Pursuing a Better Tomorrow


Book Description

What would you give up today for a better tomorrow? Many individuals give up the only world they know in pursuit of a better tomorrow. Spanning more than one hundred years, Pursuing a Better Tomorrow, is not just a memoir that portrays the history of three generations, but rather an inspiring cross-generational journey from Spain to the US. Four interconnected stories focus on one of the main characters in a given era. Their personal stories illustrate the challenges and opportunities of immigration, acculturation, coming of age, and self-discovery through the characters’ psychological and moral growth. The characters portray the strength of character required to achieve a better tomorrow given the twists, turns, and synchronistic events that shaped their lives. The novel transports the reader to a time long forgotten with a readable historical overview of the Taíno, the conquistadors, early settlers, the Spanish Empire, and the Dominican Republic, interspersed within the narrative through the perspective of the character of the era. De La Rosa candidly shares her coming-of-age story of self-discovery as she transitioned from New York City’s projects to corporate America, detailing her personal and professional journey. From humble beginnings—and despite a myriad of challenges—unfolded a life of untold blessings and opportunities. “Pursuing a Better Tomorrow is entertaining as well as inspiring. The author’s tone is motivating.... offers a balanced view of immigration and all that it entails.” —OnlineBookClub.org Blanca De La Rosa was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New York City’s public housing, attended public high school, and graduated from Pace University. She retired from ExxonMobil after thirty-four years of service.




The History of the Jewish People: Ancient Israel to 1880's America


Book Description

Presents Jewish history from our earliest ancestors in the Land of Israel to our dispersion in the Diaspora through the Jewish experience in America in the 1880's. Finally, a Jewish history book through which students can view their own lives and think about their futures! The History of the Jewish People, Volume 1 was developed and written by two esteemed scholars, Jonathan D. Sarna and Jonathan B. Krasner. This dynamic text (for grades 5-7) is a rich presentation of Jewish history from our earliest ancestors in the Land of Israel to our dispersion in the Diaspora through the Jewish experience in America in the 1880's. Each chapter helps students consider how their lives compare with the lives of our ancestors, how each generation adapts Judaism to its time and place, and how the decisions of previous generations influence our own lives and decisions. The History of the Jewish People, Volume 1 brings these times alive through a dynamic array of famous personalities, diverse source material, clear and concise charts, engaging activities, thought-provoking questions, and exciting graphics, including 16 maps and more than 115 full-color historical and contemporary images.




Spain, a Historical Enigma


Book Description




Cosmic Crossroad Countdown


Book Description

This book brings light into the fog of the mind and heart, makes sense of the obscurity in our present turmoil and in history, and reveals Truth that will give you hope and a deeper faith. Seeing, they do not see, is a warning for all of us. Are we being tested and guided by hands beyond our world for our good? Why now and why so much turmoil? Do the answers lie in the mysteries of the Prophetic Generation and Wheels of Time, or in a mysterious Fig Tree and Wilderness Experience? Or do they point to a profound Sign, a "Crossroad," that we need to grasp before it is too late?




Jesus and the Chaos of History


Book Description

In Jesus and the Chaos of History, James Crossley looks at the way the earliest traditions about Jesus interacted with a context of social upheaval and the ways in which this historical chaos of the early first century led to a range of ideas which were taken up, modified, ignored, and reinterpreted in the movement that followed. Crossley examines how the earliest Palestinian tradition intersected with social upheaval and historical change and how accidental, purposeful, discontinuous, contradictory, and implicit meanings in the developments of ideas appeared in the movement that followed. He considers the ways seemingly egalitarian and countercultural ideas co-exist with ideas of dominance and power and how human reactions to socio-economic inequalities can end up mimicking dominant power. In this case, the book analyses how a Galilean 'protest' movement laid the foundations for its own brand of imperial rule. This evaluation is carried out in detailed studies on the kingdom of God and 'Christology', 'sinners' and purity, and gender and revolution.




The Great Anglo-Celtic Divide in the History of American Foreign Relations


Book Description

Positing that presidents shape America's foreign policy according to their ethnic heritage, this intriguing volume examines two groups that have dominated the presidency and the distinctly different agendas that have resulted. How is American foreign policy determined? The Great Anglo-Celtic Divide in the History of American Foreign Relations approaches that question from a fascinating perspective, arguing that, to a large extent, the answer lies in the ethnicity of the president. To make its point, this book examines the key foreign policies of American presidents from George Washington to George W. Bush and shows how their most important foreign policy decisions have tended to follow an ethnic pattern. The presidency has been dominated by Americans from English or Celtic backgrounds since the nation's founding, and as readers will discover, the foreign policies of the two groups have been very different. To document those differences, this book analyzes seven alternating periods of political domination by Anglo-Americans and Celtic-Americans, demonstrating how the cycle of change affected the shape and distinguishing characteristics of U.S. foreign policy in matters of war and peace and in relations with other countries.







Strangers in This Land


Book Description

This updated, revised version of the important 1988 first edition ("must reading for anyone seriously probing religious pluralism in our society"--Theology Today) examines the complex relationship between American ideals and increasing religious diversity. In the past two decades, American religion has become more pluralistic and the central dynamic of welcoming versus rejecting religious diversity is even more prominent and nuanced. Explored here are two competing visions of the American Dream as it relates to religion: America as a pluralistic society shaped by its diversity, and America as an assimilative society in which people of all backgrounds become "American."







Possessing the Land


Book Description

This book's comprehensive treatment of the social and political processes of Aragon's settlement under Alfonso I (1104-1134) of the Islamic Ebro River march provides important new insights into Christian Iberia's social history and Muslims under Christian rule.