From a brilliant young legal scholar comes this sweeping history of American ideas of belonging and citizenship; told through the stories of fourteen legal cases that helped to shape our nation. Spanning three centuries; Black Trials details the legal challenges and struggles that helped define the ever-shifting identity of blacks in America. From the well-known cases of Plessy v. Ferguson and the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings to the more obscure trial of Joseph Hanno; an eighteenth-century free black man accused of murdering his wife and bringing smallpox to Boston; Weiner recounts the essential dramas of American identity—illuminating where our conception of minority rights has come from and where it might go. Significant and enthralling; these are the cases that forced the courts and the country to reconsider what it means to be black in America; and Mark Weiner demonstrates their lasting importance for our society.
#33057 in Books Maya Angelou 2002-03-05 2002-03-05Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.52 x .95 x 5.73l; .91 #File Name: 0375507892304 pagesCardboard sleeve.
Review
39 of 41 people found the following review helpful. It is amazing that we can hear DrBy LeonHere's my review on one of the three books that I've read by Maya Angelou:I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings:Smiling Through SadnessMaya Angelou’s first memoir; I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings; captures the sweetest; purest; and the most honest inner voice of a black child who grew up to be a heroine. Dr. Angelou does not censor anything; She wants us to know it all. It is so true; straightforward; and uncensored that many white parents have attempted to ban this book from schools. This memorable and mysterious autobiography - originally published in 1969 - was followed by another masterpiece entitled: Gather Together In My Name. Both books are available in audio format recorded by Random House Audio. It is amazing that we can hear Dr. Angelou reading her own books to us just like a grandmother putting us to sleep with her adventurous bed-time stories.Dr. Maya Angelou; who has been honored and awarded numerous times; is a pure soul writing about the evil world of the racist America keeping a matching voice on each chapter of her life. When she is writing about her experiences as a five-year-old; you hear a five-year-old talking to you. Being one of the most recognized public figures and a civil rights movement’s heroine; Maya Angelou; gives us a poetic journey of how a poor disadvantaged black girl was rejected by everyone including her own mother; raped by her mother’s boyfriend; and had to witness his crippled uncle hiding under a pile of onions and potatoes to be protected from racist white beasts on a regular basis. The good news is that the story of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings does not end here. This bird sings her heart out until the cage breaks and she becomes our national treasure.This powerful modern American classis has changed many readers’ (and listeners’) hearts and minds in a way that every great work of literature should. This book became the best-seller immediately after it was published. What added to my personal itch to read this book when I was first introduced to it was the fact that Dr. Angelou has described William Shakespeare as one of her strongest influence on her life and works. Shakespeare is my all-time favorite “pennist.â€Buy it; read it; keep it; reread it; highlight it; talk about it; advertise it; buy more of it and give it out as a gift; learn from it; and apply what you’ve learned from it in your daily life. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is coming from a heart and soul of someone who had to witness the unnecessary; harsh; and brutal insults that no ordinary human being can bear. Maya Angelou writes the story of a human who was pushed to her limits by the ugliness of this world and while being in a saddest cage; sang the happiest song. Once precious Maya Angelou told her younger generation that seem to be unable to cope with the racism in the past and present:“You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn’t do anything to the object of its displeasure. So use that anger. You write it. You paint it. You dance it. You march it. You vote it. You do everything about it. You talk it. Never stop talking it.â€0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. We learn from the pastBy Kindle CustomerOur parents or guardians try to teach us right from wrong. However most of the time we don't want to listen. Seems like Maya Angelou listened and learn a great deal from the people in her life.Good read0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. I didn't want this book to end.By ATXMommaMaya Angelou truly draws you into her world and her experiences through her writing. I didn't want this book to end; I wanted to hear more. She would have been an amazing woman to talk to.
