Tag Archives: racism

The Sable Cloak – Gail Milissa Grant

Posted on February 20, 2025 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) Set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow South, readers are first taken to Greenston, South Carolina, in 1934. We meet Big Will who upon turning eighteen, must join the neighborhood’s vigilante group to keep justice … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction, Reviewers' Top Picks | Tagged African American history, family, Jim Crow, racism, segregation, St. Louis | Comments Off

The Wind on Her Tongue – Anita Kopacz

Posted on February 10, 2025 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) 1872 -Yemaya, who now lives in Cuba, is well known for possessing healing powers inherited from her Nigerian Yoruba Orisha lineage. Her eighteen-year-old daughter, Oya, as the Orisha of storm, wind and weather, also possesses intense … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction | Tagged African-American, class, Historical fiction, New Orleans, racism, San Francisco, voodoo | Comments Off

But Not for Me – Allison A. Davis

Posted on September 17, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) It’s August 1958 and black renters, homeowners and business owners are getting kicked out of the Fillmore district of San Francisco due to redevelopment and urban renewal. Developers are using unfair tactics to enforce eminent domain. … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction | Tagged beat generation, corruption, Crime, jazz, justice, Mafia, racism, San Francisco | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America – Jeffrey Rosen

Posted on July 3, 2024 by J D Jung

(reviewed by JD Jung) “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence. But what did the “pursuit of Happiness” mean to the founding fathers? American legal scholar, Jeffrey Rosen uncovers … Continue reading →

Posted in Revisited | Tagged American History, happiness, philosophy, racism, slavery | Comments Off

The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History – Karen Valby

Posted on April 30, 2024 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) At the start of the Covid 19 pandemic, five original dancers from the Dance Theater of Harlem formed the 152nd Street Black Ballet Legacy Council. Lydia Abarca, Gayle Mc-Kinney-Griffith, Sheila Rohan, Marcia Sells, and Karlya Shelton … Continue reading →

Posted in Bios and Memoirs, History, Non-fiction | Tagged ballet, black history, dancers, racism | Comments Off

The Pursuit of Happiness: How Classical Writers on Virtue Inspired the Lives of the Founders and Defined America – Jeffrey Rosen

Posted on February 28, 2024 by J D Jung

Posted in American Politics, History, Non-fiction, Philosophical reads | Tagged American History, happiness, justice, philosophy, racism, slavery | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited – The Scent of Burnt Flowers – Blitz Bazawule

Posted on February 25, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned It’s the mid-1960s and an African American couple, Melvin and Bernadette are on the run. Melvin sees that their only chance is to flee the U.S. Back in college, Melvin saved the life of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Revisited | Tagged 1960s, colonialism, FBI, Ghana, racism | Comments Off

They Got Daddy: One Family’s Reckoning with Racism and Faith – Sharon Tubbs

Posted on February 16, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “This story would reveal parts of who I am, as a Black woman in America, by discovering who my grandfather was.” This was not her original intention though. She wanted to learn more about her grandfather’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Bios and Memoirs, History, Non-fiction, Social Justice | Tagged African American history, Alabama, memoirs, race relations, racism | Comments Off