Best of
Social-Justice

1987

Assata: An Autobiography


Assata Shakur - 1987
    Long a target of J. Edgar Hoover's campaign to defame, infiltrate, and criminalize Black nationalist organizations and their leaders, Shakur was incarcerated for four years prior to her conviction on flimsy evidence in 1977 as an accomplice to murder.This intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou.Two years after her conviction, Assata Shakur escaped from prison. She was given political asylum by Cuba, where she now resides.

I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World


Martin Luther King Jr. - 1987
    stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial looking out over thousands of troubled Americans who had gathered in the name of civil rights and uttered his now famous words, "I have a dream . . ." It was a speech that changed the course of history.This fortieth-anniversary edition honors Martin Luther King Jr.'s courageous dream and his immeasurable contribution by presenting his most memorable words in a concise and convenient edition. As Coretta Scott King says in her foreword, "This collection includes many of what I consider to be my husband's most important writings and orations." In addition to the famed keynote address of the 1963 march on Washington, the renowned civil rights leader's most influential words included here are the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," the essay "Pilgrimage to Nonviolence," and his last sermon, "I See the Promised Land," preached the day before he was assassinated.

Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza


Gloria E. Anzaldúa - 1987
    Writing in a lyrical mixture of Spanish and English that is her unique heritage, she meditates on the condition of Chicanos in Anglo culture, women in Hispanic culture, and lesbians in the straight world. Her essays and poems range over broad territory, moving from the plight of undocumented migrant workers to memories of her grandmother, from Aztec religion to the agony of writing. Anzaldua is a rebellious and willful talent who recognizes that life on the border, "life in the shadows," is vital territory for both literature and civilization. Venting her anger on all oppressors of people who are culturally or sexually different, the author has produced a powerful document that belongs in all collections with emphasis on Hispanic American or feminist issues.

Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965


Juan Williams - 1987
    the Board of Education case in 1954 to the march on Selma and the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. This is a companion volume to the first part of the acclaimed PBS series.

Song in a Weary Throat: Memoir of an American Pilgrimage


Pauli Murray - 1987
    Arrested in 1940 for sitting in the whites-only section of a Virginia bus, Murray propelled that life-defining event into a Howard law degree and a fight against “Jane Crow” sexism. Her legal brilliance was pivotal to the overturning of Plessy v. Ferguson, the success of Brown v. Board of Education, and the Supreme Court’s recognition that the equal protection clause applies to women; it also connected her with such progressive leaders as Eleanor Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall, Betty Friedan, and Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Now Murray is finally getting long-deserved recognition: the first African American woman to receive a doctorate of law at Yale, her name graces one of the university’s new colleges. Handsomely republished with a new introduction, Murray’s remarkable memoir takes its rightful place among the great civil rights autobiographies of the twentieth century.

Rachel and Her Children: Homeless Families in America


Jonathan Kozol - 1987
    His books, from the National Book Award–winning Death at an Early Age to his most recent, the critically acclaimed Shame of the Nation, are touchstones of the national conscience. First published in 1988 and based on the months the author spent among America’s homeless, Rachel and Her Children is an unforgettable record of the desperate voices of men, women, and especially children caught up in a nightmarish situation that tears at the hearts of readers. With record numbers of homeless children and adults flooding the nation’s shelters, Rachel and Her Children offers a look at homelessness that resonates even louder today.

The Accommodation: The Politics of Race in an American City


Jim Schutze - 1987
    The first no-holds-barred, straight-on, uncensored look at Dallas politics ever to come from within the city itself, seeking to answer the question: Why was Dallas spared the agony of racial turmoil in the 60s--and what effect is that having now?

And We Are Not Saved: The Elusive Quest for Racial Justice


Derrick A. Bell - 1987
    Bell challenges the idea that significant social, political, and economic progress was achieved by the civil rights movement in the wake of the 1954 Brown v. Board decision. Through a series of fables and dramatic dialogues modeled on the grim fairytales of the eighteenth century, Bell explains the true pervasiveness of racial oppression within the American legal system. Racial inequality, he argues, is an integral part of American law and society, and it cannot be easily reversed through legislation.  Hailed as “fascinating” (New York Times Book Review) and “daring” (Washington Post), this is a landmark work in the study of race in America.

Literacy: Reading the Word and the World


Paulo Freire - 1987
    . . Literacy provides an articulate and courageous response.Harvard Educational ReviewEvery chapter . . . asks teachers to thing again about how they teach, what they want for their pupils, and how to get on with it. Times Educational Supplement[This] book directs our attention to literacy in its broadest sense so that we can better evaluate the shortcomings of our work as educators at all levels of learning. Contemporary Sociology

Black Robes, White Justice: Why Our Legal System Doesn't Work for Blacks


Bruce Wright - 1987
    In this important book, he takes a hard look at these inequities, documenting them with numerous cases drawn from his years of experience in the courts.With unflinching honesty, he tackles such controversial subjects as the deep-seeded societal prejudices of white judges, the lack of black judges, the long history of excluding blacks from law schools and bar associations, the practice of setting higher bail for black defendants, the anti-black biases of white jurors, and the black defendant's limited access to quality legal representation.Judge Wright also addresses the abuse of police power against blacks, the dehumanizing conditions in jails populated primarily by blacks, and the way that death penalty convictions discriminate against blacks. Finally, he proposes remedies that must be taken if the courts are truly to become a place of justice for all.Timely and relevant, "Black Robes, White Justice" is a book that every American should read in order to understand one of the most important issues of our time.

Standing in the Fire: Leading High-Heat Meetings with Clarity, Calm, and Courage


Larry Dressler - 1987
    What has a truly transformational impact is what he calls the facilitator’s presence. Cultivating an ability to access a compassionate presence that people experience as open, authentic, and clear in intention during the most difficult situations moves facilitators from being competent professionals to being on a path toward self-mastery. Standing in the Fire offers a set of self-directed principles and practices that enable facilitators to work on themselves—to keep their emotional balance no matter how overheated things threaten to become.  It brings together profound teachings from diverse fields, including western psychology, eastern spiritual practices, the arts, social sciences and medical research.   Dressler’s grounded, empathetic approach helps readers reawaken and discover an untapped capacity that comes from within and is expressed as a powerful presence standing in service to a group.

Reproductive Rights and Wrongs (Revised Edition): The Global Politics of Population Control


Betsy Hartmann - 1987
    With a new introduction, this fully revised edition of a feminist classic reveals the dangers of contemporary population control tactivs, especially as they affect women in developing countries.

Framing Feminism: Art and the Women's Movement 1970-1985


Rozsika Parker - 1987
    An extensive collection of articles, as well as broadsheets printed in facsimile, illustrate the history and diversity of arguably the most important intervention in modern art. Essays by, amongst others, Laura Mulvey, Sarah Kent, Rosalind Coward, mary Kelly, and Sally Potter combine with press releases from the Women's Workshop, articles from The times and Spare Rib, and a host of other documents.

Passionate Politics: Feminist Theory in Action


Charlotte Bunch - 1987
    Essays discuss feminism, reform, lesbianism, education, the media, and the status of women around the world.