I'm sure this has been done, but what are the essential books that you should read to get a good understand on our predicament.

k. orr

...on who's predicament your talking about.



"over tones over waves of laughter
under hues deepest blues hereafter
we touch souls and the moment glows
here and now, we are far more than our senses"
-Cassandra Wilson


AIM - chap19150

Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaever
Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley
Roots by Alex Haley
Isis Papers by Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
Civilization of Barbarism by Cheikh Anta Diop
The Soul of Black Folks by WEB Du Bois
Miseducation of the Negro by Carter G Woodson
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Soledad Brother by George Jackson
Black Robes, White Justice by Bruce Wright
Almost any book by Toni Morrison and James Baldwin:
Song of Solomon/Beloved
Blues for Mister Charlie/Another Country
Dutchman and the Slave by Leroi Jones
The Negro and the Racial Mountain by Langston Hughes (essay)
Agents of Repression: The FBI's Secret Wars against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement by Ward Churchill
Poems and essays by bell hooks, Nikki Giovanni, Audre Lorde, Sonia Sanchez

I can probably think of a few more but somebody else is sure to add.

"No matter who you are or what your age may be, if you want to achieve permanent, sustaining success, the motivation that will drive you toward that goal must come from within." - Ultramagnetic MCs

Maybe if we could also get a listing of books that not only give insight into our predicament, but also insight into personal development. I think in stores they call them "inspirational" books. I mention this because along with identifying our problems, we need to look within ourselves and make personal changes before we can even chip away at the greater dilemma of social issues.

Additionally, I have been reading a lot of books recently. I've read The People's History of the United States, The 48 Laws of Power, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and I'm still trying to get my hand on the Celestine Prophecy. All of these books are interesting and such but none of these selections have really opened my eyes to anything that I haven't at least glimpsed before. I always wonder if there is that one book that exists that will just elevate my thinking process to a previously unattained plateau. If anyone has any suggesstions, please supply.

Books that got me open:

"Seat of the Soul" by Gary Zukof
"The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz
"Opening to Spirit" by Caroline Shola Arewa
"The Adversity Quotient" (Stolz)
"Who Moved My Cheese?" (about dealing with change)
"Value in the Valley" and "One Day My Soul Just Opened Up" by Iyanla Vanzant


"No matter who you are or what your age may be, if you want to achieve permanent, sustaining success, the motivation that will drive you toward that goal must come from within." - Ultramagnetic MCs

The Experience of Insight, by Joseph Goldstein
Lovingkindness, by Sharon Salzberg
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, and A Path With Heart, by Jack Kornfield
Being Peace, by Thich Nhat Hanh
Tao Te Ching, trans. Stephen Mitchell
How Can I Help? by Ram Dass and Paul Gorman
A Gradual Awakening, and Who Dies? by Stephen Levine
Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig


Peace.

a beautiful critique of capitalism is Guy Debord's "The Society of the Spectacle". he was part of the situationist international art movement in France in the 60's. it talks about alienation and mental oppresion capitalism creates.
Also, a great novel is Harriet E. Wilson's "Our Nig". it is actually the first novel written by an african-american women. great piece of work.
Anything by Howard Zinn or Noam Chomsky is very enlightening and readable. For Zinn i suggest:"A People's history of the United States", "The Zinn Reader", "Declarations of Independence", "The Politics of History", "The Southern Mystique", "You can't be neutral on a moving train". For Chomsky i suggest:"Manufacturing Consent","Profit over People","The Chomsky Reader","Class Warfare". For Feminist stuff: anything by Emma Goldman, bell hooks,Simone Beauvour's(sp?)"The Second Sex", Volarie Solanas's "SCUM Manifesto"-this is pure genuis-there is so much else, but i can't remeber right now.
"if voting could change anything, it would be illegal"-me

Yippee!Love those situationists and Chomsky!!
Carry on..................

These are some books that really had me thinking deeply:

The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson
Masks of the Illuminati by Robert Anton Wilson
New World Order by A. Ralph Epperson


AIM: kaorazen
email: kaorazen@aol.com
----------------------------------------
"Issues of a complicated manner, hammer away at my mood, As I stay glued to the possibility that really it's all okay. Silly of me, to think that things would ever go my way, though some do, there's more than few which don't." Grouch

"I tried to keep it all respectable, but your head was 'round my nuts so much, I thought I had an extra testicle." Kaorazen Obsidian Mojo

"You're still a motherfuckin' slave, it doesn't matter if you're near white, a little light, or blacker than a thousand midnights." Talib Kweli

"How the fuck did we go from being original man to becoming original gangsters?" Kaorazen Obsidian Mojo

"We're all really spirit bodies in a manifested world of form." Dodo Mafioso

"FUCK THE INDUSTRY! Let it rupture, I'm tryin' to keep my family structure stable, no more dreams of trippin' in limos, or shippin' them demos to a shady label." Kaorazen Obsidian Mojo

did anyone mention june jordan? or bell hooks? gotta read bell hooks.

did sonia sanchez write anything about history? i saw her speak the other night. every other time i saw her she was performing poetry, but this time she talked a lot about history and activism. i had no idea she knew so much or that she taught black history classes. she is real, though. and so is bell hooks.

leroi jones/ amiri baraka is an interesting one to read because he doesn't agree with himself on a lot of past things. but he is an incredible writer (man, EVERYTHING he writes is influenced by his poetry) and the overwhelming values of his ideas stay fairly consistent. and he is dedicated and strong minded.

but read these and make sure, this is what sonia was saying, that you know the history or the context around the book when you read it. you have to understand each book within it's own time and understand how THESE BOOKS WERE REVOLUTIONARY. the sould of black folks came out at a time when people said black people HAD NO SOULS. it was REVOLUTIONARY!!

This post was a great idea--as I head into another Canadian winter--I need some good suggestions to keep the brain atrophy away!
My next project was to tackle some Hakim Bey--primarily the Temporary Autonomous Zone.....plus the Principia Discordia

Thanks!

* Speaking Truth to Power: Essays on Race, Resistance, and Radicalism by Manning Marable (I'm reading this now)

*The Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson
(I see the Mis-Education was already stated)

also someone suggested that I read
*The Falsifikation of the Afrikan Consciousness
(I'm truly trying to locate this book, not having any luck though-if anyone knows where I can find it please let me know)


"Revolution is about change, and the first place the change begins is in yourself." Assata

hey, thanks a lot for posting all of your favorite books.
i'm definitely looking for new reading material as i head
into the boston winter. i'm especially looking for books
relating to urban issues/urban development/community sociology,
if anyone has specific recommendations. a good bell hooks
starter book is "feminist theory: from the margin to the center".

!
b



+ brian sholis // brian@quietindustries.com

actually it's called "The Ville: Cops and Kids in Urban America" by greg donaldson, who was a teacher at the time.

it focuses on a set of projects in BK, the neighborhood, largely from the POV of a housing cop and a kid who lives there.

outstanding book, you have to read it. it's out of print i believe, but it should be in a library or available for special order from a big bookstore. it's worth the effort.


also...

Living To Tell About It: Young Black Men In America Speak Their Piece..by Darrell Dawsey.

the author travelled across the country over a year, interviewing young men from different economic backgrounds, about love, life, childhood, and their take on the pressures of being a black male in america.




Dis.
a/k/a Lumpy Hamster Head

And Now More Than Ever:

Wise's (Thunder's) motto for the day: Don't Be A Cock-Puffer!!"

we now return you to your regularly scheduled discussions of Kool-Aid, smuttin, and cartoons. ~~ KDfromWestP


Ahhh...monkeys--is there anything they can't do? ~ Mosaic
 

think we should get this going again


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