#Terrorism, #Libraries and #POC in the US

Libraries and the Fight Against Terrorism

Libraries can and should be an important weapon against terrorism.  "Librarians are soldiers in the war against ignorance!"  Racism is fundamentally ignorance which leads to hate.  This is a call out to all librarians to help end the ongoing terrorism against people of color in the US.

People of color in the US live under a state of domestic terrorism.  This terrorism is conducted via many official channels.  The education system, law enforcement, healthcare, judicial system and other aspects of the state have been and are used against people of color in the US.

The terrorism we experience on a daily basis meets ALL the criteria below:

 "Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics: Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. 

Definition from the FBI: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition

 For example, here is how law enforcement treats our children in school:

Spring Valley High School 'safety 'officer' and student

What kind of an education can on get while studying under these conditions?  What kind of educational experience does this girl now have?

 This terrorism is conducted by state officers from all levels of law enforcement in the US.  As a person of color, I am more worried about being assaulted, or being shot by a police officer than I am of any sort of domestic terrorist.  I have been the subject of humiliating questions like, "What gang are you in?"  "When was the last time you were arrested?" and other non-question insults by the police.

Libraries Against Violence

Our libraries can help mitigate this situation by providing a broader viewpoint of the world to our patrons.  We can do this by pooling our resources, sharing information, planning and implementing programming that addresses the ongoing terrorism of POC by law enforcement and other state agencies.

This is a country that relies on force as a first choice solution to almost ALL problems.

When force/violence is used as a tool like this, then it becomes part of the culture.

Once it becomes part of the culture individual citizens will begin to use force as a problem solving tool--just as we have seen with the increasing mass shootings in the US.

Violence and force are now normal and everyday.  One turns on the television, visits a news web page, or turns on the radio, and one is confronted with a smorgasbord of violent offerings.

Librarians can help mitigate this situation by helping to educate people and offer alternative sources of information.

Contemporary lynching victim: Michael Brown

This violence/force is most often directed at people of color in the US  It is used to create contemporary lynchings--in the form of killings of POC by police.  These lynchings serve to reinforce POC's lack of respect in society, the lack of value placed on our lives, and the fact that our bodies can be violated and left dead in the street as some sort of macabre warning to everyone else. 

The officer in the video at the high school is practicing this kind of intimidation.  He is showing the other children what is in store for them if they don't immediately fully submit to someone who might harm them.

Library/Librarian Activism

Libraries can do much to help fight against this type of terrorism.  They can sponsor programming, have cultural events, reading groups, conversation groups, maker spaces, lectures and collections that can help educate the public and academia (if you work in an academic library).

A symposium sponsored by the Boston Radical Reference Collection

As librarians we can curate collections that are well rounded and that address multiple perspectives on our culture--not just the standard viewpoints adhered to by conservative anti-intellectuals (I don't think all conservatives are anti-intellectual).

We can use our spaces to hold important discussions and debates and we can help facilitate these events.  Our special skills at doing research and presenting the findings in an intelligible manner can be used to help in the fight against the terrorism that POC in the US face daily.

It is our duty to help fight against terrorism.

What are some other ways libraries, librarians and other information professionals can help fight against this kind of terrorism?

Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!

The number one issue I encounter when dealing with racism on an organizational/institutional level is the lack of ability to put the organization's resources toward ending racism and the lack of diversity in the institution.

Many US Organizations state they value "diversity."  What does that mean?

Diversity, inclusion and equity aren't seen as an issue of sustainability for our organizations and institutions.   These issues are looked at like pinstriping on a sports car.  It seems they are not as important to our organizations as the engine, or even the tires of the car...

Our nation will not survive if we do not deal with the issues of race that exist in our culture.

Unconscious bias is built into most education, entertainment and other forms of information.

We need teams of analysts to investigate these biases, analyze them, describe them for laypeople, and prescribe fixes for them.  We need these teams within our organizations and in general society.

In the organization, these teams need autonomy in order to properly do the job of analyzing as objectively as possible.   They also need power in order to properly execute the changes they find are needed within an organization.

Organizations need to create such teams and give them the full support of the instead of just giving this subject lip service and keeping actions at the "cultural petting zoo" level.

Educating a diverse workforce and attaining the mission of almost any organization will entail that the organization work to meet the needs of a diverse membership and makeup.

Is it about money, or is it about fixing a broken system?

Indeed, if diversity, equity and inclusion were desirable goals for institutions from the US government down to our local community colleges and school districts, then these organizations would allocate and use their resources at the same level as other "crucial" goals and 'outcomes' of these institutions.

The thing is--these organizations almost NEVER allocate proper resources,  nor processes to achieve these goals.

These resources range in type from the will to create change (and deal with the consequences of those who are upset by said change), to spending money to train, and educate the members of the organization.

In the US our culture shows that it values something by how much money, or how much 'integrity' an issue, or thing has to us.

People are willing to stand up for their guns, but when it comes to POC--they don't seem to care.

This integrity, in the sense I am speaking about, is the will to deal with those of the dominant culture who might become upset by the appointment, or the recruitment of ethnic minority faculty, staff and membership.

I see people stand up firmly for their gun rights, for the right to fly their confederate flags, for the right to shoot someone if they feel their lives are in danger--yet when it comes to standing up for the lives of their fellow countrymen--all of the sudden--they are worried about offending people.

Denial is the current mental health state in the US.

"Why should I suffer!  I never discriminated against anyone, I never owned slaves!"

"Some people might get mad if we were to appoint POC faculty, or staff members!"  

I hear again and again.  

However,  they don't understand that POC are already upset.  That we deal with microaggressions on a daily basis, that we deal with fear and the knowledge that discrimination exists in our culture.

"Will it be us this time? " 

"Was that discrimination?"

"Did they really just say that?"

"Maybe they didn't mean it."

The hell POC live when it comes to race  in this culture.  The hell of sending your child out to school and not knowing if they will be judged according to what they do and who they are instead of the color of their skin, or by their accent is never acknowledged, nor is it even a reality to those with privilege.

Those in power don't care about the hell POC exist within when it comes to race and employment in the US.

They are more concerned with upsetting someone from the dominant culture.

They don't care one iota if we are upset...

That should send us ALL a really clear and strong message when it comes to rectifying the racial situation in the US today.

meth·od

ˈmeTHəd/

noun

plural noun: methods

1. a particular form of procedure for accomplishing or approaching something, especially a systematic or established one.

   "a method for software maintenance"

   synonyms:

   procedure, technique, system, practice, routine, modus operandi, process;

We need new methods and we need not be afraid of approaching our organizations with this knowledge in mind.

We need to stress that our organizations put their resources, both financial and spiritual toward ending racism in our organizations, toward achieving those lofty mission outcomes and toward achieving equity.

Our organizations and institutions will benefit from this and we will achieve a return on investment that will be staggering--if only we have the courage to make our organizations put their money where their mouths are.

We must create some change with direct action and stop repeating the same things we have been doing for the past 30 years.

I know and understand that diversity is more than race, but I submit that within race exists a rich diversity.   That is to say, if one recruits a rich and large pool of faculty of color, then one will have a richly diverse pool in more than just race, but also of class, gender, abilities, and other measures of diversity that organizations use.  We need to work on race at the moment.

An Introduction to Library Technical Services

An introduction to Library Technical Services slideshow that went with a job interview teaching session I had to give.

It was for a basic introduction to library services class.   The scenario was that we had already covered circulation.

The presentation was very short--like 20 mins.




 Here is a link to the notes for this session:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9_AI2rqzHHAMl9mTTA0M0JUWUdRWTRYaWdIbzBjdw/view?usp=sharing

Free Speech Should be for Librarians Too

Librarians and Self-censorship

Free speech for librarians comes with unspoken conditions

I encounter many (often young) librarians in real life and online.  One of the most frequent things people tell me is, "How come you are so free with your speech?  I could never talk about those things--I would get fired." or more often, "...I would never land a job!"  

It is striking that librarians consider themselves defenders of free speech and intellectual freedom, but that the above sentiment is held by so many librarians.  

Why are librarians scared to speak about important issues?

I understand about library constituencies, but I'm not talking about library directors here--I'm speaking about regular librarians, or librarians searching for a job.

Last month, I had a session at the Oregon Library Association Conference.  My session was on cannabis resources for librarians.  The session consisted of a panel.  I had invited another knowledgeable librarian to be on the panel.  However, the librarian's director told them that they could not be part of the session.  I found this interesting--especially since the state of Oregon has legalized cannabis for recreational and medical consumption.

Censored and Self-censored 

Anyway, the fact the librarians are scared to speak about certain issues, or to let their staff speak about certain issues because if might offend their constituencies is incredibly offensive to the notion of free speech AND intellectual freedom.  It would be wiser to create a campaign on intellectual freedom and free speech than to censor librarians, or to self-censor--which is the most usual case.  

Librarians should never be scared to talk about issues.  We should never be wary of pointing users to legitimate information sources, not matter what the subject and we should never self-censor.

It is chilling to me to hear so many people who are fearful of speaking out, speaking up or bringing up topics that might make others feel uncomfortable.  One of the main issues with our country is that it avoids issues that are uncomfortable.  This leads to anger, violence and other social issues.  

As librarians, we should feel free to speak our minds, be ready to defend our free speech rights and use, be ready to defend free speech for others and access to information that some may feel should be restricted.  

I have suffered the ramifications of free speech.  In fact, one of the heads of an academic diversity in libraries program recently told me to,  "Never contact me again.  Your rhetoric is weak, and your arguments are unconvincing."

If he doesn't like my arguments, then attack the arguments--don't cut me off from you and your program.  

When things like this happen, and even worse--when they happen in public, these ramifications serve as a model of punishment.  This model informs others of what can happen to them if they speak out, or don't reinforce the status quo.

If we self-censor, how can we ever hope to achieve promote free access to materials, and the free speech of ourselves and others?

Citizen by Claudia Rankine (Book Review)

This book is amazing on so many levels.

Poetically, it stands almost alone as an example of relationships, alienation, microaggressions, and racism in the 21st century US.

Quote from Citizen

A friend recommended this book to me over the break--as we were all freshly cut wide open from the Ferguson coverage, revealing local discussions and ongoing murder of POC from any age and area in the US.

I finally got a hold of it via the library and read it in earnest.

The descriptions of racial microaggressions in 2nd person narrative poetry are so powerful I was shaking as I read them.

Quote from Citizen

Each page is condensed emotion, reaction and analysis of a lifetime of experiencing relationships that bite while smiling.  Her poetry describes how inescapable it is to be a POC in the US at this time and place.  The relentless assault upon our senses of 21st century lynchings and their impact the mental health, awareness and identity of POC is explicated in detail.  This explication is via emotions, images and the powerful poetic voice of Ms. Rankine.

I don't read many books of poetry, nor do I often recommend them.  However, this work should be standard reading for any HS senior, or 1st year college students.  Anyone interested in Race in the US should read this book.  It gets at the heart of what it feels like to live in the US at this time as a POC.

Read this book.

Order this book for your library.

Tell others about this book.

#EthnicBullies and #GateKeepers in Academia and Education

On a web site I frequent someone recently posted a photo from an article on the san Francisco police giving some books to children.  Here is the link to the article: Article

I commented on the site that “I hope they gave the kids some books on how to survive a confrontation with the pigs.”  I said this in all seriousness because the police routinely kill people of color in the US.  In fact, citizen survival tactics during interactions with police should be programming in libraries. Using the term pig is English in origin and has also been used to describe police since 1851.

Apart from the police brutality based on race there was also some POC on POC bullying going on in this exchange on the board.

Immediately, the person who posted the article (a professional in the same profession as me) told me that I should act professional--”Aren’t you a professional Max--we should behave as professionals!”

I’m used to getting the “professional” ad hominem from discussions with White people who will attack me with this when I say something that challenges the established White-supremacist system.  Most often, these White people are ‘liberals,’ who claim to be on my side and to not be prejudiced.  #microaggressions

This comment was more insidious though.  This comment made me realize that this person is a gatekeeper/driver.  I use these terms because people who have benefited from Affirmative Action in the past--most of them older, mentors to the newer generations--are used as gate keepers and drivers.  

Slave Driver

They discourage and actively fight against advancement of those who could create change that would challenge the White racist power structure.  This is threatening to those who have achieved ‘professional’ positions, whose expertise would no longer be needed if the White-supremacist educational/professional system were dismantled and replaced with something civilized.  .  

These drivers I describe teach young people how to be successful in the current system that is dominated by outright racists and unconsciously biased people of all colors.  They also chastise, blackball and otherwise condemn those who don’t conform to the racist system of education.  #SlaveDrivers

Locked in a box of no opportunities

One reason there has not been any progress in education, economics and against the school to prison pipeline is insidious.  It isn't because of White racists alone.  It is because people who benefited from Affirmative Action are too scared and comfortable to create the needed change for those who were left behind in the barrio and ghettos.  They are in denial about the system and their place in the system of oppression.

These gatekeepers will focus on ‘civility’ and ‘professionalism.’  They will say a POC is uncivil if they speak in a manner that challenges the White-racist power structure.  Somewhere along the line, being civil and being professional became synonyms for servility, obedience, subservience and getting along within the status quo.  

Rome

This is not the definition of civil.  The English Word Civil comes from the Latin word civi--or city--being civil is the ability to get along and live with a variety of people, opinions, attitudes, etc...that come with living in the city.  It is the set of skills that allows one to live among the diversity of characters in the city.

These gatekeepers are guilty of complicity and abetting the White racist power structure.  They are also guilty or ruining good people’s chances at creating real change.  I say this because these drivers cut people out of the mix when it comes to opportunity.  They also help label good people as “angry,” “unprofessional,” and “uncivil.”  This keeps them out of professional positions, where they could create some real change.  

Not being angry, being professional and being civil are all requirements of a job in academia and anywhere else for that matter.  This is a main reason why we have not had any change as a result of affirmative action.  We are training people to be successful cogs in a system that despises us, is uncivil in a myriad of ways toward us, and murders us on a regular basis.  We need to train them and educate them to be leaders for change NOT leaders within this pathological system.  

Destroy the Ivory Tower!

Education should be liberating.  It shouldn't just lead to a comfortable life, jet-setting around the country and the world to conferences for intellectual posturing that creates no real change.  So, don’t lecture me about being professional--you all should be professional and challenge the system that oppresses your people so violently and so openly.  But then again, you may live up in the hills somewhere where you don’t have to deal with harassment by the police, or worse--violence-- like most of your people do.  When people work in the system of the status quo, they need to remember where they came from and that their attainment means much more than material success.

#DiversitiesAndRepresentation

[We welcome this week's guest post from Da` Lyberri-Ann]

By: Da’ Lyberri-ann

So another Midwinter has passed and like red carpet season, our new literary award winners have been announced with great fanfare. Facebook was filled with selfies and group pictures of committee members proud of a year’s hard work and accomplishments. As a librarian I should feel giddy and excited. New books are winning awards for outstanding literature in many different categories. As a children’s librarian I should be pulling out rolls of golden stickers to note these books of honor and proudly promoting them to my community. But I am not excited or proud. I’m upset. Disappointed. Dare I say “pissed off?”. Why? it is because again I see that although #blacklivesmatter for sound bites in the news, it doesn’t result in actual change.  

At the risk of pointing out the pink elephant in the room I’ll tell you why: The Caldecott committee didn’t have any people of disadvantaged minority status. Or to be blunt: No Blacks, No Hispanics, No Native Americans served on the Caldecott this year. Again.

[There were two people of color on this year's Caldecott Committee: The chair, Junko Yakota and Lucia Acosta]. 

And to be honest I am sick of it! 20 people on the committee: 16 women, 4 men, one of Asian ancestry, and .. thats it. 19 white folks and one token Asian! WTF!!!! A committee that is supposed to find the best picture books in the nation didn’t have a single Hispanic! For crying out F****in’ loud, how hard is it to find a Hispanic children’s librarian in a country with over 30% of its population Hispanic?

Honestly how hard is it to find a Black children’s librarian to serve on  this committee? Now I know the excuses and they are bulls****. Minority ALA members pay dues, they are  active in the organization but are repeatedly blackballed, and denied access to the very committees that will result in a change in ALA structure.  When was the last time a book about a Black or Hispanic child won the Caldecott? ….. I’ll wait. ( you had to google it, admit it) And that proves my point.

It is not enough that the CSK (Coretta Scot King) award exists. If #blacklivesreallymatter and #brownlivesmatter we need to acknowledge in mainstream awards that the stories of their lives are significant. It’s like a Black musician being happy their album won the BET awards. It’s all well and good be acknowledged by your own, but true change happens when your music crosses into the mainstream and wins a Grammy.  I know what some of you are thinking: Viva Frida was honored! And a that book about the slave poet in 2011… it was honored too. It is significant that the books are acknowledged right?

2009 Newberry Honor Book

Not anymore.  I am sick of books about minorities earning second place. I am sick of the message that they are good enough for CSK but not for Caldecott. I am sick of the message that the stories are not worthy of a mainstream audience.  And until I see consistent Black and Brown faces on the committees I will not see this change. So I won’t be  supporting this racist situation by marketing the Caldecott winners to my Black and Brown library users. #Blackbooksmatter.

 

Pura Belpré

2015 Author Award Winner

I Lived on Butterfly Hill, written by Marjorie Agosín, illustrated by Lee White and published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

Pura Belpré

2015 Illustrator Award Winner

Viva Frida, illustrated and written by Yuyi Morales and published by Roaring Brook Press, a Neal Porter Book

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards

2015 Author Award Winner

“brown girl dreaming” published by Nancy Paulson Books, published by the Penguin Group, Penguin Group (USA) LLC

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards

2015 Illustrator Award Winner

“Firebird” written by Copeland and published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, published by the Penguin Group, Penguin Group USA

Lowrider Literacies and Fluencies* 10 Point Program 2015

Lowrider Literacies and Fluencies* 10 Point Program 2015

1. Technology: We demand free access to technology and technology instruction, training and applications that meets our community needs.


2. Mechanics: We demand free access to mechanical technology and instruction. By this we mean we want motor vehicle, heavy equipment and other mechanical training and access that meet our community needs.


3. Reading: We demand free access to books that meet our needs. By needs, we mean: Cultural, Political, HIstorical, Language, Social, Psychological, and Health needs. We also demand books in a variety of formats.


4. Writing: We demand free access to writing and publishing technologies as well as the instruction to become fluent with them, and the ability to apply them to our needs.

5. Critical Political Analysis: We demand free access to critical political science analysis instruction, training and applications of this critical thinking to our needs.


6. Social Community Literacy: We demand free access to instruction, training and the application of social and community service and self-development based on our needs.


7. Human Development Health: We demand free access to instruction, training and the application of sound human development principled based on our needs and applied to our communities. 

8. Logic: We demand free access to instruction, training and the application of logical analysis and fluency for community members in both informal and formal logic.


9. Self-Defense: We demand free access to instruction, training and the application of self-defense principles, techniques, weapon training, tactical training and the history of self-defense based on our needs.

10. Ends: Educational sell-determination that leads to political self-determination is the goal of all the preceding literacy points.




*Any marginalized individual or group that seeks to mitigate oppressive forces on their community can apply Lowrider Literacy and Fluencies. One need not own a lowrider, nor be Latino.

Ethnic Leaders Must Create Change

The reason there has been no real advancement in Education for ethnically diverse people is because leaders do NOT create change within a system that is White-Supremacist, oppressive and hostile to non-European Americans.

What our leadership programs do, is to show students how to 'succeed' in the present White-Supremacist educational system.  By success, they really mean that students can take a place within this oppressive system and provide continuity in a system of violence, intimidation and murder.  

So, the cream of the crop, our best of the best are MOST OFTEN turned into overseers, who continue on and legitimize the present system.  These students legitimize it by taking their place in the system and telling other students that they too can 'succeed,' but they must act 'professional,' not be radical and keep telling others that, "change takes time!"  

How much time is it going to take?:

For them to stop killing our kids, no matter what type of degree we or they have?

For them to treat us like human beings and allow us to grow?

For us to realize that the present system is based on UNREPENTANT Genocide, Land-theft and Slavery AND that this system is NOT sustainable.

We need change and we need it now--not in some distant time.

If we continue on merely taking our place within a system that creates oppression, depression, that allows for the murder of our children, that allows for our children to be locked up in prison and disenfranchised,  that MAINTAINS the current system, then our grandchildren will be asking the same questions that are asked today.

How could this happen?

Why haven't things changed?

What are we going to do?

There is something we can do right now--we can NOT become like the oppressor, not take our place (as instructed to do so)in the grand killing machine that is the US, and to train students to create change themselves.

Change won't happen by conducting research that will please the dominant culture, but by creating real change via direct action and REAL discussion.  How much research do you need to know you live in a system that is horribly sick with issues it has not confronted and solved?

We don't need weak leaders. 

There are so very few of us in higher education, we can't let our 'successes' continue on in this manner.

We need real change and we need it now!

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace

The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace hit upon almost all the intellectual struggles I have with education as a scholar of color.  This doesn't mean every person of color will relate to this book, and it doesn't mean that White people can't relate to the book either.

It is really a book anyone should read, but the themes covered:

• Alienation from the dominant culture in an educational institution
• Bifurcating one's life to handle a life in two worlds
• What does success mean?

       are themes that many people of color in academia can relate to specifically.  

Robert Peace was a brilliant Science student, who earned a full scholarship to Yale University.  He graduated and seemed to have everything going for him.

This book tells the story of his family background, his upbringing, his education, his post-education decisions and his untimely death.  Rob's story is told from his White-upper middle class roommate's perspective.  

Rob peace went to Yale,dealt cannabis throughout his stay at Yale, graduated and then went back to life in Newark New Jersey, selling weed, teaching, working at the airport and inventing new strains of marijuana.  This book claims he invented the famous Sour Diesel strain of cannabis.  The conundrum this book addresses and is stuck on is:  How could a kid, who had so much going for him, fuck up so bad and get murdered?   

The writing is mediocre, but the story is something that is gripping and I believe happens much more than people speak about.  Alienation, and a turn away from the "gifts" that are  bestowed upon this "blessed" and "unusual" person.

[Writing in blue below are my personal observations.]

Sometimes, the supposed gifted ones, know people who are as smart, or smarter than them.  These people use their smarts to survive and to make money.  When one is lauded, and knows others who are smarter, who are rotting in jail, or dead, or addicted to drugs,  then the gifts that one is bestowed with don't mean as much to you as to those who are giving the gifts.  

Why couldn't he break away from his former neighborhood and the life there?

When I was an undergrad, I came to realize that the inner workings and business deals on the street level were not any different than those business deals and workings of "legitimate" businesses.  The legitimate business dealings, were far larger and impacted far more people than street level deals, or even big dealer deals, but they are fundamentally the same.  I realized that the drug trade was unfettered capitalism.   

Why didn't he plan something after college?

I couldn't plan anything in college either, not because I was unmotivated, but because I was so focused on getting my degree and having to accomplish this completely by myself--it was all I could do to graduate Cum Laude.  People who are in college as first generation students need more support and more advising than those who are not first generation.  First generation people don't have the support system that many other college students have.  

One can be academically successful and NOT hold the same values as their educational institutions.   The scene where Rob was confronted by the authorities at Yale for selling weed at school, and him not getting in trouble.  And his continued sales even after the confrontation with his administration.  Rob knew he was being used as a token, and knew they would not prosecute him, nor even punish him--it would look bad.  This is my take on it at least.  It also shows that Rob was not your stereotypical "successful" minority scholar, who doesn't smoke weed, believes in Jesus and doesn't own guns.  

Survivor guilt?  I am not claiming that Rob Peace had survivor guilt, but this is something that has bothered me forever.  How come I am alive, free, educated and employed?  While others, who are far smarter than me, far greater than me in many respects, are locked up in prison, dead, or drugged out?

This book bothered me in many ways:

• The author is White and doesn't really know Ethnic Minority culture in the US.
• The author imposes many people's desires for Rob, but doesn't know Rob's desires enough. 
• The author is a mediocre writer and bums me out on Yale's creative writing program.
• I was constantly wondering if the author was going to split his profits with Rob's mother.
• The author didn't show enough redeeming qualities about people from the hood.

I would recommend this book for all HS seniors and incoming freshmen of color because it may help them sort out what success means to them.  I would have a  discussion with them about what it means that the author is White though--what it means to the story and how the author's class impacts his understanding of Rob, his family, his neighborhood and his values.  

Available Hardcover – September 23, 2014  

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (September 23, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 147673190X
• ISBN-13: 978-1476731902
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 1 inches