Reflections is a collection of my writings through the years in defense of and support for Affirmative Action in the construction industry. It documents a struggle for economic justice that began on July 23, 1969 when Chicago community groups assembled to demand equal participation in local federal construction projects. As these programs became successful, resistance rose at a rapid clip. Who would have thought that our quest for economic justice would eventually reach the Supreme Court as a battle against "reverse discrimination?" Who would have believed that the "affirmative action" programs that integrated an exclusive white workforce, and provided new opportunities for Black firms would be challenged so vigorously that the term would not even be used by the 2008 presidential candidates? We share our experiences for others seeking change by providing examples of how Black businesses can address community problems, including educating elected officials and holding them accountable. It was though my membership in Parren Mitchell's (Maryland's first Black congressman-1971), Black Business Braintrust, that the first national legislation requiring mandatory Minority Business Enterprise [MBE] utilization was forged. This book emphasizes four main areas of concern: Affirmative Action as a tool to break the pattern of exclusion by construction trade unions and apprenticeship programs. To demonstrate that local organizations with dedicated leaders can combat discrimination and create positive change that reverberates nationally. To expand the Black tradesmen workforce as a vehicle for increasing Black subcontractor numbers and developing substantial Black general contractors. The development of viable black construction firms: UBM, Inc., which I co-founded in 1974, was by 2004, the largest Black general contractor in the state of Illinois. My firm accomplished everything I sought to prove as a black business by creating the capacity to apply positive solutions to problems besieging our community.

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a revelatory examination of race in America Protests against racial injustice and white supremacy have galvanized millions around the world. The stakes for transformative conversations about race could not be higher. Still, the task ahead seems daunting, and it’s hard to know where to start. How do you tell your boss her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law hang up on you when you had questions about police reform? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend? In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from police brutality and cultural appropriation to the model minority myth in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race, and about how racism infects every aspect of American life. "Simply put: Ijeoma Oluo is a necessary voice and intellectual for these times, and any time, truth be told." ―Phoebe Robinson, New York Times bestselling author of You Can't Touch My Hair

In Challenging the Status Quo: Diversity, Democracy, and Equality in the 21st Century, David G. Embrick, Sharon M. Collins, and Michelle Dodson have compiled the latest ideas and scholarship in the area of diversity and inclusion. The contributors in this edited book offer critical analyses on many aspects of diversity as it pertains to institutional policies, practices, discourse, and beliefs. The book is broken down into 19 chapters over 7 sections that cover: policies and politics; pedagogy and higher education; STEM; religion; communities; complex organizations; and discourse and identity. Collectively, these chapters contribute to answering three main questions: 1) what, ultimately, does diversity mean; 2) what are the various mechanisms by which institutions understand and use diversity; and 3) and why is it important for us to rethink diversity? Contributors: Sharla Alegria, Joyce M. Bell, Sharon M. Collins, Ellen Berrey, Enobong Hannah Branch, Meghan A. Burke, Tiffany Davis, Michele C. Deramo, Michelle Dodson, David G. Embrick, Edward Orozco Flores, Emma González-Lesser, Bianca Gonzalez-Sobrino, Matthew W. Hughey, Paul R. Ketchum, Megan Klein, Michael Kreiter, Marie des Neiges Léonard, Wendy Leo Moore, Shan Mukhtar, Antonia Randolph, Victor Erik Ray, Arthur Scarritt, Laurie Cooper Stoll.

The definitive reckoning with one of America’s most explosively contentious and divisive issues—from “one of our most important and perceptive writers on race and the law.... The mere fact that he wrote this book is all the justification necessary for reading it.”—The Washington Post What precisely is affirmative action, and why is it fiercely championed by some and just as fiercely denounced by others? Does it signify a boon or a stigma? Or is it simply reverse discrimination? What are its benefits and costs to American society? What are the exact indicia determining who should or should not be accorded affirmative action? When should affirmative action end, if it must? Randall Kennedy gives us a concise and deeply personal overview of the policy, refusing to shy away from the myriad complexities of an issue that continues to bedevil American race relations.

A half century after the Fair Housing Act, despite ongoing transformations of the geography of privilege and poverty, residential segregation by race and income continues to shape urban and suburban neighborhoods in the United States. Why do people live where they do? What explains segregation’s persistence? And why is addressing segregation so complicated? The Dream Revisited brings together a range of expert viewpoints on the causes and consequences of the nation’s separate and unequal living patterns. Leading scholars and practitioners, including civil rights advocates, affordable housing developers, elected officials, and fair housing lawyers, discuss the nature of and policy responses to residential segregation. Essays scrutinize the factors that sustain segregation, including persistent barriers to mobility and complex neighborhood preferences, and its consequences from health to home finance and from policing to politics. They debate how actively and in what ways the government should intervene in housing markets to foster integration. The book features timely analyses of issues such as school integration, mixed income housing, and responses to gentrification from a diversity of viewpoints. A probing examination of a deeply rooted problem, The Dream Revisited offers pressing insights into the changing face of urban inequality.

This collection is a primer on significant news and events facing Black Americans over the past 12 years. King does the hard work of researching media, academia and grassroots activity to uncover the best work of the nation’s top journalists, scholars, activists and organizers on topics from entrepreneurship and job development to environmental justice and health disparities. King’s gift in this work, is his ability to excavate the information for us, analyze it and give it back to us in bite-sized nuggets. And, King is careful to bring forth ideas for action. He chronicles the work of institutions, organizations and individuals that are developing real-world solutions. With clarity and focus, each piece is designed to “wake us up” to a particular reality of what it means to be Black in America. At the same time, The Action Steps provide pathways to resolving The Crises that America cannot afford to ignore.