If you are interested in public policy, I would suggest one of your 12 books be Yo' Mama's Dysfunctional by Robin Kelley. This brother's shit is together. He's relatively young and I think he is out of Harvard (or is it Columbia). He takes Cornel and Manning (we're on a first name basis) perspective but places it in the context of someone who grew up with hip-hop. Very good book. Very good.
Hey and what happened to Okayplayer book discussion?