Born in 1913 in Collinsville, Illinois, Cecil Reed has lived all of his life in the Midwest as a black man among whites. This self-styled fly in the buttermilk worked among whites with such skill and grace that they were barely aware of his existence - unless he wanted to get a bank loan or move into their neighborhood. Now, in his lively and optimistic autobiography, he speaks of his resilience throughout a life spent working peacefully but passionately for equality. As a teenager and young man, Cecil Reed was the black waiter, the short-order cook, the paper carrier, the tap dancer and singer, the carpenter, and the maintenance man who learned to survive in a white society. As an adult in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he inched his way into owning several small businesses, convincing the community to accept him and his family through hard work and creativity. When whites felt besieged by black militants in the sixties, they turned to him for less threatening advice and leadership. Reed put away his floor sander and became an inspiring speaker who crisscrossed the country offering solutions to civil rights problems. In 1966, Reed was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives, the first and only black Republican to hold this office. His next major triumph: securing a unanimous vote of approval for the state's fair housing bill. Within a year he was appointed by a Democratic governor to the Iowa Employment Security Commission, becoming the first black commissioner in America. Thus began a twenty-year career in public service in both state and federal positions that brought him into partnership with the nation's political, economic, and religious leaders. Throughout his sometimes tragic butalways hope-filled life, from shoeshine stand to Department of Labor, Cecil Reed has been a quiet, persistent, realistically-within-the-system fighter for justice. Although he epitomizes the success of his "get along by getting along" philosophy, he still confronts racism daily, still feels "in harm's way", still works for equal rights for all. Every reader will appreciate his honest, energizing, pragmatic chronicle of a life before and after the Civil Rights Act.

From one of the most original, creative, and provocative culture critics comes an eye-opening collection of essays and tales about American music and culture. Under the guise of writing about a single subject, Greg Tate’s essays in Flyboy in the Buttermilk branch out from his usual and explore social, political, and economic subjects. Taking on a wide diversity of subjects from irony of the GOP recruiting Blacks to the crisis of the Black intellectual and the music Miles Davis, James Brown, and many others, Tate writes in a brave and distinctive voice that is angry, joyous, anxious, and funny. In every piece of this collection, Tate offers informed insight into where America is going and why.

Since launching his career at the Village Voice in the early 1980s Greg Tate has been one of the premiere critical voices on contemporary Black music, art, literature, film, and politics. Flyboy 2 provides a panoramic view of the past thirty years of Tate's influential work. Whether interviewing Miles Davis or Ice Cube, reviewing an Azealia Banks mixtape or Suzan-Lori Parks's Topdog/Underdog, discussing visual artist Kara Walker or writer Clarence Major, or analyzing the ties between Afro-futurism, Black feminism, and social movements, Tate's resounding critical insights illustrate how race, gender, and class become manifest in American popular culture. Above all, Tate demonstrates through his signature mix of vernacular poetics and cultural theory and criticism why visionary Black artists, intellectuals, aesthetics, philosophies, and politics matter to twenty-first-century America.

The Zing family lives in a misguided world of spell books, flying beach umbrellas, and state-of-the-art covert surveillance equipment. There's a slippery Zing, a graceful Zing, and a Zing who runs as fast as a bus. But most significant of all, there's the Zing Family Secret: so immense that it draws the family to the garden shed for meetings every Friday night. I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes is an entirely new universe unto itself. The story passes among five female characters -- Fancy, Marbie, Cassie, Listen, and Cath -- all of whom are closely connected, as they -- and we -- come to discover. The two youngest heroines, Listen and Cassie, shoulder the biggest role in piecing together the mystery that saves everyone in the end.

Diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion in all aspects of museums’ structure and programming are top issues in the field today – and in the overall arts/culture sector. Much has been written, from various perspectives, over several decades. Yet, a lack of diversity remains and exclusive practices and inequities persist in all types of museums. A go-to resource for readers interested in learning about diversity and inclusion work in the field – past, present and future. This edited collection of the most important essays, speeches, and reports on these topics seeks to facilitate a much-needed intergenerational dialogue that builds on lessons from the past, broadens thinking about the many different facets of this complex work, and ignites inspiration for continuing to correct inequities across museums of all types, sizes, and locations. In this book compiled and edited by Dr. Johnnetta Betch Cole, who has served as both director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art and as the president of both historically Black colleges for women in the United States, Spelman College and Bennett College (a distinction she alone holds) and Laura Lott, president and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums, (the first woman to the lead the organization), thought leaders in the museum field present their research, analysis and work to answer some of the most challenge questions facing the museum field. Why do these problems persist? How can a new generation of museum leaders champion change to better represent the communities that museums strive to serve and engage? What can we learn from those who have been observing, experiencing, and writing about these issues?

Trying to play a game but can t remember the rules? Looking for your favorite no-bake cookie recipe? It s all right here This book is chock-full of more than 500 ways to enhance any curriculum."

An essential compendium of James Baldwin’s most powerful nonfiction work, calling on us “to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country.” Personal and prophetic, these essays uncover what it means to live in a racist American society with insights that feel as fresh today as they did over the 4 decades in which he composed them. Longtime Baldwin fans and especially those just discovering his genius will appreciate this essential collection of his great nonfiction writing, available for the first time in affordable paperback. Along with 46 additional pieces, it includes the full text of dozens of famous essays from such books as: • Notes of a Native Son • Nobody Knows My Name • The Fire Next Time • No Name in the Street • The Devil Finds Work This collection provides the perfect entrée into Baldwin’s prescient commentary on race, sexuality, and identity in an unjust American society.