“From the moment I read the words [my great-grandmother] Frances Anne Rollin wrote in Boston on January 1, 1868—“The year renews its birth today with all its hopes and sorrows”—she became my beacon, the foremother who would finally share with me our collective past . . . —From the Preface Originally published to rave reviews, Pride of Family is the dazzling true story of an upper middle-class African American clan—and four generations of extraordinary women. Carole Ione, rebel daughter from a long line of rebel daughters, traces her heritage from her mother, Leighla, a sad and lovely journalist, actress, and composer; to glamorous grandmother Be-Be, the popular restaurateur and former showgirl; to upright great-aunt Sistonie, one of Washington’s first black female physicians; and, finally, to great-grandmother Frances Anne Rollin, the indomitable feminist-abolitionist. It is through her great-grandmother’s brilliant diaries that Ione finds enlightenment—a deep connection to the women she cherishes and the proud, glorious history they share.

An invaluable portrait and roadmap on how to thrive as an LGBT family The overwhelming success of Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” YouTube project aimed at queer youth highlighted that despite the progress made in gay rights, LGBT people are still at high risk of being victimized. While the national focus remains on the mistreatment of gay people in schools, the reality is that LGBT families also face hostility in various settings—professional, recreational, and social. This is especially evident in rural communities, where the majority of LGBT families live, isolated from support networks more commonly found in urban spaces. Family Pride is the first book for queer parents, families, and allies that emphasizes community safety. Drawing on his years as a dedicated community activist and on the experiences of LGBT parents, Michael Shelton offers concrete strategies that LGBT families can use to intervene in and resolve difficult community issues, teach their children resiliency skills, and find safe and respectful programs for their children.

This collection of verse, which has mostly short poems, some of which are two-liners, is an outcome of several years of keen observation of the very nature of man. The observation brought this writer to the conclusion that man is dominated by fear and in his effort to conquer it, he resorts to unbridled aggression. Such aggression has been very instrumental in much of the success that humanity has been able to achieve, so far. But at the same time, the same aggression in man's nature has been responsible for the pleasure he takes in the ruthless destruction of his own kind, the environment in which he cushions himself, plants and animals. Sammy Oke Akombi is Cameroonian, born in Tinto, Manyu Division. He was educated at the Teachers colleges in Batibo and Nyasoso respectively, the Bilingual Grammar School, Buea, the University of Lagos, Nigeria and the University of Warwick, U.K. He holds an M.A in ELT and is an honorary Fellow in Writing of the University of Iowa, USA. He is currently the Director of the Southwest Provincial Linguistic Centre, Buea, Cameroon. He is author of The Raped Amulet and The Woman Who Ate Python & Other Stories.