Wanted: African American researchers

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) $184,000 to establish a national program of short-term fellowships in African American Studies. Over the next three years, the fellowships will enable scholars, professional artists, writers, and other researchers to conduct research relating to African American and African diasporic art, culture, history, and politics in the collections of the member institutions of the BMRC.

The three-year program will be held during the summers of 2009, 2010 and 2011. Fellows will be in residence in Chicago for one to two months. Applicants must demonstrate a need for the collections of at least one BMRC institution, with preference given to applicants whose research will take them to at least one other member institution as well. These BMRC collections should be vital to the applicant’s research. Applicants who live outside of the state of Illinois will receive preference. In addition to conducting their proposed research, fellows will take part in monthly programs, hosted by member institutions on a rotating basis.  More Information

 

Home Depot Grant

Very few grants can be used for brick and mortar projects. This one from Home Depot can be.

The Home Depot’s Building Healthy Communities Grant Program awards grants of up to $2,500 to nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, public schools, and tax-exempt public service agencies in the United States that are using the power of volunteers to improve the physical health of their community. Grants are made in the form of Home Depot gift cards for the purchase or tools or materials.

Grants are for community improvement projects that include activities such as construction or refurbishment of affordable or transitional housing; building, rebuilding, painting, refurbishing, and/or improving energy efficiency and sustainability; and landscaping, planting of native trees, community facility improvements, and the development and/or improvement of green spaces. Grants must support work completed by community volunteers in the U.S.

Only registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, tax-exempt public schools, and tax-exempt public agencies in the U.S. are eligible to apply.

All applicants are required to pass an eligibility quiz before being considered for a grant. Visit the Home Depot Web site for complete program information and eligibility quiz.

 

Thanks, Vets

 

Elliott’s Wish is coming true!

click thc cover for the full story!

 

book review: Shine Coconut Moon

book review:  Shine Coconut Moon   

author: Neesha Meminger

Margaret K. McElderry Books; 2009

main character: Samar “Sam”

Sam‘s Uncle suddenly comes to visit. He is her mom’s only brother, the brother she walked away from when she left her family to marry the love of her life. Sam‘s mom resented the Indian culture that she felt was stifling her, so she left it behind and never looked back. She raised her daughter to be an all American girl. Sam dressed, talked and acted just like her white friends.

And then her Uncle Sandeep appears. Her turban wearing Sikh uncle in post 9/11 America.

It is so painful to watch a young person suddenly realize what it means to belong to an ethnic group when for years they’d basically been passing. The story unfolds into a journey of self discovery. Relationships are redefined, values are clarified and tears are shed. Through this process, Meminger gives us reason to empathize with Samar: her ignorance of her culture is not her own fault and she is working to make up for lost time. A real testament to her character is the fact that Sam is never embarrassed by her uncle even when she sees how people react to him. What embarrasses her is her own ignorance.

Meminger gives us reason to be proud of who we are and from where we come. She shows us that people who really love us see us for who we are, we cannot hide our true selves from them. Somehow, though we try to hide from ourselves. An interesting subtext was that Sam’s childhood friend, Maggie, had a bit of a problem understanding the subtleties of racism, but people of color in Sam’s world, people with whom she wasn’t necessarily friends, understood exactly what Sam was feeling and why. Heck, they were taunted with similar slurs from the same people! In fighting with her mother, her friend and her enemies, Sam exhibited the resilience that teens of color need to come of age in America. For these teens, it’s not just about growing up but it’s still about overcoming.

DISCLOSURE: The book used for this review was purchased at full price.

 

SundayMorningReading

Do you still begin your day with a print edition of your local newspaper? Or do you read online?  I know that my local paper, the Indianapolis Star has been offering great discounts to get new subscribers while at the same time, they’re trying to maintain a competitive website to deliver local news. The NYTimes offers free subscriptions to their online edition to classrooms across the country. I found this free offer in an effort to convince a teacher to use an online subscription rather than purchasing print copies for classes. For some, there is the memory of our experience with print newspapers that we hope to share with our children: laughing at the comics, discovering a piece of news and sharing it with everyone all day or reading it aloud to a sick parent. I wonder what experiences today’s teens will be able to share with their children and grandchildren.

This week, Indianapolis celebrates its Spirit and Place Festival. This year’s theme is Inspiring Places. I met with old friends on Friday and went to an opening session on Spirit in Ordinary Spaces. 5 presenters of various shades, beliefs and occupations shared stories of how ordinary places like libraries, hospitals, Target stores and gardens became sacred for them.

I wondered what places have been sacred to me? Doesn’t this thought always return to our childhood home? Don’t we all work to have peace in our homes, filling them with sights and sounds and smells? Cleansing them, breaking bread in them, nurturing children and observing traditional customs in them? I thought about this: how some are careful who and what they bring into their space while others fill their homes with everyone in need of good company.  Aren’t homes the basic sacred space? Well, maybe not. Maybe it’s all about memory.

Just now, I think about Zetta’s visit to the African Burial Grounds and the memory that space preserves. Crazy Horse said “My lands are where my dead lie buried.” And perhaps his memories, too.

I think about the W.A.R. project and the community being formed among people of color through those shared memories.

I think about my school media center and how teachers are always shushing students, telling them not to do this or that because, they say in the most reverent tone “you are in the library”.

Memories make the theaters, schools, restaurants and parks where I spent time with my children have special meaning to me. I still laugh when I drive past the house where we used to live and see that the basketball rim is still crooked. I wonder if they fixed that garage door my daughter busted open when she forgot her key?  Finding the sacred, finding twinkling bits of love in the ordinary is about the memories we share.

Here is a really cool tool for make a little memory to share with someone special! Twinkle on, my friends!

 

NewBooks

I have a few reviews coming, and my pile is growing with a few new releases. I don’t have access to all of these yet, but they do look interesting!

I picked up Gentlemen right before the readathon. Look at the cover, you’ll see why I got it. It does also have a lot of good reviews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I still need to read Liar, too.  A few other books:

The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim Their new book, “The Eternal Smile,” is a First Second collection of three very different stories written by Yang and illustrated by Kim that explore the relationship between fantasy and reality.

The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini:
“Sabatini, who grew up in Harare and Bulawayo, offers a beautifully written first novel that explores the complexities of post-independent Zimbabwe–ever-shifting affinities of race, family, and other affiliations–through the love story of a mixed-race couple.” (Booklist )

Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau

Fifteen-year-old Zeeta lives in a different country every year with her flighty, English-teaching mom, Layla.  The wandering life suits Layla, who lives in the moment, quotes mystical poetry, and hangs out with penniless artists and scraggly-haired clowns. But Zeeta yearns for the “normal life” she sees in American magazine ads.

The world is mine by Lyah LeFlore

Coming up is never easy. These two dreamers will have to put everything on the line and do whatever it takes to succeed. It’s the new American dream, and the sky’s the limit. All they need is one shot. (Amazon)

Kingdom of the golden dragon by Isabelle Allende

Isabel Allende once again leads readers on a fantastical voyage of suspense, magic, and awe-inspiring adventure in this riveting follow-up to City of the Beasts. (author’s website)

Tiger moon by Antonia Michaelis review

Sophomore undercover by Ben Esch

When wannabe journalist Dixie Nguyen stumbles into the story of a lifetime in the boys’ locker room, he risks everything, including his place on the football team, to bring down an albino drug lord–who happens to be another high school student.

 

book review: Sarah Winnemucca Scout, Activist and Teacher

Book review: Sarah Winnemucca Scout, Activist and Teacher       

Author: Natalie M. Rosinsky

Compass Point Books 2006

Non-fiction

 

Thocmetony “Sarah” Winnemucca was a Kuyuidika-a woman born in 1844. Her birth shortly preceded the arrival of Whites from the east who, through Manifest Destiny felt entitled to the land. Sarah’s life began on a very traditional path until she and her family were forced to move to California. Many events that caused the Piute to lose their land, struggle with disease and poverty, be denied education and live with no basic rights. Sarah’s story is almost lost in the telling of the history of the Piutes and it can be difficult to understand what moitivated many of her actions. However, middle school students who read this book would need this context to understand the difficulties Sarah faced.

Sarah’s grandfather, “Captain Truckee” was a leader of the Nuyuidika-a, one of the Northern Pauite bands. He was somewhat forward thinking, accepting the presence of Whites without prejudice. The consequences were devastating. Winnemucca herself accepted many of the ways of the whites and was not always accepted by her own people for doing so. She was able to receive an education, could read, write and speak both English and Spanish. She wrote the first book published by a Native American woman north of the Mississippi, Life among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims.

As an adult reading this book, it can be easy to see it as another book that presents wise, mystical and exotic natives. However, Rosinsky actually does a talented job of smoothing the horrors committed by Natives and Whites and of trimming Winnemucca’s misjudgments into a story acceptable for middle school students.

Rosinsky’s book is supplemented with evidence from Winnemucca’s book and from photo archives. The back of the book also offers links to Internet resources, timelines and museums.

Rosinsky’s biography of Northern Paiute leader Sarah Winnemucca was honored by the Western Writers of America as a finalist in the 2007 Spur Award competition for juvenile nonfiction. Sarah Winnemucca: Scout, Activist, and Teacher also represented the state of Nevada at the 2006 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. This biography was named one of 2006’s best books for children by the Bank Street College of Education.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enough with the lists!!!

I subscribe to two listservs. It seems that the one for school media specialists has more postings that makes me wonder what in the world these people do all day. For instance:

What four books would you wish that most high school students read sometime during their education?  I realize this is extremely broad and I appreciate your thoughts.

Is this person’s library about to be condensed to four measly books? Is her language arts department trying to find the best books to teach each year a student is in school? Or, perhaps s/he is just musing?

What’s even more frustrating than the post itself is that you think about it and attempt to answer it! Imagine the variety of responses! How many will want students to read those four gems they read in high school? or the four Big Classics? or the four recent bestselling YA books? How do you list four books for every highschooler??  Nonetheless, here is my response:

• One book that evokes emotion
• One book that helps you to understand someone different from you
• One book in which you come to better understand yourself
• One book that is pure enjoyment