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African American Fiction & Non-FictionOctober 2014
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New and Recently Released Fiction
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Endangered: a Novel
by Jean Love Cush
When her 15-year-old son Malik is accused of murder, Janae, who cannot pay for his defense, reluctantly agrees to let a white human rights attorney represent him, and as she battles to save her son, his trial sparks a national firestorm of debate over race, prison and politics.
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Hidden Blessings
by Kimberly Cash Tate
"A terminal breast cancer diagnosis shatters Kendra Woods' life and dreams. But through the hurt and the pain, she learns to view her life - however many days that includes - in a new way. Kendra Woods has always known success. Raised in a prominent black family in well-to-do Clayton, Missouri, she had high aspirations for herself and, thus far, has met them. After graduating from law school she went to work at a prestigious law firm. Now she's just made partner and in one month will marry the man of herdreams. And it's only the beginning. Kendra envisions herself becoming a judge one day and she can't wait to have kids. But a terminal diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer shatters her world - weeks before her wedding. Kendra is devastated as the reality sets in that she could have no more than two years to live. Her fiance leaves, and as word travels around the firm, she's no longer given big cases. Kendra is angry with God and feels her life has already ended. Her path keeps crossing Lance's, a troublemaker who briefly attended her high school. Kendra has trouble letting go of the person he was a decade ago and can't believe an encounter in jail turned his life around and he's now leading a church plant in Clayton. He's becoming the unlikely source of hope she needs. Kendra is in the midst of a storm - one that's apparently here to stay. But, the hidden blessings may be just the shelter she needs"
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Into the Go-Slow
by Bridgett M Davis
It's 1986 and twenty-one-year-old Angie continues to mourn the death of her brilliant and radical sister Ella. On impulse, she travels from Detroit to the place where Ella tragically died four years before-Nigeria. She retraces her sister's steps, all the while navigating the chaotic landscape of a major African country on the brink of democracy careening toward a coup d'état. At the center of this quest is a love affair that upends everything Angie thought she knew about herself. Against a backdrop of Nigeria's infamous go-slow-traffic as wild and surprising as a Fela lyric-Angie begins to unravel the mysteries of the past, and opens herself up to love and life after Ella.
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A Light in the Wilderness: a Novel
by Jane Kirkpatrick
A former slave makes her way to Oregon Territory in the company of her immigrant husband and a white woman following her husband out west, while a Kalapuya Indian named Betsy's story unfolds in the land where their stories will intersect.
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Rose Gold: an Easy Rawlins Mystery
by Walter Mosley
When a boxer-turned-revolutionary kidnaps the daughter of a weapons manufacturer and threatens to publicly execute her in exchange for a lucrative ransom, Easy Rawlins is tapped by the LAPD to make a difficult border crossing to navigate an ensuing standoff.
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New and Recently Released Non-Fiction
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Bad Feminist
by Roxane Gay
A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched young cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay. "Pink is my favorite color. I used to say my favorite color was black to be cool, but it is pink, all shades of pink. If I have an accessory, it is probably pink. I read Vogue, and I'm not doing it ironically, though it might seem that way. I once live-tweeted the September issue." In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of color (The Help) while also taking readers on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown).
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Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black
by James Clyburn
From his humble beginnings in Sumter, South Carolina, to his prominence on the Washington, D.C., political scene as the third highest-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, U.S. Congressman James E. Clyburn has led an extraordinary life. In Blessed Experiences, Clyburn tells in his own inspirational words how an African American boy from the Jim Crow-era South was able to beat the odds to achieve great success and become, as President Barack Obama describes him, "one of a handful of people who, when they speak, the entire Congress listens."
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Fire Shut Up in My Bones: a Memoir
by Charles M. Blow
A respected journalist describes the abuse he suffered at the hands of a close family relative, the effect this had on his formative years and how he overcame the anger and self-doubt it left behind.
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Hip Hop Family Tree 2: 1981-1983
by Ed Piskor
Book 2 covers the early years of 1981-1983, when Hip Hop has made a big transition from the parks and rec rooms to downtown clubs and vinyl records. The performers make moves to separate themselves from the paying customers by dressing more and more flamboyantly until a young group called RUN-DMC comes on the scene to take things back to the streets. This volume covers hits like Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock," Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "The Message," and the movie Wild Style, and introduces superstars like NWA, The Beastie Boys, Doug E Fresh, KRS One, ICE T, and early Public Enemy. Cameos by Dolemite, LL Cool J, Notorious BIG, and New Kids on the Block(?!)!
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The Man from Essence: Creating a Magazine for Black Women
by Edward Lewis
The co-founder of Essence describes the family work ethic that inspired his rise from a violent South Bronx youth to one of the nation's most respected magazine publishers, describing his Civil Rights-era education, relationship with co-founder Clarence Smith and most memorable career challenges.
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African American Book Club
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African American Book Club - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Thursday, October 16, 7:00 pm
South Regional - Children's Program Room
Join the African American Book Club for a discussion of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou's biographical account of growing up in the South. Registration is required. Copies of the book are available at the Information Desk.
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Friends Fall Book Sale
Friday, October 3, to Sunday, October 5
Book sale opens Friday at 4:00 PM. Saturday, 10 AM-4 PM. Sunday, 2-5 PM. Age Group: All Ages. Friends of the Durham Library sell gently used books at bargain prices. Proceeds benefit the library.
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Computer Classes @ South
Friday, October 10, 17, 24 & 31,
3:00 pm
South Regional Study Room 1
Introductory computer classes and beginning classes in programs such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and more.
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Game Night for Adults
Tuesday, October 21 & 28,
7:00 pm
South Regional - Children's Program Room
Join us for an X-Box game night just for adults. Games may include: Destiny, Call of Duty, and Madden 15.
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POETRY LIVE: Open Mic Nite
Thursday, October 16,
6:30 pm
Auditorium:1st Floor
Join up-and-coming songstress NAKIYASOUL as she sings songs about love, life and soul. She will also share inspirational stories. The evening is sure to reset the balance and rhythm of your soul. Light refreshments will be provided.
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KARAOKE: Open Mic
Friday, October 24,
3:00 pm
Auditorium:1st Floor
Join host NAKIYASOUL to sing your favorite YouTube karaoke tunes. Fun for the whole family. Come to the Main Library auditorium. At the DCL, everyone is a STAR!
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Durham Reads Together - March: Book One
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Durham Marches Together
Saturday, October 4, 9:00 am
Join us for a unity march that celebrates Durhams history and progress on civil rights. We will march from the Main Library parking lot to the new civil rights mural, which is located beside the Durham Arts Council. A short rally will welcome Congressman John Lewis and his co-author Andrew Aydin and kick off Durham Reads Together. The mural depicts scenes of Durham's involvement in the civil rights movement.
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Durham Reads Together Kickoff: March: Book One
Saturday, October 4,
2:30 pm
Main Library - Auditorium
Join Congressman John Lewis and co-author Andrew Aydin for a reading and discussion of Lewis graphic memoir, March: Book One. March is a vivid first-hand account of Lewis lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, a contemporary meditation on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader Civil Rights Movement. March: Book One was the winner of a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award and is a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. It is a Reader's Digest Graphic Novel that Every Grown-Up Should Read. It was a New York Times and Washington Post bestseller and an American Library Association Notable Book. A book signing will follow the reading. This event is free and open to the public.
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Durham Remembers Together
Sunday, October 5,
3:00 pm
Hayti Heritage Center
Join Congressman John Lewis and Frank Stasio, host of WUNCs The State of Things, for a discussion on the March on Washington and the Civil Rights Movement, past and present. Those who attended the 1964 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom will be recognized at the program. This event is co-sponsored by the Hayti Heritage Center. A book signing will follow the event.
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Film Screening: Freedom Summer
Tuesday, October 7,
7:00 pm
Main Library - Auditorium
As part of the John Hope Franklin Centers Stanley Nelson Film Series, join us for a screening of the PBS documentary Freedom Summer, which was directed by Nelson. Over 10 memorable weeks in 1964, known as Freedom Summer, more than 700 student volunteers from around the country joined organizers and local African Americans in a historic effort to shatter the foundations of white supremacy in Mississippi, which was one of the nations most viciously racist, segregated states. The film will be introduced by John Gartrell, Director of the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture at Duke University.The question and answer period will be led by Charlie Cobb, a field secretary in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee from 1962-1967. Cobb was instrumental in developing Freedom Schools in Mississippi. This program is co-sponsored by the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture and UNC-TV.
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Film Screening: February One
Thursday, October 9,
7:00 pm
East Regional Library - Meeting Room
Join Dr. Steven Channing, historian and executive producer, and producer Rebecca Cerese for a screening of their award-winning documentary, February One. Based largely on first-hand accounts and rare archival footage, the film documents one volatile winter in Greensboro that not only challenged public accommodation customs and laws in North Carolina, but served as a blueprint for the wave of nonviolent civil rights protests that swept across the South and the nation throughout the 1960s. This program is co-sponsored by the Southern Documentary Fund.
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Visual Imagery and the Civil Rights Movement
Friday, October 10,
12:00 pm
Bragtown
Join Gail Williams in a presentation and discussion of the impact of visual images from March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. Williams is an artist, educator and career counselor.
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Film Screening: White Scripts and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in Comic Books
Saturday, October 11,
11:00 am
Stanford L. Warren - Meeting Room
In this thought provoking, interactive documentary film screening of White Scripts and Black Supermen: Black Masculinities in American Comic Books and community dialogue, Georgia State University professor of African-American Studies Jonathan Gayles critically discusses the contemporary societal relationships and 40-year evolution of black superheroes in American comic books. He examines how their portrayal is predicated on the longstanding backdrop of American racial history which often portrayed African-American men in overtly negative and stereotypical ways
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Meet the Author: Howard Fuller
Sunday, October 12,
3:00 pm
Hayti Heritage Center
Howard Fuller will read from his just-published autobiography, No Struggle, No Progress: A Warriors Life from Black Power to Education Reform (co-authored with Lisa Frazier Page). The book will capture the attention of anyone interested in civil rights, black power, or the education of the nations children. It will be of special interest to Durhamites, since Fuller, distinguished professor of education and founder and director of the Institute for the Transformation of Learning at Marquette University, was hired as a community organizer for Durhams Operation Breakthrough in 1965 and later founded Malcolm X University. A book signing will follow the reading. This event is co-sponsored by the Hayti Heritage Center.
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Durhams Civil Rights Mural
Monday, October 13,
7:00 pm
Stanford L. Warren Library - Meeting Room
Join muralist Brenda Miller Holmes for a panel discussion on the creation and vision of Durhams new Civil Rights Mural. Begun in 2013 with 30 diverse community members, ages 15-65, the mural was collaboratively designed with help from many different individuals. The painting began in June 2014 and covers 2,400 square feet. It honors many of Durhams citizens who fought for civil rights and equality for all.
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Meet the Author: Janice Mack Guess
Tuesday, October 14,
7:00 pm
North Regional Library - Meeting Room
Join us for a reading and discussion of Janice Mack Guess memoir, Little Colored Girls Want to Wear Pearls Too. Guess tells the story of the challenges she and her siblings faced when they, along with 16 other African-American children, desegregated Durham City Schools in 1964 at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. She writes from the perspective of a 12-year-old girl who attended the formerly all-white Brogden Junior High School. The stories of these brave children are important to all who wish to understand the history of our community and schools. A book signing will follow the reading.
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Durham Sings Together: Songs of the Civil Rights Movement
Thursday, October 16,
7:00 pm
Hayti Heritage Center
Hayti Heritage Center, Hayti Heritage Center 804 Old Fayetteville St.Free and open to the publicDr. Martin Luther King said The freedom songs are playing a strong and vital role in our struggle. Join us for a celebration of the freedom songs and spirituals that provided comfort and strength to the civil rights workers in jail and during marches. Choirs from the community, local schools and universities will offer an evening of these inspirational songs. This event is co-sponsored by the Hayti Heritage Center.
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The Story of the Long Civil Rights Movement in Durham, North Carolina
Saturday, October 18,
4:00 pm
South Regional Library - Meeting Room
Join André Vann, North Carolina Central Universitys Coordinator of Archives and Instructor of Public History, as he moderates a panel discussion of the Long Civil Rights Movement in Durham from 1954 to 1964. Panelists will discuss Blue Case, Woolworth Lunch Counter, 1963 Sit-ins and The 1964 Freedom Riders. and their participation in these events. This program is co-sponsored by North Carolina Central University Archives, Records and History.
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SNCC and John Lewis
Sunday, October 19,
3:00 pm
Main Library - Auditorium
Join Dr. Wesley Hogan for a discussion of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the young John Lewis involvement. SNCCs work throughout the South in the 1960s was perhaps the boldest experiment in freedom of the Civil Rights Movement. Their use of grassroots activism and democratic practice helped change the focus of the movement overall. Hogan is the author of Many Minds, One Heart: SNCCs Dream for a New America and is a noted documentary historian of the civil rights movement. She is the director of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. A book signing will follow the talk. This program is co-sponsored by the Center of Documentary Studies at Duke University.
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The Social Gospel and the Civil Rights Movement
Tuesday, October 21,
7:00 pm
Main Library - Auditorium
In what ways were the nonviolent protests of the 1960s influenced by religious teachings? What happens when individuals apply Christian ethics to social problems, like racial inequality? WUNCs Frank Stasio will moderate a group of expert panelists to both investigate the religious roots of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and discuss the present-day intersection of religious thought and social reform. Panelists include Reverend Doctor Eboni Marshall Turman, professor at Duke Divinity School, Rev. Jimmie Hawkins from Covenant Presbyterian Church, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove from Rutba House and director of the School for Conversion, and Dr. Jarvis Hall, professor at North Carolina Central University and director of the Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change.
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Comic Fest: The Comic Book that Changed the World
Sunday, October 26,
3:00 pm
Southwest Library - Meeting Room
Join Andrew Aydin,co-author of March: Book One, for a talk on the comic book that inspired John Lewis to write March. Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story was published in December 1957 by the Fellowship of Reconciliation. This comic inspired Lewis and many other young activists to join the movement and use the principles of nonviolence to battle racial discrimination. The comic has a long history of inspiring activists and has been used in South Africa, Uruguay, Vietnam, Egypt and Latin America. This program is co-sponsored by Comic Fest and the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
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Songs of the Freedom Movement with Lois Deloatch
Tuesday, October 28,
7:00 pm
Stanford L. Warren Library - Meeting Room
Join jazz vocalist Lois Deloatch for an evening of song. Deloatch has headlined concerts throughout the United States and internationally. She is noted for her rich contralto voice and expansive repertoire, which melds sacred, secular, traditional and contemporary music. She has received numerous awards for her talent and community service including the Shirley Caesar Community Service Award, Indy Arts Award and an Emerging Artist Award. Deloatch will be accompanied by renowned guitarist Scott Sawyer A CD sale will follow the concert.
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We Who Believe in Freedom: The Next Civil Rights Generation
Thursday, October 30,
7:00 pm
Main Library - Auditorium
Join Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs for the conclusion of Durham Reads Together as she moderates a panel of young activists who are continuing the Civil Rights Movement in the 21st century as they work for voting rights, queer liberation, birth justice, gender justice, immigrant rights and the end of the school to prison pipeline. Gumbs is the founder of the Eternal Summer of the Black Feminist Mind and the co-founder of the Mobile Homecoming project.
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Looking for More Great Books?
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My Next 5 For personalized reading recommendations from Durham County librarians, you may want to try My Next 5! Simply complete an online form to tell us a little about what genres, books, and authors you like (or dislike). A DCL librarian will review your submission and reply within three days with a list of the next five books you should read.
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NextReads e-Newsletters Subscribe to one of our NextReads e-newsletters to have reading recommendations delivered right to your inbox. Select from topics such as the weekly New York Times bestseller list, graphic novels recommendations, armchair traveler reads and so much more. Each newsletter comes with links directly to the library's catalog, so you can easily place holds on items that interest you. You can also sign up for a general DCL e-newsletter that highlights library news and upcoming events.
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NoveList
NoveList is a comprehensive database of fiction and nonfiction titles for all ages, including recommendations, articles, and lists for your fiction and nonfiction needs. Durham County Library cardholders can access NoveList from any computer. |
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If you are having trouble unsubscribing to this newsletter, please contact the Durham County Library at
919-560-0100, 300 N. Roxoboro Street, Durham, NC 27702
librarywebmaster@durhamcountync.gov
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