Based on the African American Women's Voices Project; Shifting reveals that a large number of African American women feel pressure to com-promise their true selves as they navigate America's racial and gender bigotry. Black women "shift" by altering the expectations they have for themselves or their outer appearance. They modify their speech. They shift "White" as they head to work in the morning and "Black" as they come back home each night. They shift inward; internalizing the searing pain of the negative stereotypes that they encounter daily. And sometimes they shift by fighting back.With deeply moving interviews; poignantly revealed on each page; Shifting is a much-needed; clear; and comprehensive portrait of the reality of African American women's lives today.
#424612 in Books 2007-09-11 2007-09-11Format: Deckle EdgeOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 1.97 x 6.13l; 2.47 #File Name: 0060083131690 pages
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Audacity; Action; and Tragedy on a Global ScaleBy Terry TuckerThe Book reads very well. It is very readable history. The author paints a compelling story of how the events; ideas; and actors in England; France; Prussia; Russia and the United States were far more interconnected than most give credit for. What is probably the most compelling aspect is the fact that; although it would take a couple of decades for the ideas ; players and events to foment; they all come together in the span of a decade and would give rise to the first Industrial Era and the Modern World. It is easy to focus on the singularity of Washington; Jefferson; Hamilton; Madison and many others; but when juxtaposed against the geopolitics of the time; they truly were a "galaxy of humankind's greatest thinkers and doers...the most idealistic generation ever witnessed."Despite the vast physical distances and seeming slowness in communication. America and the world at large were not virtually independent of each other.The one drawback i would give this book is that the author spent a little more time in background information in some areas; specifically; for me; Turkey and the issue of slavery. Yes; background and level setting are necessary; however i felt that the author diverged too greatly a few times before returning to the crux of the story.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Important ReadingBy Cycling WriterAmericans (myself included) are generally so ignorant of history; virtually any effort to remedy that deficiency could be called "important reading." This book; however; deserves more acclaim than that. It presents; and argues convincingly for; a thesis — i.e.; that representative democracy established itself against all odds during this period; 1788–1800; and the world is the beneficiary of America's experiment. The book does this by contrasting events in France and Russia during the same period.Well worth your time; and well written to the extent it reads more like a novel than a dry dates-and-facts historical tome. The book's one weakness is an editorial one; not likely to be noticed by many readers; but regrettable just the same: the author is fond of using single-sentence paragraphs (or even broken phrases; incomplete sentences) to emphasize conclusions; as if they were retrospective headings or subheads in the manuscript.I longed for better editing as I read the book; but this shortcoming in no way diminishes the book's value. It is important reading; and very readable. Buy and enjoy.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. popular history at it's bestBy JonathanNoted popular historian Jay Winik has written a very enjoyable history of a very interesting and tumultuous period of American and World history. As previous reviewers Joseph Ellis and Gordon Wood have said in their reviews of this book; Winik's talent is that of a story teller and he does indeed tell a fascinating story here. While Winik's style is sometimes littered with the melodramatic contrivances that I would expect from Time magazine; he is never distracted from the shear excitement and monumental importance of these events.
