Cascade: Unapologetic


Book Description

Like the sands of time, it shifts, it's mercurial … unpredictable. I grew up stern, detached, like a person looking through glass, observing. But everything had come to the forefront, and nothing could ever prepare me for what the next chapter entailed. I could no longer be the observer but would become the one being observed. He ceaselessly watched, clutching me like a disease. His poison gradually possessed me until I was fully submerged under his twisted spell. The dark side of love—his perverse love. I was out for blood. Anyone would do.




The Blue Cascade


Book Description

In this searing and beautifully written memoir, Marine Lieutenant and CNN Op-Ed contributor Mike Scotti charts a course from the front lines of Iraq back home to New York, showing how sometimes the hardest battle is the one after the war. Sometimes the hardest battle is the one after the war. As one of the soldiers on the front line of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Lieutenant Scotti was taught that weakness is what gets you killed: no hesitation, focus your energies on your objective, and complete the mission. Upon returning from war, Scotti approached his new life the same way. He ignored the creeping depression and numbness he called "The Blue Cascade" and charged ahead toward his goal to get an MBA, secure a high-paying finance job, and retire young and rich. But he was being eaten away inside, and scenes of drunken emotion and raging violence were becoming more and more frequent. Years after returning from active combat, he eventually found himself contemplating suicide. Through a series of powerful events, Scotti was ultimately able to find a path to healing and begin his journey back to life, finally emerging with the following wisdom for fellow sufferers of post-traumatic stress:It's ok if you are not ok.




Unleashed


Book Description

"Unleashed is worth an afternoon of your time, whether or not you are already a leader. It is sparkily written and personal, drawing on the experiences of co-authors (and spouses) Frei and Morriss."— Financial Times Leadership isn't easy. It takes grit, courage, and vision, among other things, that can be hard to come by on your toughest days. When leaders and aspiring leaders seek out advice, they're often told to try harder. Dig deeper. Look in the mirror and own your natural-born strengths and fix any real or perceived career-limiting deficiencies. Frances Frei and Anne Morriss offer a different worldview. They argue that this popular leadership advice glosses over the most important thing you do as a leader: build others up. Leadership isn't about you. It's about how effective you are at empowering other people—and making sure this impact endures even in your absence. As Frei and Morriss show through inspiring stories from ancient Rome to present-day Silicon Valley, the origins of great leadership are found, paradoxically, not in worrying about your own status and advancement, but in the unrelenting focus on other people's potential. Unleashed provides radical advice for the practice of leadership today. Showing how the boldest, most effective leaders use a special combination of trust, love, and belonging to create an environment in which other people can excel, Frei and Morriss offer practical, battle-tested tools—based on their work with companies such as Uber, Riot Games, WeWork, and others—along with interviews and stories from their own personal experience, to make these ideas come alive. This book is your indispensable guide for unleashing greatness in other people . . . and, ultimately, in yourself. To learn more, please visit theleadersguide.com.




Gumbo Ya Ya


Book Description

Gumbo Ya Ya, Aurielle Marie’s stunning debut, is a cauldron of hearty poems exploring race, gender, desire, and violence in the lives of Black gxrls, soaring against the backdrop of a contemporary South. These poems are loud, risky, and unapologetically rooted in the glory of Black gxrlhood. The collection opens with a heartrending indictment of injustice. What follows is a striking reimagination of the world, one where no Black gxrl dies “by the barrel of the law” or “for loving another Black gxrl.” Part familial archival, part map of Black resistance, Gumbo Ya Ya catalogs the wide gamut of Black life at its intersections, with punching cultural commentary and a poetic voice that holds tenderness and sharpness in tandem. It asks us to chew upon both the rich meat and the tough gristle, and in doing so we walk away more whole than we began and thoroughly satisfied. Excerpt from “transhistorical for the x in my gxrls” What I mean is, this country is mine if only because from my mouth I spit its loam and unspun a noose. I won’t exploit the only metaphor they gave us willingly, and instead hunt for other vicious things to make a muse. I earned this country. I owe it nothing. With my infinite, infant hand, I manipulated a death sentence into a compound-complex one. from the umbilical, I bled a life worth writing down and in a century’s time, there will be another word created still for the weeping magic of this same story: a Black gxrl’s first breath.




Cascade


Book Description

Like the sands of time, it shifts, it's mercurial ... unpredictable.I grew up stern, detached, like a person looking through glass, observing. But everything had come to the forefront, and nothing could ever prepare me for what the next chapter entailed.I could no longer be the observer but would become the one being observed.He ceaselessly watched, clutching me like a disease. His poison gradually possessed me until I was fully submerged under his twisted spell.The dark side of love-his perverse love.I was out for blood. Anyone would do.




The Decline of Black Men's Attendance In Church:


Book Description

"Ecclesiastical Dissonance" explores the profound challenge of the absence of Black men in contemporary Black churches in the United States. Using empirical data, historical analysis, and biblical exploration, the book unveils the factors contributing to the decline in Black male participation in church services from the 1960s to the present. It also examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing a longstanding challenge. The narrative delves into national implications, and historical and biblical dimensions, and presents statistical data for understanding absenteeism effects and potential solutions. In a compelling call to action, the book invites readers to actively engage in this crucial conversation and offers opportunities for further involvement. For inquiries and engagement, contact the author at [email protected]. Join the dialogue to foster understanding and drive meaningful change within the ecclesiastical landscape.




Useful Wisdom


Book Description

"We've got a list of questions, issues, stuff we're dealing with. We want your input, your thoughts on this stuff." Such were the origins of this little book. Two young clergy, early in their first call, imagined that I might have some useful wisdom to pass on based on my own years in ministry. Something like this was once standard preparation. Young people learned a profession like law, ministry, or medicine by apprenticing themselves to one seasoned in the practice. Not only has that way of learning largely vanished but we now live in times of increasing segregation and suspicion between different generations. Still, these two millennials bucked the trends. They thought they might have something to learn from an old boomer. The result is this collection of letters: personal, wry, direct, and honest. Full of both hope and realism about the church and ministry. This collection will be a welcome companion for young, and for many not so young, clergy trying to get a handle on ministry in the midst of a time that is full of change and challenge.




The Anglican Tradition from a Postcolonial Perspective


Book Description

From a major scholar, a postcolonial perspective on key current and historical issues in Anglicanism, foregrounding the voices of theologians and church leaders from the Global South. In recent years, the Anglican Communion has been consumed by debates about gender, sexuality, authority, and biblical interpretation, which have frequently divided along North/South lines. Much of these controversies stem from the colonial history of Anglicanism. Written by a pioneer in postcolonial theology, this groundbreaking volume challenges Eurocentrism and racism in the Anglican Communion by highlighting the voices of theologians and church leaders from the Global South. The Anglican Tradition from a Postcolonial Perspective scrutinizes Anglican theology and history to advocate for the decolonization of the Church. It examines controversies on Christianity and the social order, economic justice, worship, gender and sexuality, women’s leadership, and the Church’s mission in a religiously pluralistic world.




Cosmopolitanism and Women’s Fashion in Ghana


Book Description

Drawing on extensive archival research and interviews, this book delves into the rich world of Ghanaian fashion, demonstrating how, over time, local dress styles and materials have been fused with global trends to create innovative, high fashion garments that reflect a distinctly Ghanaian cosmopolitanism. Ghana has a complex and diverse fashion culture which was in evidence before independence in 1957 and has continued to grow in reputation in the postcolonial period. In this book, Christopher Richards reflects on the contributions of the country’s female fashion designers, who have employed fashion to innovate existing, culturally relevant dress styles, challenge gendered forms of dress, and make bold statements regarding women’s sexuality. Treated as artworks, the book examines specific garments to illustrate the inherent complexity of their design and how fashion is often embedded with a blending of personal histories, cultural practices and global inspirations. Reflecting in particular on the works of Laura Quartey, Letitia Obeng, Juliana Kweifio-Okai, Beatrice Arthur and Aisha Ayensu, this book makes an important and timely contribution to art history, fashion studies, anthropology, history, women’s studies and African Studies. Chapter 1 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.




Oh the Glory of It All


Book Description

“In the beginning we were happy. And we were always excessive. So in the beginning we were happy to excess.” With these opening lines Sean Wilsey takes us on an exhilarating tour of life in the strangest, wealthiest, and most grandiose of families. Sean's mother is a 1980s society-page staple, regularly entertaining Black Panthers and movie stars in her marble and glass penthouse. His enigmatic father uses a jet helicopter to drop Sean off at the video arcade and lectures his son on proper hygiene in public restrooms. When Sean, "the kind of child who sings songs to sick flowers," turns nine years old, his father divorces his mother and marries her best friend. Sean's life blows apart. His mother has a "vision" of salvation that requires packing her Louis Vuitton luggage and traveling the globe, a retinue of multiracial children in tow. Follow Sean as he candidly recounts his life growing up in a wealthy family all while discovering who he is amongst San Francisco's social elite.