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Daughter of a daughter of a queen / by Bird, Sarah,author.;
"The compelling, hidden story of Cathy Williams, a former slave and the first woman to ever serve in the US Army. "Here's the first thing you need to know about Miss Cathy Williams: I am the daughter of a daughter of a queen and my Mama never let me forget it." Missouri, 1864. Powerful, epic, and compelling, Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen shines light on a nearly forgotten figure in history. Cathy Williams was born and lived a slave until the Union army comes and destroys the only world she's known. Separated from her family, she makes the impossible decision, to fight in the army disguised as a man with the Buffalo Soldiers. With courage and wit, Cathy must not only fight for her survival and freedom in the ultimate man's world, but never give up on her mission to find her family, and the man she loves. Beautiful, strong, and impactful, Cathy's story is one that illustrates the force of hidden history come to light, the strength of women, and the power of love"--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; War fiction.; Williams, Cathay, 1844-approximately 1893; United States. Army; Cross-dressers; Women slaves; Women soldiers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Invisible child : poverty, survival, and hope in an American city / by Elliott, Andrea,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Invisible Child follows eight dramatic years in the life of Dasani Coates, a child with an imagination as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn homeless shelter. Born at the turn of a new century, Dasani is named for the bottled water that comes to symbolize Brooklyn's gentrification and the shared aspirations of a divided city. As Dasani grows up, moving with her tightknit family from shelter to shelter, her story reaches back to trace the passage of Dasani's ancestors from slavery to the Great Migration north. By the time Dasani comes of age in the twenty-first century, New York City's homeless crisis is exploding amid the growing chasm between rich and poor. In the shadows of this new Gilded Age, Dasani must lead her seven siblings through a thicket of problems: hunger, parental addiction, violence, housing instability, pollution, segregated schools, and the constant monitoring of the child-protection system. When, at age thirteen, Dasani enrolls at a boarding school in Pennsylvania, her loyalties are tested like never before. As she learns to "code-switch" between the culture she left behind and the norms of her new town, Dasani starts to feel like a stranger in both places. Ultimately, she faces an impossible question: What if leaving poverty means abandoning the family you love?"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Coates, Dasani, 2001-; African American homeless children; Homeless children;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Going to Mars. by Brewster, Joe,film director.; Stephenson, Michèle,film director.; Giovanni, Nikki,actor.; Kino Lorber (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
Nikki GiovanniOriginally produced by Kino Lorber in 2023.Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the Sundance U.S. Documentary Competition, this beguiling documentary portrait follows poet and activist Nikki Giovanni as she approaches 80. The film explores Giovanni’s Afrofuturist-feminist philosophical outlook as well as her poignant relationship with her family, her political audacity, and her poetic eloquence, all knit together with a constant eye and ear for its subject’s own aesthetic verve. Looking back at a personal life and history cast in the long shadow of American racism, and forward to hopeful, possible futures, Giovanni acts as our guide and narrator, with refreshingly unorthodox filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson refraining from traditional chronologies or talking-head conventions. GOING TO MARS is fueled by constant intellectual engagement and radical imagination in the search for emotional and political fulfillment in a world of disenfranchisement.Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subjects: Documentary films.; Enthnology.; Social sciences.; Literature.; Arts.; History, Modern.; Human rights.; Sociology.; Homosexuality.; Documentary films.; Ethnicity.; LGBTQ.; Artists.; Current affairs.; History.; Poetry.; African Americans.; Biography.;
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The book of Anansi / by Thomas, Angie.;
All of Nic's dreams have come true. After years of living in hiding as a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world, she now has everything she'd ever wanted: certified hero status, a big family and a real home in the hidden city of Uhuru, and a chance to develop her Gift at a school for young Manifestors like her. So life is perfect, right? Not quite. Her-favorite-author-turned-vengeful-outcast wants to destroy her. Then there's the terrifying secret prophecy that still threatens Nic's future, and the dangerous new power she seems to have--one she cannot control. And that's all before she encounters a cult of mysterious Manifestors who threaten to reveal the truth about her power and prophecy unless Nic delivers to them a legendary artifact, the Book of Anansi. There's just one small complication: No one knows if it still exists, or where it could be hidden. Nic now has only her twin brother, Alex, and her best friend, JP, to rely on as she makes a desperate attempt to uncover one of the Remarkable world's oldest mysteries--and hold on to the home and family she has been searching for her entire life.Ages 8-12.
Subjects: Fantasy fiction.; African Americans; Lost articles; Quests (Expeditions); Magic;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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God bless you, Otis Spunkmeyer / by Thomas, Joseph Earl,author.;
"After a deployment in the Iraq War dually defined by threat and interminable mundanity, Joseph Thomas is fighting to find his footing. Now a doctoral student at The University, and an EMS worker at the hospital in North Philly, he encounters round the clock friends and family from his past life and would-be future at his job, including contemporaries of his estranged father, a man he knows little about, serving time at Holmesburg prison for the statutory rape of his then-teenage mother. Meanwhile, he and his best friend Ray, a fellow vet, are alternatingly bonding over and struggling with their shared experience and return to civilian life, locked in their own rhythms of lust, heartbreak, and responsibility. Balancing the joys and frustrations of single fatherhood, his studies, and ceaseless shifts at the hospital as he becomes closer than he ever imagined to his father, Joseph tries to articulate vernacular understandings of the sociopolitical struggles he recounts as participant-observer at home, against the assumptions of his friends and colleagues. GOD BLESS YOU, OTIS SPUNKMEYER is a powerful examination of every day black life-of health and sex, race and punishment, and the gaps between our desires and our politics"--
Subjects: Domestic fiction.; Psychological fiction.; Novels.; African American men; Fathers and sons; Interpersonal relations; Veterans;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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How I Learned to Fly. by Steuri, Simon,film director.; the, Cedric,actor.; Chavis, Lonnie,actor.; Scribner, Marcus,actor.; Man, Method,actor.; Selene, Michele,actor.; Film Movement (Firm),dst; Kanopy (Firm),dst;
Cedric the Entertainer, Lonnie Chavis, Marcus Scribner, Method Man, Michele Selene AngOriginally produced by Film Movement in 2023.Two African-American teenage brothers suddenly find themselves on their own after being mysteriously abandoned by their parents. Deeply haunted by the mental and physical abuse inflicted by their father (Wu-Tang Clan’s Cliff “Method Man” Smith), elder brother Daniel (Marcus Scribner, ABC’s Black-ish) is determined to prevent their lives from falling apart. He maintains a daily routine, works as a dishwasher and does his best to keep a roof over their heads. Younger brother Eli (Lonnie Chavis, NBC's This Is Us) struggles to cope with the absence of his mother, leaving her voicemail messages in search of answers. Embarking on a journey of survival and self-discovery, they uncover moments of beauty, newfound meaning and enduring love that strengthen their bond despite the uncertain road ahead. Featuring supporting performances by Cedric the Entertainer and Michele Selene Ang, HOW I LEARNED TO FLY is a poignant story of determination and resilience in the face of profound adversity.Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subjects: Feature films.; Motion pictures.; Drama.; Families.;
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The personal librarian / by Benedict, Marie,author.; Murray, Victoria Christopher,author.;
"The remarkable, little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian-who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept in order to make her dreams come true, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray. In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. Pierpont Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection. But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and well-known advocate for equality. Belle's complexion isn't dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white-her complexion is dark because she is African American. The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths she must go-for the protection of her family and her legacy-to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives"--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Greene, Belle da Costa; Pierpont Morgan Library; African American women; Passing (Identity); Women librarians;
Available copies: 3 / Total copies: 3
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Yet here I am : lessons from a Black man's search for home / by Capehart, Jonathan,author.;
"MSNBC anchor Jonathan Capehart is one of the most recognizable faces in cable news. But long before that success, Capehart spent his boyhood growing up without his father, shuttling back and forth between New Jersey and rural Severn, North Carolina, contemplating the complexities of race and identity as they shifted around him. It was never easy bridging two worlds; whether being told he was too smart or not smart enough, too black or not black enough, Capehart struggled to find his place. Then, an internship at The Today Show altered the course of his life, bringing him one step closer to his dream. From there, Capehart embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Yet Here I Am takes us along that journey, from his years at Carleton College, where he learns to embrace his identity as a gay, black man surrounded by a likeminded community; to his decision to come out to his family, risking rejection; and finally to his move to New York City, where time and again he stumbles and picks himself up as he blazes a path to become the familiar face in news we know today. Honest and endearing, Yet Here I Am is an inspirational memoir of identity, opportunity, and of finding one's voice and purpose along the way"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Capehart, Jonathan.; African American journalists; Gay journalists;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Harlem after midnight / by Hare, Louise,author.;
"A body falls from a town house window in Harlem, and it looks just like the newest singer at the Apollo ... in this evocative, twisting new novel from the author of Miss Aldridge Regrets. Harlem, 1936: Lena Aldridge grew up in a cramped corner of London, hearing stories of the bright lights of Broadway. She always imagined that when she finally went to New York City, she'd be there with her father. But now he's dead, and she's newly arrived and alone, chasing a dream that has quickly dried up. When Will Goodman-the handsome musician she met on the crossing from England-offers for her to stay with his friends in Harlem, she agrees. She has nowhere else to go, and this will give her a chance to get to know Will better and see if she can find any trace of the family she might have remaining. Will's friends welcome her with open arms, but just as Lena discovers the stories her father once told her were missing giant pieces of information, she also starts to realize the man she's falling too fast and too hard for has secrets of his own. And they might just place a target on her back. Especially when she is drawn to the brightest stage in town"--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; African American women singers; Harlem Renaissance; Male musicians; Man-woman relationships; Secrecy; Women jazz singers;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Get out [videorecording] / by Gabriel, Betty,actor.; Henderson, Marcus,actor.; Jones, Caleb Landry,actor.; Kaluuya, Daniel,1989-actor.; Keener, Catherine,actor.; Whitford, Bradley,actor.; Williams, Allison,1988-actor.; Peele, Jordan,1979-screenwriter,film director.; Universal Pictures Corporation,production company.; Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (Firm),film distributor.;
Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Marcus Henderson, Betty Gabriel.Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya, Sicario) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams, Girls), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway in her parent's home upstate. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behaviour as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he could have never imagined.Canadian Home Video Rating: 14A.MPAA rating: R.DVD ; widescreen presentation ; Dolby Digital 5.1, 2.0.
Subjects: Feature films.; Horror films.; Video recordings for people with visual disabilities.; Interracial dating; Missing persons; African Americans;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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