The powerful firsthand account of life in the streets of São Paulo that drew international attention to the plight of the poor. Includes eight pages of photographs and an afterword by Robert M. Levine Translated from the Portuguese by David S. Clair
The past four hundred years have seen unprecedented growth in virtually every conceivable realm of life, from medicine to the arts, technology to finance. Far too often, however, when we think of the movers, shakers, and innovators behind these transformations, we picture a host of men--and white men, at that. With Trailblazers, Gabrielle David remedies that. The first anthology of black female innovators published in more than fifteen years, Trailblazers introduces us to more than one hundred and fifty American black women who have been instrumental in creating our contemporary life. We learn about activists and politicians like Fannie Lou Hamer, who in 1964 changed the Democratic National Convention forever by protesting efforts to disenfranchise black voters in her native Mississippi, and Lelia Foley, a black woman who overcame racism and poverty to become the first female African American mayor in the United States in 1973. David also introduces us to entertainers, athletes, and businesswomen--though not always in predictable ways. Beyoncé Knowles-Carter makes an appearance, for example, not for her musical career, but as a businesswoman, reminding us of her multifaceted triumphs. David brings this volume together with a clarion call for recognition of the transformative work black women have done and continue to do. She reminds us of the debt we owe to these unsung heroes--and the place black women deserve at the table.
This bilingual collection of poems by Jesús Papoleto Meléndez reads as a poetic autobiography of a hopeless romantic. Borracho invites us to find the essence of a man’s character laid bare in the foibles of his desire and passionate pursuit of love. Spanning the poet’s fifty-year career, this volume of fifty love poems takes us on a journey through the poet’s winding paths of love and life. Beginning with poems dedicated to his mother and father, the cascading style of Meléndez’s verse strings together a series of vignettes within a flowing narrative of the poet’s life in love. They offer lyrical glimpses into the struggle to find love and into a life lived in deep connection, and they lead us to bittersweet moments in the company of an aging man. The poems spring from times of exhilarating joy, sinking darkness, and painful absence, taking us on a journey through love’s highs and lows.