Toward The Right Road

On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. shared a dream for black America. A generation later, America had its first black president. Less than a decade later, black America was back in the streets protesting and one generation away from being the nation's permanent underclass. One of the most talked about topics in America today regards closing the black/white wealth gap. Corporate America is attempting to address the issue. Governments from the local level up to the federal government are attempting to address the issue. The night before his assassination Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed the issue. However, the issue had been addressed in 1865 when General William T. Sherman asked a direct question of Garrison Frazier in Savannah, Georgia. Sherman had completed his March to the Sea at the culmination of the American civil war. On the brink of the Union's victory Sherman asked the spokesperson for 20 black men, what can government do to ensure that you as freed slaves can take care of yourselves? Frazier responded, "Land." With land the former slaves responded, they could take care of themselves and "have something extra," or positive net worth. Sherman responded by issuing Field Order #15 granting 400,000 acres of confiscated land in 40 acre plots to the freed slaves' families. Shortly thereafter, the federal government created the Freedmen's Bureau, the 400,000 acres were repossessed and given back to the former confederate slave owners, and the freed slaves fell subject to compulsive labor agreements and back in bondage. Following this, which was the best opportunity for black American self determination, blacks have pursued several paths to the Promised Land only to find themselves farther away than at any time in history.

Some people seem to have all of life's advantages, and others, like Berdie Gehring, face struggle after struggle. Starting with an abusive father and then a new "Daddy" who broke her heart, Berdie's life wasn't easy, and she ended up as many lost children do-wild, desperate, and in jail. Thankfully, God had a plan for her and brought people into her life at just the right time to put her on the right road to Him. Berdie's adventures span decades and take place all across the country. After ending up in a very special series of meetings put on by George and Charlotte Garrick, who were to become great friends, Berdie and her husband parked their big rig in Arizona and learned the Bible's truths and about the gift of the Sabbath. Berdie's life is truly an adventure, and after being faced with challenge after challenge, and along the way taking many unfortunate detours, she eventually finds the path Toward the Right Road. Share her story and become inspired by what God can do in your own life!

Bloomberg • Best Nonfiction Books of 2020: "[A] tour de force." The basis of a major PBS documentary by Ric Burns, this “excellent history” (The New Yorker) reveals how the automobile fundamentally changed African American life. Driving While Black demonstrates that the car—the ultimate symbol of independence and possibility—has always held particular importance for African Americans, allowing black families to evade the dangers presented by an entrenched racist society and to enjoy, in some measure, the freedom of the open road. Melding new archival research with her family’s story, Gretchen Sorin recovers a lost history, demonstrating how, when combined with black travel guides—including the famous Green Book—the automobile encouraged a new way of resisting oppression.

A memoir of the Civil Rights Movement from one of its youngest heroes--now in paperback will an all-new discussion guide. As the youngest marcher in the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Albama, Lynda Blackmon Lowery proved that young adults can be heroes. Jailed eleven times before her fifteenth birthday, Lowery fought alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. for the rights of African-Americans. In this memoir, she shows today's young readers what it means to fight nonviolently (even when the police are using violence, as in the Bloody Sunday protest) and how it felt to be part of changing American history. Straightforward and inspiring, this beautifully illustrated memoir brings readers into the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, complementing Common Core classroom learning and bringing history alive for young readers.

The face of the pedestrian safety crisis looks a lot like Ignacio Duarte-Rodriguez. The 77-year old grandfather was struck in a hit-and-run crash while trying to cross a high-speed, six-lane road without crosswalks near his son’s home in Phoenix, Arizona. He was one of the more than 6,000 people killed while walking in America in 2018. In the last ten years, there has been a 50 percent increase in pedestrian deaths. The tragedy of traffic violence has barely registered with the media and wider culture. Disproportionately the victims are like Duarte-Rodriguez—immigrants, the poor, and people of color. They have largely been blamed and forgotten. In Right of Way, journalist Angie Schmitt shows us that deaths like Duarte-Rodriguez’s are not unavoidable “accidents.” They don’t happen because of jaywalking or distracted walking. They are predictable, occurring in stark geographic patterns that tell a story about systemic inequality. These deaths are the forgotten faces of an increasingly urgent public-health crisis that we have the tools, but not the will, to solve. Schmitt examines the possible causes of the increase in pedestrian deaths as well as programs and movements that are beginning to respond to the epidemic. Her investigation unveils why pedestrians are dying—and she demands action. Right of Way is a call to reframe the problem, acknowledge the role of racism and classism in the public response to these deaths, and energize advocacy around road safety. Ultimately, Schmitt argues that we need improvements in infrastructure and changes to policy to save lives. Right of Way unveils a crisis that is rooted in both inequality and the undeterred reign of the automobile in our cities. It challenges us to imagine and demand safer and more equitable cities, where no one is expendable.

This in-depth look at the civil rights movement goes to the places where pioneers of the movement marched, sat-in at lunch counters, gathered in churches; where they spoke, taught, and organized; where they were arrested, where they lost their lives, and where they triumphed. Award-winning journalist Charles E. Cobb Jr., a former organizer and field secretary for SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), knows the journey intimately. He guides us through Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee, back to the real grassroots of the movement. He pays tribute not only to the men and women etched into our national memory but to local people whose seemingly small contributions made an impact. We go inside the organizations that framed the movement, travel on the "Freedom Rides" of 1961, and hear first-person accounts about the events that inspired Brown vs. Board of Education. An essential piece of American history, this is also a useful travel guide with maps, photographs, and sidebars of background history, newspaper coverage, and firsthand interviews.

Every song has a story behind it, and this is the captivating memoir, in Bruce Blackman's unsurpassable wit, that tickles the nerve-endings of a time gone by. "Moonlight Feels Right" by Starbuck, a group in which Bruce was the frontman, became one of the top-selling songs of the '70s, and is still played in 54 countries across the globe.

This work focuses on the topic of freedom. The author starts with the old issue of free will - do we as individual human beings choose our conduct, at least partly independently, freely? He comes down on the side of libertarians who answer Yes, and scorns the compatibilism of philosophers like Daniel Dennett, who try to rescue some kind of freedom from a physically determined universe. From here he moves on to apply his belief in radical freedom to areas of life such as religion, politics, and morality, tackling subjects as diverse as taxation, private property, justice and the welfare state.

Feminists from 1848 to the present have rightly viewed the Seneca Falls convention as the birth of the women's rights movement in the United States and beyond. In The Road To Seneca Falls, Judith Wellman offers the first well documented, full-length account of this historic meeting in its contemporary context. The convention succeeded by uniting powerful elements of the antislavery movement, radical Quakers, and the campaign for legal reform under a common cause. Wellman shows that these three strands converged not only in Seneca Falls, but also in the life of women's rights pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It is this convergence, she argues, that foments one of the greatest rebellions of modern times. Rather than working heavy-handedly downward from their official "Declaration of Sentiments," Wellman works upward from richly detailed documentary evidence to construct a complex tapestry of causes that lay behind the convention, bringing the struggle to life. Her approach results in a satisfying combination of social, community, and reform history with individual and collective biographical elements. The Road to Seneca Falls challenges all of us to reflect on what it means to be an American trying to implement the belief that "all men and women are created equal," both then and now. A fascinating story in its own right, it is also a seminal piece of scholarship for anyone interested in history, politics, or gender.

Moishe Yukle Bernstein was a poor pedlar who bought land near Pontypool, Ontario, a tiny Protestant town outside Toronto. The spot became a summer getaway for Jewish garment workers from Kensington Market -- and for six decades, families made their way to the small village, where they shared dreams, memories, and a pathetic waterfront. With a vast array of characters, songs, and a healthy dose of humour, The Right Road to Pontypool is a unique and moving depiction of the Jewish experience in Canada.