BOOK REMARKS

JUMP: My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom

Larry Miller and Laila Lacy

Few stories are as compelling as those written from the perspective of someone who has risen from the ashes to live the life of their dreams. Overcoming grim odds, 73-year old chairman of the Michael Jordan brand at Nike and a former president of the Portland Trail Blazers, Larry Miller reveals his stunning rise from the mean streets of West Philadelphia in the 1960s to the highest ranks of American sports and industry. Despite a checkered past and a number of years spent in jail growing up, Miller changed course through a Pennsylvania education-release program offered to incarcerated people and graduated with honors from Temple University. His journey of healing and self discovery is a powerful voice for criminal justice reform and expanded educational opportunities for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people in the United States.

Field Theories

by Samiya Bashir

Reed College creative writing professor and poet, Samiya Bashir’s award-winning 2017 collection, Field Theories, blends the complex concepts of quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and blackbody theory (blackbody light absorption, as opposed to the whitebody reflection) through the parallel journey of real black bodies. Her richly descriptive poems take us on a historic journey from the roots of African-American folklore to our present day reality through sonnets and experimental lyrics that draw historical and scientific correlations between modern issues while examining the ways the Black body is and has been interpreted by American society. Field Theories is well on its way to reinterpreting the dominant narrative with mathematical equations and scientific theories transposed into the fabric of the rich cultural and emotional African-American experience.

The Girl Inside Me

Javelin Hardy

The Girl Inside Me is a heartfelt collection of autobiographical poems by Portland writer and healer, Javelin Hardy. Chronicling her life and experiences as a little girl struggling to survive sexual abuse and trauma during the turbulent 80’s in Minden, Louisiana, Hardy’s book exemplifies her purpose and calling to help others overcome the ghostly heat of childhood and intergenerational trauma. In this book of poems, Hardy shares her story in a way that immediately engages readers to delve further into the life experiences of the little girl she was as expressed by the resilient, powerful woman she has become. Drawing upon her personal experience, therapeutic training and ancestral healing modalities, The Girl Inside Me is another of Hardy’s blessings upon the world she seeks to help transform.

A Black Man’s Guide Out of Poverty: For Black Men who Demand Better

Aaron Clarey

Still relevant today, Aaron Clarey’s 2015 book, “The Black Man’s Guide Out of Poverty’’ plumbs the depths of the disproportionate struggles and challenges that continue to plague Black men in America and provides a roadmap to navigating and circumventing the socio-economic and political structures and systems that keep them from achieving their full potential. While citing grim statistics that indicate little improvement in the lot of Black men over the past 6 decades, this author is determined to help them overcome even the most seemingly insurmountable obstacles to embrace life and shift outside of the constructs of poverty. “The Black Man’s Guide Out of Poverty” is a clarion call to those who society has relegated to the sidelines to rise up and truly be free.

What Color Is Your Money? Your personalized Roadmap to Business Success

Tope Ganiyah Fajingbesi CPA

What is your relationship like with money? Are you an investor or saver? Are you perpetually incurring debts for the flimsiest of wants, or for religious or personal beliefs highly conservative with your money? Does money make you happy or miserable? In this book, author Tope Ganiyah Fajingbesi breaks down your money personality into one of five colors- Green, Blue, Yellow, Grey and Red. Which one are you? Fajinbesi has a CPA, ACA and MBA in accounting and over 15 years experience working with Big Four public accounting firms, Fortune 500 and nonprofit organizations across the USA and Africa. She uses her experience to help aspiring and existing entrepreneurs navigate the important world of financial management.