Tag Archives: race

My Selma

Posted on January 5, 2024 by smellincoffee

Willie Mae Brown was a child during the Civil Rights movement, which reached its high point in 1965, with the Selma to Montgomery march that resulted in the Civil Rights bill of 1965, with great assistance from the local sheriff and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Racism, medieval feasting, and housing

Posted on November 21, 2023 by smellincoffee

Between work and school projects my list of read-but-unreviewed titles is growing, so…alas, it’s short rounds time. First up, The Color of Law, on how housing segregation was purposely pursued, not merely tolerated, by the federal government — primarily through … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Monroeville and TKAM

Posted on February 27, 2023 by smellincoffee

Monroeville and the Stage Production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” © 2023 John M. Williams160 pages The first time I ever visited Monroeville, I had the dumb luck to arrive on a day when the courthouse-turned-museum was hosting a theatrical … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Go Tell it on the Mountain

Posted on February 13, 2023 by smellincoffee

Go Tell it on the Mountain© 1953 James Baldwin272 pages A young man faces an enormous choice at a presumed-to-be-uneventful prayer meeting, and at this crossroads of his life,  the reader  experiences the choices of his kin whose lives brought … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

American Contempt for Liberty

Posted on September 23, 2021 by smellincoffee

American Contempt for Liberty© 2015 Walter Williams432 pages American Contempt for Liberty caught my eye immediately, for its title alone, for I’ve had a growing suspicion that the failure of the American republic lies not only in the ever-expanding state, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, Society and Culture | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Drug Use for Grown Ups

Posted on May 24, 2021 by smellincoffee

Drug Use for Grown Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear© 2021 Carl Hart304 pages My occasional forays into anarchist literature aside, I’m one of the squarest people you are ever likely to meet, a fellow whose idea of … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A Gathering of Old Men

Posted on May 7, 2021 by smellincoffee

A Gathering of Old Men© 1983 Ernest Gaines213 pages There’s a white man dead in the quarter, and by sundown there may be another body swinging from the trees. Most of the people in the quarter don’t know why Beau … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The Autobiogaphy of Miss Jane Pittman

Posted on January 13, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman259 pages© 1982 Ernest Gaines A young girl carries water for both exhausted rebels and the jubilant army chasing them.  An elderly lady who has seen sorrow after sorrow visited on herself and her loved … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Selma: A Bicentennial History

Posted on February 27, 2017 by smellincoffee

Selma: A Bicentennial History© 2017 Alston Fitts III384 pages On December 4th, 1820, the Alabama legislature granted a town charter to a burgeoning community established on a high bluff overlooking the Alabama river. The place, named after a cities of … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Posted on February 25, 2017 by smellincoffee

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings© 1969 Maya Angelou304 pages I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an autobiography in the form of a novel, following a young woman’s coming of age as she journeys from a small … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments