronicles her experience as the daughter of a French colonial who moved to Morocco from Lyon when she was very young. Her evocative and elegant recollections of the Morocco of her youth give way to her discovery of her father's dark past in France during the Second World War and her gradual awakening to the realities of colonial misrule and the early années de plomb (years of lead) of Hassan II, as the Moroccan King tightened a violent grip on the country and its people. She then tells the story of her assimilation into Moroccan culture, culminating in her marriage to poet Abdellatif Laâbi and their collaboration on the influential literary/political journal Souffles and its Arabic counterpart, Anfas. Abdellatif's activism put him at odds with the repressive regime and earned him a ten-year sentence in one of the cruelest prison systems in North Africa, as Jocelyne struggled with the demands of her young family and became increasingly involved in the underground movement fighting for the rights of her husband and other political prisoners. The book is tribute to Jocelyne Laâbi's courage and her continuing love for the North African country and its people. Literary Nonfiction. African & African American Studies. Women's Studies.

Download or read book Gangsters of Harlem written by Ron Chepesiuk and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time ever, author Rob Chepesiuk chronicles the little known history of organized crime in Harlem. African American organized crime has had as significant an impact on its constituent community as Italian, Jewish, and Irish organized crime has had on theirs. Gangsters are every bit as colorful, intriguing, and powerful as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano, and have a fascinating history in gambling, prostitution, and drug dealing. In this riveting, vivid documentation, Chepesiuk tells the little-known story of organized crime in Harlem through in-depth profiles of the major gangs and motley gangsters whose exploits have made them legends.

Download or read book No Budu Please written by Wingston González and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Poetry. Translated by Urayoán Noel. NO BUDU PLEASE emerges in the voice of "an artificial boy in some sort of plastic prairie," as he zeroes in on desire, spirit, and diversion. A diversion for all those forgotten and on the outskirts, impenetrable. Wingston González has carved out a distinctive way of creating beats with words, a spiritual questioning of godliness, and a space of immersion in a Garifuna history marked by the 1797 expulsion from St. Vincent and subsequent exile to the coast of Central America. One of the most prolific Garifuna writers today, González has built a window into contemporary Black indigeneity in Mesoamerica, but also closed that same window in a sidelong attack on colonialist language and syntax, rewriting Spanish as he goes. Urayoán Noel's translation moves the ludic experimentation with Spanish into an English that also tears at the colonial heart of Occidental imaginings. Both books insist that colonial fantasies are not to be stomached, that there is no easy way in or out of reality or dream, rather a series of glacial contradictions and bloody yearnings.

Download or read book Behold the Dreamers written by Imbolo Mbue and published by Random House. This book was released on 2016-08-23 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compulsively readable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream—the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy New York Times Bestseller • Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award • Longlisted for the PEN/Open Book Award • An ALA Notable Book NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • The New York Times Book Review • San Francisco Chronicle • The Guardian • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Chicago Public Library • BookPage • Refinery29 • Kirkus Reviews Jende Jonga, a Cameroonian immigrant living in Harlem, has come to the United States to provide a better life for himself, his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son. In the fall of 2007, Jende can hardly believe his luck when he lands a job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark demands punctuality, discretion, and loyalty—and Jende is eager to please. Clark’s wife, Cindy, even offers Neni temporary work at the Edwardses’ summer home in the Hamptons. With these opportunities, Jende and Neni can at last gain a foothold in America and imagine a brighter future. However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers’ façades. When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice. Praise for Behold the Dreamers “A debut novel by a young woman from Cameroon that illuminates the immigrant experience in America with the tenderhearted wisdom so lacking in our political discourse . . . Mbue is a bright and captivating storyteller.”—The Washington Post “A capacious, big-hearted novel.”—The New York Times Book Review “Behold the Dreamers’ heart . . . belongs to the struggles and small triumphs of the Jongas, which Mbue traces in clean, quick-moving paragraphs.”—Entertainment Weekly “Mbue’s writing is warm and captivating.”—People (book of the week) “[Mbue’s] book isn’t the first work of fiction to grapple with the global financial crisis of 2007–2008, but it’s surely one of the best. . . . It’s a novel that depicts a country both blessed and doomed, on top of the world, but always at risk of losing its balance. It is, in other words, quintessentially American.”—NPR “This story is one that needs to be told.”—Bust “Behold the Dreamers challenges us all to consider what it takes to make us genuinely content, and how long is too long to live with our dreams deferred.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “[A] beautiful, empathetic novel.”—The Boston Globe “A witty, compassionate, swiftly paced novel that takes on race, immigration, family and the dangers of capitalist excess.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch “Mbue [is] a deft, often lyrical observer. . . . [Her] meticulous storytelling announces a writer in command of her gifts.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

Download or read book Sex Workers Psychics and Numbers Runners written by LaShawn Harris and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2016-06-15 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the early twentieth century, a diverse group of African American women carved out unique niches for themselves within New York City's expansive informal economy. LaShawn Harris illuminates the labor patterns and economic activity of three perennials within this kaleidoscope of underground industry: sex work, numbers running for gambling enterprises, and the supernatural consulting business. Mining police and prison records, newspaper accounts, and period literature, Harris teases out answers to essential questions about these women and their working lives. She also offers a surprising revelation, arguing that the burgeoning underground economy served as a catalyst in working-class black women TMs creation of the employment opportunities, occupational identities, and survival strategies that provided them with financial stability and a sense of labor autonomy and mobility. At the same time, urban black women, all striving for economic and social prospects and pleasures, experienced the conspicuous and hidden dangers associated with newfound labor opportunities.

Download or read book Woman Church and State written by Matilda Joslyn Gage and published by . This book was released on 1893 with total page 570 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Louise Thompson Patterson written by Keith Gilyard and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2017-09-29 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born in 1901, Louise Thompson Patterson was a leading and transformative figure in radical African American politics. Throughout most of the twentieth century she embodied a dedicated resistance to racial, economic, and gender exploitation. In this, the first biography of Patterson, Keith Gilyard tells her compelling story, from her childhood on the West Coast, where she suffered isolation and persecution, to her participation in the Harlem Renaissance and beyond. In the 1930s and 1940s she became central, along with Paul Robeson, to the labor movement, and later, in the 1950s, she steered proto-black-feminist activities. Patterson was also crucial to the efforts in the 1970s to free political prisoners, most notably Angela Davis. In the 1980s and 1990s she continued to work as a progressive activist and public intellectual. To read her story is to witness the courage, sacrifice, vision, and discipline of someone who spent decades working to achieve justice and liberation for all.

Download or read book Who s who in Colored America written by and published by . This book was released on 1927 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Home written by Iman Mersal and published by Calico. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Home: New Arabic Poems on Everyday Life, the second book in Two Lines Press's Calico series, explores the intimate world of everyday life, its agonies and delights, through the work of poets from Egypt, Palestine, Tunisia, Iraq, and more.

Download or read book My Dear Hamilton written by Stephanie Dray and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 672 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: USA Today Bestseller "An edge-of my sear immersion into historical events...No study of Alexander Hamilton would be complete without reading this book." —Karen White, New York Times bestselling author "The best book of the year!" —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network Wife, Widow, and Warrior in Alexander Hamilton’s quest for a more perfect union From the New York Times bestselling authors of America’s First Daughter comes the epic story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton—a revolutionary woman who, like her new nation, struggled to define herself in the wake of war, betrayal, and tragedy. Perfect for fans of Ron Chernow's biography Alexander Hamilton and fans of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton: the Musical. In this haunting, moving, and beautifully written novel, Dray and Kamoie used thousands of letters and original sources to tell Eliza’s story as it’s never been told before—not just as the wronged wife at the center of a political sex scandal—but also as a founding mother who shaped an American legacy in her own right. A general’s daughter… Coming of age on the perilous frontier of revolutionary New York, Elizabeth Schuyler champions the fight for independence. And when she meets Alexander Hamilton, Washington’s penniless but passionate aide-de-camp, she’s captivated by the young officer’s charisma and brilliance. They fall in love, despite Hamilton’s bastard birth and the uncertainties of war. A founding father’s wife... But the union they create—in their marriage and the new nation—is far from perfect. From glittering inaugural balls to bloody street riots, the Hamiltons are at the center of it all—including the political treachery of America’s first sex scandal, which forces Eliza to struggle through heartbreak and betrayal to find forgiveness. The last surviving light of the Revolution… When a duel destroys Eliza’s hard-won peace, the grieving widow fights her husband’s enemies to preserve Alexander’s legacy. But long-buried secrets threaten everything Eliza believes about her marriage and her own legacy. Questioning her tireless devotion to the man and country that have broken her heart, she’s left with one last battle—to understand the flawed man she married and imperfect union he could never have created without her…

Download or read book From Russia With Love written by Ian Fleming and published by DigiCat. This book was released on 2022-08-16 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "From Russia With Love" by Ian Fleming. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Download or read book Black and Blue written by Michael Seth Starr and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: BLACK AND BLUE: THE REDD FOXX STORY