A radically new vision of women and girls living below the poverty line; Lisa Dodson makes a frontal assault on conventional attitudes and stereotypes of women in poor America and the seriously misguided "welfare reform" policies of the end of the century. "I hear Odessa, a thirty-two-year-old woman, speak at a forum on welfare reform. I ask her about the phrase she used, 'Don't call me out of name,' for it seemed to speak for a whole nation of people. Odessa tells me that women who have no money and no one to stand up for them get put into a bad position and they get misnamed. Most often they get called 'welfare mothers' or 'recipients,' words she will no longer acknowledge. With millions alongside her, Odessa has emerged by her own strength and some opportunity, and now she insists upon naming herself." While Lisa Dodson was working in a Charlestown factory twenty years ago, the stories of the women she worked with daily captivated her; she listened to them speak about harsh lives and their deep commitment to family and community. It was the beginning of Dodson's desire to learn the truth and write it down. For over eight years, Dodson has been documenting the lives of girls and women-hundreds of white, African-American, Latino, Haitian, Irish, and other women in personal interviews, focus groups, surveys, and Life-History Studies. This book is a crossing--a class crossing--taking readers into fellowship with people who are seldom invited to speak but who have powerful stories to tell and who force us to abandon common myths that have been fed to us by the media about school dropouts, teen pregnancy, and welfare "cheats." Don't Call Us Out of Name delves deeply into the realities of their lives, often with surprising and uplifting stories of commonplace courage, unimaginable strength, and resourcefulness. Lisa Dodson does not simply give us the truth about women living in poverty but offers realistic hope for meaningful policy reform based on the experience and analysis of the women we have seen so far only in stereotype and whose voices we have not truly heard. These women emerge as critical contributors to the creation of sound, humane public policy.

Digte. Addresses race, class, sexuality, faith, social justice, mortality, and the challenges of living HIV positive at the intersection of black and queer identity

This book challenges the unwritten laws that dominate U.S. society, creating great wealth and even greater poverty. Social (Structural) Analysis uncovers the hidden agenda behind this system of political economy that exploit the majority while enriching the few. Modern liberal economics holds the proverbial carrot in front of the world's population while the real winners, the multi-national banks and corporations, reap scandalous profits. This political/economic monopoly treats the living earth as if it was a disposable resource and turns the majority of the world's population into mere cogs in its machinery. Like a cancer, if untreated it will destroy its host. Social analysis cannot cure this cancer, but it can remove the rose-colored glasses from people's eyes so that they can understand it. Free Market Capitalism has undoubted benefits. It becomes evil when it is a law unto itself. A system of political economy, endowed with a wider vision and a more just definition of profits, might evolve out of the dialogue between the mechanisms of Capitalism and the priorities of socialism. Such a system would allow all peoples to enjoy a decent life while preserving the integrity of the earth. Utopia, the perfect society, may never become a reality, but we should never stop trying to implement it. Social analysis is a necessary first step towards a more just world.

Get a look into the mind of Cheech Marin–one half of the renowned Cheech and Chong comedic duo–and follow through the highs and lows of his personal and professional lives. An unborn baby with a fatal heart defect . . . a skier submerged for an hour in a frozen Norwegian lake . . . a comatose brain surgery patient whom doctors have declared a "vegetable." The long-awaited memoir from a counterculture legend. Cheech Marin came of age at an interesting time in America and became a self-made counterculture legend with his other half, Tommy Chong. This insightful memoir delves into how Cheech dodged the draft, formed one of the most successful comedy duos of all time, became the face of the recreational drug movement with the film Up in Smoke, forged a successful solo career with roles in The Lion King and, more recently, Jane the Virgin, and became the owner of the most renowned collection of Chicano art in the world. Written in Cheech's uniquely hilarious voice, this memoir will take you to new highs.

Grandchildren are a wonderful blessing, and they need the best advice possible for their lives to turn out well. As a proud granddad, Dr. Chris Thurman passes along advice he has gleaned from his many years as a person of faith and psychologist. While written for his grandkids, this book can be helpful to all young people and the parents and grandparents helping them live a fuller and healthier life. Some of the biblically-solid advice offered in this book includes • Hang around good people • Think the right thoughts • Be angry, but don’t act the fool • Be content with little • Guard your heart • Let others toot your horn • Be grateful, even for your problems • Do the hard things first In Pop’s Advice, Dr. Chris Thurman guides our children and those of us raising them in a time-tested direction so their lives can be all God intended. The advice in this book can help not only our young people but those of us who are older trying to make our way through life. Regardless of age or situation, Pop’s Advice can guide all of us to live life in a way that goes beyond all we could have ever hoped for or imagined.