Gates of Power


Peter O'Mahoney - 2019
     When Chicago’s most revered newsreader, Brian Gates, is found murdered in his dressing room, all the evidence points to one man—professional computer gamer Alfie Rose. Desperate to prove his innocence, Rose defies the advice of his legal team, hiring private investigator Jack Valentine to dig into the case. Still reeling from a personal tragedy, the relentless Valentine embarks on the most dangerous case of his career—battling against the far-right, the complex world of lawyers, and media corporations that will do anything to deliver the news first. With a community on edge, Valentine turns leads into danger and friends into suspects, but what he uncovers will change him forever… This private investigator thriller will take you for a ride through the streets, twisting and turning until it reaches an ending you won’t see coming.

A Bite of Strawberry


William Lashner - 2013
    When Victor is propositioned by the woman of his dreams, he knows it’s too good to be true. She offers him the perfect job, a prosperous future, and, best of all, when her tongue is in his mouth, she tastes like strawberries. But it isn’t long before Victor realizes that to keep these prizes, he must keep his client—currently in the clink for murder—from spilling the truth about what really happened the night of the killing. Is Victor ready to be bought? Hell yes. But not until he learns the truth. Someone is being protected, and Victor intends to find out who’s worth all the fuss. Because Victor Carl is willing to sell his soul, sure, especially for a bite of strawberry, but only if the price is right.

Mob Lawyer: A Legal Thriller


Dave Daren - 2020
    In my case it was either continue to work at my soul-crushing corporate law job for the next forty years, or to become the mafia don’s personal attorney.But I made my decision, and now I plan to defend him from figurative bullets in the courtroom, and literal ones outside of it.Everybody deserves good counsel, even made men. Justice for all

River God (Ancient Egypt, #1) / Gold Mine (Omnibus)


Wilbur Smith - 2005
    But Tanus will have to defy the same gods to attain the reward they have forbidden him, an object more prized than battle's glory: possession of the Lady Lostris, a rare beauty with skin the color of oiled ceder--destined for the adoration of a nation, and the love of one extraordinary man.Gold MineNorth of Johannesburg, five companies share the Kitchenerville fields, furiously blasting and digging deep into the earth. For some men, gold mining is a way of life--and death. For some it's just a business. For one man, it's the most dangerous game of all...Rod Ironsides makes love to his boss's wife and drives his miners faster and harder than anyone has ever dared. A few weeks ago, Ironsides had a passion for golf and one-night stands. Now, he has been handed a prize and a curse: to blast through rock and reap a fortune--or be destroyed.From a split-second, oxygen-sucking explosion to a looming underground wall of water, there are a dozen ways Rod can fail. But his passion and fury won't let him back down from a conspiracy he cannot see: men who want to turn his mine into a death trap--for the bloodiest pay-day of all...

Summary of White Fragility: Why It's so Hard for White People to Talk About Racism By Robin DiAngelo and Michael Eric Dyson: Key Takeaways & Analysis Included


Ninja Reads - 2019
    In a quick, easy read, you can take the main principles from White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism! The phrase “white fragility” has grown into a term that many people have accepted and referenced when talking about the defensiveness and discomfort a white person feels when talking about race. The term, originally coined in a 2011 article by Robin DiAngelo, is now used in various articles, books, TV shows, and more. Although it’s commonly heard, not many people truly understand what it means. That’s why Robin DiAngelo wrote the book entitled White Fragility: Why it’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism. DiAngelo is an author, former professor, and lecturer with a PhD in Multicultural Education from the University of Washington in Seattle. For more than 20 years, she’s focused on racial justice and whiteness studies. Her book on white fragility is a culmination of everything she’s learned from her personal experiences, her studies, and her interactions with white people and people of color. Her book aims to create a dialogue about race despite the white fragility that Americans feel when confronted with that topic. The book, published in 2018, has gained strong reviews because it explores race in-depth and attempts to break down those walls that white people have built in order to protect themselves from acknowledging their race and the benefits it gives them in life. The book debuted on the New York Times Bestseller List. DiAngelo is the two-time winner of the Student’s Choice Award for Educator of the Year at the University of Washington’s School of Social Work. Aside from her White Fragility book, DiAngelo has numerous other publications and books under her belt. White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism is the #1 bestseller in the discrimination & racism category on Amazon. That’s because it’s a useful tool that can be used in classrooms, discussions, lectures, and more. For those not in an academic setting, it’s also simply just a book that people from all different cultures can learn from, as it aims to teach us all how we got to this point in society, why we have the racial biases we do, and how we can overcome white fragility in order to have meaningful relationships with people of color.

A Bantu in my Bathroom


Eusebius McKaiser - 2012
    Nobody writes like this.’ - Jonathan Jansen Why are South Africans so uncomfortable with deep disagreement? Why do we lash out at people with opposing views without taking the time to engage logically with their arguments? Eusebius McKaiser is on a mission to raise the level of debate in South Africa. He provokes us from our comfort zones and lures us into the debates that shape our opinions and our society. With surprising candour and intensely personal examples, McKaiser examines our deepest-felt prejudices and ingrained assumptions. Don’t expect to read this book and escape with your defences intact. Immensely readable and completely engaging, McKaiser tackles deeply South African questions of race, sexuality and culture, including: •Can blacks be racist? •Why is our society so violent? •Is it morally okay to be prejudiced against skinny lovers? •Why is the presidential penis so problematic? •Is unconditional love ever a good thing? •Is it necessary to search for a national identity?

Interiors: A Black Woman's Healing...in Progress


Iyanla Vanzant - 1995
    Interiors tells of one woman's trip to insanity and her journey back--a story not of the suffering and recovery of an incest survivor, but the story of all women who suffer.

Someday


Drew Hayden Taylor - 1993
    The story in Someday, though told through fictional characters and full of Taylor's distinctive wit and humour, is based on the real-life tragedies suffered by many Native Canadian families.Anne Wabung's daughter was taken away by children's aid workers when the girl was only a toddler. It is Christmastime 35 years later, and Anne's yearning to see her now-grown daughter is stronger than ever.When the family is finally reunited, however, the dreams of neither women are fulfilled.The setting for the play is a fictional Ojibway community, but could be any reserve in Canada, where thousands of Native children were removed from their families in what is known among Native people as the "scoop-up" of the 1950s and 1960s. Somedayis an entertaining, humourous, and spirited play that packs an intense emotional wallop.Reviews: "One of the 50 Essential Canadian Plays"-- Toronto Star

Without Honour: The True Story of the Shafia Family and the Kingston Canal Murders


Rob Tripp - 2012
    A father, mother and son convicted of murder. The shocking truth about the “ honourless crime” that stunned a nation.On the morning of June 30, 2009, police in a small eastern Ontario city made a ghastly discovery: four females dead in a car submerged in a shallow canal. Sisters Zainab Shafia, 19, Sahar Shafia, 17, Geeti Shafia, 13, and Rona Mohammad Amir, 50, floated serenely inside the car, seemingly the victims of a terrible accident. That morning, Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba and their son, Hamed, arrived at the Kingston police station to report the four missing. In a sweeping covert investigation that spanned three continents, police uncovered layers of lies in the Shafias’ story and they developed a horrifying theory: Zainab, Sahar, Geeti and Rona had been the victims of a meticulously plotted family murder � Canada’ s first mass honour killing.In Without Honour, award-winning journalist Rob Tripp draws on three years of exhaustive research and exclusive interviews to make sense of a senseless crime in a way no other writer could. His unprecedented access tells a story beyond anything the jury heard: a story about a patriarch who fled war and strife in Afghanistan but who did not leave behind his devotion to repressive tradition. Tripp was the first journalist on the scene as the news broke and the only reporter to attend every day of court sessions, through to the convictions of Shafia, Tooba and Hamed on four counts each of first-degree murder, fuelled by what Ontario Superior Court Judge Robert Maranger called a “ twisted notion of honour.” In this gripping and compassionate account, Tripp reveals the heartbreaking and stunning truth about the desperate lives of four women who died in the pursuit of freedom.

Culturally Responsive School Leadership


Muhammad Khalifa - 2018
    The book demonstrates how leaders can engage students, parents, teachers, and communities in ways that positively impact learning by honoring indigenous heritages and local cultural practices.   Muhammad Khalifa explores three basic premises. First, that a full-fledged and nuanced understanding of “cultural responsiveness” is essential to successful school leadership. Second, that cultural responsiveness will not flourish and succeed in schools without sustained efforts by school leaders to define and promote it. Finally, that culturally responsive school leadership comprises a number of crucial leadership behaviors, which include critical self-reflection; the development of culturally responsive teachers; the promotion of inclusive, anti-oppressive school environments; and engagement with students’ indigenous community contexts.   Based on an ethnography of a school principal who exemplifies the practices and behaviors of culturally responsive school leadership, the book provides educators with pedagogy and strategies for immediate implementation.

A Patriot's Act


Kenneth Eade - 2014
    Government's Patriot Act. Santa Barbara accountant Ahmed Khury responds to the plea of his brother, Sabeen, a suspected money launderer in Iraq. Before Ahmed realizes what has happened to him, he is sent to Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp as a suspected terrorist, and is subjected to torture to extract information that he doesn't have. The courtroom drama mounts as the drama outside the courtroom explodes, and when murder, corruption and cover-up enters the picture, nobody, including Brent, is safe.

Black Tax: Burden or Ubuntu?


Niq Mhlongo - 2019
    It delves into the essence of black family life and the secret anguish of family members who often battle to cope.’ – Niq MhlongoA secret torment for some, a proud responsibility for others, ‘black tax’ is a daily reality for thousands of black South Africans. In this thought-provoking and moving anthology, a provocative range of voices share their deeply personal stories.With the majority of black South Africans still living in poverty today, many black middle-class households are connected to working-class or jobless homes. Some believe supporting family members is an undeniable part of African culture and question whether it should even be labelled as a kind of tax.Others point to the financial pressure it places on black students and professionals, who, as a consequence, struggle to build their own wealth. Many feel they are taking over what is essentially a government responsibility.The contributions also investigate the historical roots of black tax, the concept of the black family and the black middle class.In giving voice to so many different perspectives, Black Tax hopes to start a dialogue on this widespread social phenomenon.

Discipline with Dignity: How to Build Responsibility, Relationships, and Respect in Your Classroom


Richard L. Curwin - 2018
    Emphasizing the importance of mutual respect and self-control, the authors offer specific strategies and techniques for building strong relationships with disruptive students and countering the toxic social circumstances that affect many of them, including dysfunctional families, gangs, and poverty. Educators at all levels can learn * The difference between formal and informal discipline systems and when to use each.* The role of values, rules, and consequences.* How to address the underlying causes of discipline problems that occur both in and out of school.* What teachers can do to defuse or prevent classroom disruptions and disrespectful behavior without removing students from the classroom.* Why traditional approaches such as threats, punishments, and rewards are ineffective--and what to do instead.* How to use relevance, teacher enthusiasm, choice, and other elements of curriculum and instruction to motivate students.* How to reduce both teacher and student stress that can trigger power struggles.With dozens of specific examples of student-teacher interactions, Discipline with Dignity illustrates what you can do--and not do--to make the classroom a place where students learn and teachers maintain control in a nonconfrontational way. The goal is success for all, in schools that thrive.

Indian Ernie: Perspectives on Policing and Leadership


Ernie Louttit - 2013
    Indian Ernie, as he came to be known on the streets, here details an era of challenge, prejudice, and also tremendous change in urban policing. Drawing from his childhood, army career, and service as a veteran patrol officer, Louttit shares stories of criminals and victims, the night shift, avoiding politics, but most of all, the realities of the marginalized and disenfranchised.Louttit spent his entire career (including as a Sergeant) patrolling the streets of Saskatoon's west side, an area until recently beset by poverty, and terrible social conditions. Here, he struggled to bring justice to communities where the lines between criminal and victim often blurred. Though Louttit's story is characterized by conflict, danger, and violence, he argues that empathy and love for the community you serve are the greatest tools in any officer's hands, especially when policing society's less fortunate.While his story is based on his experiences in Saskatoon, it is equally applicable to the challenges faced in any community where marginalized people live. It is an exciting, passionate, easy to read, and highly accessible story aimed at a broad audience.

Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders


Randall B. Lindsey - 1999
    The authors meticulously provide information gathered from their experiences working with schools, educational agencies, and organizations across the United States and Canada and show how school leaders can:Gain a personal understanding of what cultural proficiency means in practice Use collaborative activities to effect change in a school Lead a learning community toward becoming a culturally proficient organization