The Roots Run Deep
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Watts, J.C. with Byron Laursen
HarperCollins. 256p.
ISBN: 0-06-019436-7. $25

Watts is the lone black voice in the upper echelons of the Republican Party—he is the Republican Conference Chairman—and he is the first black Congressman to represent Oklahoma. Watts shares information on his rise from poverty to becoming a football hero, all the way to becoming a member of Congress. A Republican at heart, he challenges the reader and national black leaders on race and the state of "victimhood".

Watts first appeared on the national political scene with his keynote speech during the 1996 Republican convention and later offered the rebuttal to President Clinton's 1997 State of the Union address.

Here he describes his rise from poverty in a small Oklahoma town, his college years as a football hero, and now his prestigious position in Congress. Watts confronts blacks on "black racism", challenges national black leaders on race issues, and shares his view of inside Washington and the personalities involved.

The Cornel West Reader

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West, Cornel
Basic Civitas: Perseus. 604p.
ISBN: 0-46509109-1. $35

Harvard University professor, West has presented the best of his writings, showing the development of his career as an academic, public intellectual, and activist. He takes on the issues of Black Nationalism, black-brown relations, and affirmative action.

Stepping over the Color Line: African-American Students in White Suburban Schools
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Wells, Amy Stuart and Robert L. Crain
Yale University. 392p.
ISBN: 0-30008-133-2. $18

A nationwide discussion continues about issues of busing and the authors Stuart and Crain have used data on student achievement and racial isolation, with stories of the people who participated in the St. Louis desegregation program, to show how linkages between the past and present help explain why efforts to overcome racial inequality are so difficult in St. Louis and in the larger society. The authors set the individual stories and statistics in the framework of the depopulation of other American cities after 1950 and the reinforced color line dividing cities and suburbs that resulted from the depopulation. This makes their case even more powerful. Wells (who grew up in St. Louis) and Crain interviewed hundreds of people involved in the desegregation program and received frank opinions from both the "transfers" (as they are referred to) and the white educators from the suburbs.

Too Heavy a Load: Black Women in Defense of Themselves,
1894 - 1994
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White, Deborah Gray
Norton. 320p.
ISBN: 0-393-31992-X. $12.95

White has meticulously researched this work to celebrate the rich history of black women from Ida B. Wells to Anita Hill. Author of Ain't I a Woman, White’s current work chronicles the century-long struggle against racism and male chauvinism. However, she goes even further to describe the struggle black women also had to hold their racial and gender identities intact while feeling they have to meet the demands of both white women and black men. Then the most amazing revelation of all is that at the beginning of the century, Americans began measuring racial progress by the status of black women.

African American Desk Reference: The Ultimate Source for Essential Information About History, Culture, and Contemporary Life
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New York Public Library
Wiley. 640p.
ISBN: 0-471-23924-0. $34.95

There are over 5,000 entries gathered from the collections of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. From Nat Turner's revolt to scholarships for black student, this compendium covers politics and the civil rights movement, religion, science, the arts, sports, and the Diaspora—there are even recipes of some very popular dishes.

In the Meantime: Finding Yourself and the Love You Want
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Vanzant, Iyanla
Simon & Schuster. 336p
ISBN: 0-684-84806-6. $13

This bestselling author of Acts of Faith and The Value in the Valley has empowered hundreds of women and now seeks to help anyone who yearns for love with this book about relationships. If know where you want to be, but you have no clue how to get there or you know exactly what you want from life, but can’t see it ahead; and to top it all, your romantic relationships are falling apart, Vanzant promises to show you the way. In this book, she tells us how we can do mental housekeeping, and if we are good at it, then our spirits will shine and true love and happiness will come. It all sounds so easy, but Vanzant has such a soothing, assuring way of saying everything that you begin to believe her that self-help can work. She even offers a list of thirteen things people often do and shouldn’t when they are in search of love. Ms. Vanzant is enjoying much success across the country and is currently promoting her CD of inspirational music by some very famous artists.

Ain’t Nobody’s Business if I do
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Wilson Wesley, Valerie
Avon. 336p.
ISBN: 0-380-97703-6. $24

Readers may be familiar with Wilson’s mysteries with the popular investigator, Tamara Hayle. Here she writes a tale about a woman who finds comfort in the arms of a twenty-eight-year-old jazz musician when her husband leaves her.