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Undisputed : a champion's life / by Bailey, Donovan,1967-author.;
"From chasing a soccer ball through the fields of his native Jamaica as a child, to the basketball courts of Oakville, where he came of age in one of Canada's most thriving cultural mosaics, to his run toward Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996, Donovan Bailey got a long way on natural talent. But he soon learned he needed to be his own toughest critic if he was going to be the very best. As he rose quickly to prominence in Canada's track scene, others didn't always understand the rigour at work behind his confident demeanour. Media reported, not his determination, but that he was immodest in a way they weren't accustomed to seeing from Canadian athletes, especially track athletes in the wake of the Ben Johnson doping scandal at Seoul in 1988. Bailey was having none of it, and when he called out racism in Canada in a way that contradicted the prevailing idea most Canadians had of their country, he started a media uproar and cracked wide open the nation's moral complacency. Aside from his 100-metre and 4x100 relay golds in Atlanta, Bailey's track career was a litany of records and rare accomplishments, including his audacious 1997 race in Toronto's SkyDome against American 200-metre Olympic champion Michael Johnson to determine who was really the world's fastest man. There would be no disputing the result. For all his talent, Bailey was coached in success long before he was coached in athletics. Following the footsteps of his father, a real estate investor, Bailey was a self-made millionaire by the age of 21 and continued to apply a disciplined mentality to everything he did in life. An Olympic champion, yes, but one mentored in the ways of his mind well before he was taught how to optimize the gifts of his body. Frank about the way Bailey dominated the 100-metre (not even his favourite sport), and unapologetic for pushing those around him as hard as he pushed himself, Undisputed is an athlete's story told with the kind of entertaining and inspiring verve very few of his peers can match."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Bailey, Donovan, 1967-; Athletes, Black; Sprinters; Jamaican Canadians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Blue Madonna / by Benn, James R.,author.;
"Billy Boyle, US Army detective and ex-Boston cop, faces his toughest investigation yet: infiltrating enemy lines in France as the Allies invade Normandy. It's late May 1944. Captain Billy Boyle is court-martialed on spurious charges of black market dealings. Stripped of his officer's rank, reduced to private, and sentenced to three months' hard labor, Boyle is given an opportunity: he can avoid his punishment if he goes behind enemy lines to rescue a high-value Allied soldier. A secret chamber and tunnels, once used by escaping Huguenots in the 17th century, has since been taken over by the Allies. But this "safe house" on the outskirts of Chaumont turns out to be anything but. Two downed airmen, one Canadian and the other American, have been murdered. Billy is flown in as part of a three-man team on June 5, 1944, the night before the Normandy invasion. Billy must solve the mystery of who is behind the murders, then lead a group escape from France back to England, with both the Germans and a killer hot on their heels"--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Historical fiction.; War fiction.; Boyle, Billy (Fictitious character); Murder; Undercover operations; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The war we won apart : the untold story of two elite agents who became one of the most decorated couples of WWII / by Ayed, Nahlah,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Love, betrayal, and a secret war: the untold story of two elite agents, one Canadian, one British, who became one of the most decorated wartime couples of WWII. On opposite sides of the pond, Sonia Butt, an adventurous young British woman, and Guy d'Artois, a French-Canadian soldier and thunderstorm of a man, are preparing to go to war. From different worlds, they make their way to fight in Winston Churchill's secret army against the German forces and, unlike most involved in the world's deadliest conflict to date, to fight from behind enemy lines. Their lives first intersect during clandestine training to become agents with the Special Operations Executive. Sonia and Guy learn how to parachute into enemy territory, how to kill, blow up rail lines, support the French resistance, and eventually ... how to love each other. But not long after their hasty marriage, their love is tested by separation, by a titanic invasion -- and by indiscretion. Written in vivid, heart stopping prose, we follow their stories of uncommon courage -- as Sonia plunges into Nazi-occupied France and slinks into black market restaurants to throw off German forces who knew she'd arrived, while at the same time participating in sabotage operations against them by night; and as Guy, in another corner of France, trains hundreds into a resistance army, fashioning himself a military leader, weapons instructor, and peacemaker all at once. Reconstructed from hours of unpublished interviews and hundreds of archival and personal documents, Ayed tells a story of sacrifice and youthful folly; a story about the ravaging costs of war paid for disproportionately by the young. But more than anything, The War We Won Apart is a story about love: two secret agents who were supposed to land in enemy territory together, but were fated to fight the war apart."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Butt, Sonia.; Butt, Sonia; D'Artois, Guy.; D'Artois, Guy; Spies; Women spies; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Africville : a novel / by Colvin, Jeffrey,author.; Colvin, Jeffrey.Africaville.;
"A ferociously talented writer makes his stunning debut with this richly woven tapestry, set in a small Nova Scotia town settled by former slaves, that depicts several generations of one family bound together and torn apart by blood, faith, time, and fate. Structured as a triptych, Africaville chronicles the lives of three generations of the Sebolt family-- Kath Ella, her son Omar/Etienne, and her grandson Warner-- whose lives unfold against the tumultuous events of the twentieth century from the Great Depression of the 1930s, through the social protests of the 1960s to the economic upheavals in the 1980s. A century earlier, Kath Ella's ancestors established a new home in Nova Scotia. Like her ancestors, Kath Ella's life is shaped by hardship-- she struggles to conceive and to provide for her family during the long, bitter Canadian winters. She must also contend with the locals' lingering suspicions about the dark-skinned "outsiders" who live in their midst. Kath Ella's fierce love for her son, Omar, cannot help her overcome the racial prejudices that linger in this remote, tight-knit place. As he grows up, the rebellious Omar refutes the past and decides to break from the family, threatening to upend all that Kath Ella and her people have tried to build. Over the decades, each successive generation drifts further from Africaville, yet they take a piece of this indelible place with them as they make their way to Montreal, Vermont, and beyond, to the deep South of America. As it explores notions of identity, passing, cross-racial relationships, the importance of place, and the meaning of home, Africaville tells the larger story of the black experience in parts of Canada and the United States."--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Blacks; African Americans; Families; Slaves; Conflict of generations;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Landbridge : life in fragments / by Troeung, Y-Dang,1980-2022,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."In 1980, Y-Dang Troeung and her family were among the last of the 60,000 refugees from Cambodia that then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pledged to relocate to Canada. As the final arrivals, their landing was widely documented in newspapers, with photographs of the PM shaking Y-Dang's father's hand, reaching out to pat baby Y-Dang's head. Forty years later, in her brilliant, astonishing book, Y-Dang returns to this moment, and to many others before and after, to explore the tension between that public narrative of happy "arrival," and the multiple, often hidden truths of what happened to the people in her family. In precise, beautiful prose accompanied by moving black-and-white visuals, Y-Dang weaves back and forth in time to tell stories about her parents and two brothers who lived through the Cambodian genocide, about the lives of her grandparents and extended family, about her own childhood in the refugee camps and in rural Ontario, and eventually about her young son's illness and her own diagnosis with a terminal disease. Through it all, Y-Dang looks with bracing clarity at refugee existence, refusal of gratitude, becoming a scholar, and love."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Troeung, Y-Dang, 1980-2022; Troeung, Y-Dang, 1980-2022; Troeung, Y-Dang, 1980-2022.; Refugees; Refugees; Refugees; Cambodian Canadians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Rumble fish [videorecording] / by Claybourne, Doug,film producer.; Coppola, Francis Ford,1939-film director.; Dillon, Matt,actor.; Lane, Diane,actor.; Rourke, Mickey,actor.; Criterion Collection (Firm),film distributor.;
Music, Stewart Copeland.Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane.The second of Francis Ford Coppola's films based on the popular juvenile novels of S.E. Hinton (the first being The Outsiders), Rumble Fish split critics into opposite camps: those who admired the film for its heavily stylized indulgence, and those who hated it for the very same reason. Whatever the response, it's clearly the work of a maverick director who isn't afraid to push the limits of his innovative talent. Filmed almost entirely in black and white with an occasional dash of color for symbolic effect, this tale of alienated youth centers on gang leader Rusty James (Matt Dillon) and his band of punk pals. Rusty's got a girlfriend (Diane Lane), an older brother named Motorcycle Boy (Mickey Rourke), and a drunken father (Dennis Hopper) who've all given up trying to straighten him out. He's best at making trouble, and he pursues that skill with an enthusiastic flair that eventually catches up with him. But it's not the whacked-out story here that matters--it's the uninhibited verve of Coppola's visual approach, which includes everything from time-lapse clouds to the kind of smoky streets and alleyways that could only exist in the movies. The supporting cast includes a host of fresh faces who went on to thriving careers, including Nicolas Cage, Christopher Penn, Vincent Spano, Laurence Fishburne, and musician Tom Waits.Canadian Home Video Rating: 14A.MPAA rating: R.DVD ; widescreen presentation ; Dolby Digital 2.0.
Subjects: Feature films.; Brothers; Gangs; Male friendship;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Free the land : how we can fight poverty and climate chaos / by Lim, Audrea,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."An eye-opening examination of how treating land as a source of profit has a massive impact on racial inequality and the housing, gentrification, and environmental crises. Climate change, gentrification, racial discrimination, and corporate greed are some of the most urgent problems facing our society. They are traditionally treated as unrelated issues, but they all share a common root: the ownership of land. Environmental journalist Audrea Lim began to notice these connections when she reported on the Native communities leading the fight against oil drilling on their lands in the Canadian tar sands near her hometown of Calgary, but before long, she saw the essential role of land commodification and private ownership everywhere she looked: in foreclosure-racked suburbs and gentrifying cities like New York City; among poor, small farmers struggling to keep their businesses afloat; and in low-income communities attempting to resist mines and industrial development on their lands, only to find that their voices counted less than those of shareholders living thousands of miles away. Free the Land is a captivating and beautifully rendered look at the ways that our relationship to the land is the core cause of the most pressing justice issues in North America. Lim expertly weaves together seemingly disparate themes into a unified theory of social justice, describes how the land ownership system developed over the centuries, and presents original reporting from a wide range of activists and policy makers to illustrate the profound impact it continues to have on our society today. Ultimately, this book offers a message of hope: by approaching these socioeconomic issues holistically, we can begin to imagine just alternatives to fossil-fueled capitalism, new ways to build community, and a more sustainable, equitable world"--
Subjects: Climatic changes.; Land use; Race discrimination.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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BlacKkKlansman [videorecording] / by Baldwin, Alec,1958-actor.; Blum, Jason,film producer.; Driver, Adam,actor.; Grace, Topher,1978-actor.; Harrier, Laura,1990-actor.; Hawkins, Corey,1988-actor.; Lee, Spike,film director,screenwriter,film producer.; Mansfield, Raymond,film producer.; McKittrick, Sean,film producer.; Peele, Jordan,1979-screenwriter,film director.; Rabinowitz, David,screenwriter.; Redick, Shaun,film producer.; Stallworth, Ron,author.; Wachtel, Charlie,screenwriter.; Washington, John David,actor.; Wilmont, Kevin,screenwriter.; Focus Features,production company.; Legendary Pictures,production company.; Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (Firm),film distributor.;
John David Washington, Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Alec Baldwin, Robert John Burke, Isiah Whitlock Jr.From visionary filmmaker Spike Lee comes the incredible true story of an American hero. It's the early 1970s, and Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Determined to make a name for himself, Stallworth bravely sets out on a dangerous mission: infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan. The young detective soon recruits a more seasoned colleague, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), into the undercover investigation of a lifetime. Together, they team up to take down the extremist hate group as the organization aims to sanitize its violent rhetoric to appeal to the mainstream.Canadian Home Video Rating: 14A.MPAA rating: R; for language throughout, including racial epithets, and for disturbing/violent material and some sexual references.DVD ; widescreen presentation ; Dolby Digital 5.1, 2.0 DVS.
Subjects: Comedy films.; Biographical films.; Crime films.; Feature films.; Video recordings for people with visual disabilities.; Stallworth, Ron; Ku Klux Klan (1915- ); African American men; African American detectives; Police; Undercover operations;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The traitor's daughter : captured by Nazis, pursued by the KGB, my mother's odyssey to freedom from her secret past / by Spicer, Roxana,author.;
"The masterful narration of a daughter's decades-long quest to understand her extraordinary mother, who was born in Lenin's Soviet Union, served as a combat soldier in the Red Army, and endured three years of Nazi captivity -- but never revealed her darkest secrets. As a child, Roxana Spicer would sometimes wake to the sound of the Red Army choir. She would tip-toe downstairs to find her mother, cigarette in one hand and Black Russian in the other, singing along. Roxana would keep her company, and wonder ... Everyone in their village knew Agnes Spicer was Russian, that she had been a captive of the Nazis. And that was all they knew, because Agnes kept her secrets close: how she managed to escape Germany, what the tattoo on her arm meant, even her real name. Discovering the truth about her beloved, charismatic, volatile mother became Roxana's obsession. Throughout her career as a journalist and documentarian, between investigations across Canada and around the world, she always went home to ask her mother more questions, often while filming. Roxana also took every chance to visit the few places that she did know played a role in her mother's story: Bad Salzuflen, Germany, home to POW slave labourers during the war; notorious concentration camps; and Russia. Under Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and the early years of Putin, she was able to find people, places, and documents that are now -- perhaps forever -- lost again. The Traitor's Daughter is intimate and exhaustively researched, vividly conversational, and shot through with Agnes Spicer's irrepressible, fiery personality. It is a true labour of love as well as a triumph of blending personal biography with sweeping history."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Spicer, Agnes.; Spicer, Roxana; Auschwitz (Concentration camp); Ex-Nazi concentration camp inmates; Family secrets.; Mothers and daughters.; World War, 1939-1945; Russian Canadians;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Results 41 to 49 of 49 | « previous