Carmichael has been discredited. To the extent that "Black Power" induced Afro-Americans to step up the pace and scope of black advancement in our society, it was a positive and welcome influence. To the extent that BP was the precursor to current-day notions of mindless multiculturalism and "institutional racism" it did us all, black and white, a grave insult. For an example of what oppression REALLY looks like, see Cuba.

After reading this book I began to think of many different things about myself. At first the book seemed kind of dull but give it a chapter or so and you won't want to put it down. This book gives references of the once again if you've read any other of my reviews by the people for the people. This book deals with big politics and community politics. It offers approaches as a person to realize the problems of the inner city but not so much but how blacks are being taken advantage of. This book is an insight into how businesses in the black community should under contracts be forced to spend at least ten to twenty percent of their earnings in the black community on schlorships, helping businesses,helping the homeless,etc. It gives case studies of different black comunities and how they confronted the powers that be. This book is a must read for all blacks, going into the next political change for us to understand where this system of government between Gore and Bush will leave minorities for the next term. This will also give non-minorities a chance to see what are the struggles that us as so called minorities go through that some quite can't understand. Everyone reading this review stay peaceful in your endeavers and life and stay focused, Assalaamu Alaykium

I first read this book in 1993, after reading this book again it gives a not only a revealing truth of the american black experience, but a foundation for these beliefs and clear logical thought which makes this book a MUST READ and not just angry rhetoric printed on paper.

I BOUGHT THIS BOOK IN SEARCH OF STEPHAN COONTS, BUT I LEARNED HE HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!

I HAD TO FLAT GIVE UP HALF WAY THROUGH! IT WAS TRITE, VAPID, AND JUST PLAIN BORING.

TRYING TOO HARD AT TECH AND CHARACTERLESS CHARACTERS COMBINE FOR A REAL SNOOZER.

IF I COULD RETURN FOR A REFUND I WOULD.

It's beginning to look like Stephen Coonts doesn't know where to take his career now that the Jake Grafton series has been pretty well tapped out. From his first book ("The Intruders") through "America", we've watched Grafton grow from a young naval fighter pilot to an Admiral, providing suspense and thrills certainly on a par with Clancy's Jack Ryan (except in much fewer words!), with possibly a little more spin on politics (e. g. "Cuba" and "Hong Kong") and a little less focus on the glamour of technology.

In "Deep Black", in which Coonts collaborates with co-author Jim DeFelice (himself with a half dozen or so books to his credit), we find a tale about National Security/CIA intrigue fostered by a possible coup in Russia. Our leading characters, Charlie Dean, a ex-Marine sniper, and Lia DeFrancesca, a former Delta Force trooper, spend most of the book deep in Russia ferreting out various evidence of mischief by the bad guys. Activities there alternate with command and control vignettes back at the "Art Room", some sort of conglomerate spy oversight agency. [Perhaps we know now how the co-authors divided their assignments.] At any rate, all are out to control world politics before the Russian President becomes an assassination victim, with most of the suspense leading up to the moment of truth re that event.

While the story was mildly entertaining at times, we thought the plot and writing skills on display were a departure from what we expect of Coonts. In particular the gender and sexual tension generated (or not) between the leads Charlie and Lea were barely beyond adolescent. Much of the technology used by the operatives, such as ear-embedded communications with an agency half-way 'round the globe, remote controlled drone fighters, and many other sensing and locating devices, were rather far-fetched, detracting from the credibility of the plot. It doesn't seem to us Coonts did his fan club any favor with this novel - perhaps it was just to keep his name out there while he gets ready to publish his next hardback? Our advice: wait!

Change of pace for Coonts, starting what looks like a new series. Mixes action on a couple of fronts.

Although this book describes itself as "the ultimate cat book", it is just a simple poem with childish illustrations. The best lines are the ones excerpted in the editorial review - the rest was disappointing. I suspect that the other reviewer is a friend of the author. It would be kind of cute for [$] but at [$] it's way overpriced.

This book is small but it revealing. It reminds me in its quiet tone of Rosemary Wells' books 'To The Bunny Planet'. We've all watched cats but not this carefully. The artwork is engaging and the language direct. It will make you better at looking at everything. It is a great book to use as a springboard for your own writing. I think it is as appropriate for adults as it is for children.

I could not get past the third chapter because of the bad language. Who wants to read a book that contains worse language than a rated "R" movie?

Matt Marquette is a Seattle fisherman. An Ex-Seal, Ex-racecar driver, commercial fisherman. Than one night, Marquette's boat is torched, inside the are the bodies of his deckhand and his girlfriend. Callam County Detective Lieutenant John Two Elks figures that it is extremely likely that Marquette committed the murder while torching his own boat for insurance. But Matt knows something that Two Elks doesn't. Matt knows that he is innocent. Also, after the fire, Matt found something else on the boat. Something that already has two men following him. Unknown to both Matt and Two Elks is that the sphere Matt found is part of a plan that could destroy the entire city of Seattle, and continue killing throughout the southwest United States.

As I read about the ex-racecar driver, with nightmares about his last crash, I figured "Well, there won't be any high speed chases in this story.". Boy was I wrong. The entire story turned into a "high speed chase" as I kept turning the pages. Cool book.

I am writing a final paper on this book at the moment. Chestnutt is an important writer, but not one of the best of the period. I don't think he ever got the chance to fully mature as a writer. This book leaves me with a lot of what-ifs and whys. For example, he introduces a nephew to the heroine who appears as though he will be important, but simply drops out of the picture. The book leaves me wondering what he meant to do, and didn't have time for. It is a good read, but rather frustrating.

If you only have time to read one African American classic, I would turn you instead to Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Are Watching God" which is truly amazing!

Frost's retrospection of an old Black man with sharp memory, good eyes and true words, drags you down an Alabama road kicking. You don't want to believe that your ancestors suffered or inflicted these horrors yet you are living proof it happened. Frost's southern road gives hurtful, ugly, vivid images that set the norm in life for Blacks & Whites in old Eufaula. Recollections are frightening and ironic in a mood typical of southern storytellers. Hate in Frost's world is ignorance and...yes, eventually, time heals all that compassion neglects. WITNESS TO JUSTICE serves as a strange valentine from antebellum to the new, stronger south.

Like a personal friend, our favorite authors have a voice we instinctively identify. We continue to read their books because we want to hear that voice again. Sadly, many of the voices we love are gone forever, and that includes Agatha Christie's. I found Black Coffee made me sad; it contained all the elements of a Christie -- the people, the place, the puzzle -- but it just wasn't right. I found myself mentally correcting the narrative to make it more "Christie-ish," the way I remember her.

I won't read The Unexpected Guest, just as I didn't continue to read Robert Goldsborough's game imitation of the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout. Rex's voice, too, is gone forever.

Whether or not you'll enjoy this book depends on what you read a book for. If you find yourself reading phrases over a second time, savoring the way the author used precisely the right words to speak right to you, you won't like this book. If you like a neat little puzzle, especially in the lightweight style of the drawing-room mysteries of the '30s and '40s, Black Coffee will satisfy you, though like others, I did wonder why the author chose to focus in on the murderer's hand at that crucial moment. Mrs. Christie would be appalled.

This book failed in many areas. There was no plot, no suprise ending, no engaging characters. But to explain subsquent terms, the book lacks developement. Personally, I like a book that is straightfowrd, simple and doesn't waste time, and I like suprise ending's and such. Although this book was simple and straightfoward and only took me a day to read, perhaps it was TOO simple and straightfoward. Like I said no suprise ending, no plot or great characters. If you don' believe me read it for yourself.

I found this book very intriguing! I was first hooked on Agatha Christie books last year when we read And Then There Were None in my language arts class. The latter still remains my favorite Agatha Christie mystery, but I found Black Coffee up there with the best (along with Murder on the Orient Express and Cat Among the Pigeons). The only fault that I have discovered in mostly all of Christie's novels is the fact that most of them have a rather slow beginning (except, for the most part, And Then There Were None, although this too was a bit slow). Yet Black Coffee held my interest from the very start. I did not find the murderer very obvious, since I kept changing my opinion of who the murderer was. Although Charles Osborne did a very wonderful job of writing the novel and keeping as close to the script of the play, it was not a true work of Agatha Christie. Therefore, I could not award this book a five. (Yet I thoroughly enjoyed the overuse of dialogue.) I still remain a major fan of Hercule Poirot mysteries, and Black Coffee was one of the best. Hercule is brilliant, and it certainly showed in this particular novel.

p.s. - After blabbing on and on about the wonderful Agatha Christie mysteries to my twelve-year-old cousin (whom I'm very close in relationship to), I've managed to get her hooked on the Agatha Christie novels. Hurray for me! Now I have a close friend to converse over with these wonderful books! We also exchange our Agatha Christie books with each other now, and recommend ones that we've borrowed from the library or another friend. I strongly recommended Black Coffee to her. She, too, has not read any Miss Marple mysteries yet, and is thoroughly interested in Hercule Poirot's cases. Ms. Christie has quite a brilliant mind, and we praise her for that.

I belive that the author of this book is blaming society, especially Universities, a little too much. In the beginning when he makes this assertion that Universites are racist he basis it on the astute obervation that since there a few African Americans in the Universities that they are racist or something like that. Furthmore since the Military has more African Americans it is a better instiution. Here is a better explanation. Universities are a lot more selective and thus can choose from the entire population. The Army will take anyone it can get its hands on. I just did not like the Authors atitutde that the whole is racist. Furthermore he knows nothing about music. I love when he writes white soldiers are listening to more black music and he uses Heavy Metal and Rock n Roll, both white music! In fact Heavy Metal is white protest music against Black music! Do some research or think before writting a book.

Charles Moskos and John Butler have delievered in our hands an excellent propoganda treatsie telling us that integration has worked in the Army. It has worked without lowering standards and has provided an environment in which African-Americans can excel. Surely society and other institutions need to take a look at the Army and borrow some of its strategies to provide equal opportunity for African-Americans in the civilian sector.

If you have served in the Army for any length of time you would know that is is not "race" free. Institutional racism was not addressed in this text. Although you have African-Americans in leadership positions in the NCO Corps that changes when we go into the officer's Corps and when we look at positions that African-Americans hold in each branch. Not everything is equal.

The Army is portrayed as a good paternalistic organization which is able to take low performing Blacks and make them into good soldiers. Very little is mentioned at all that many Blacks who have joined the Army have come from stable homes, have a sense of purpose and are instilled with deep family values. These young men and women will be successful in any environment.

Of course there are certain things that outside organizations can learn from the Army and implement the changes in their structures. We must keep in mind that the Army has different control systems in place by virtue of its nature that can't be duplicated in the civilian world. In such a case the Army is able to be successful in integrating its force. The Army's purpose is to defend our country. It can't do it if there is racial strife in the organization. Racists behavior is not in its best interest for defence.

If you create an environment where there is a level playing field then everyone has the opportunity to excel. What the Army has done is not unique as Moskos implies. Civilian society can not be compared with the Army because of its unique mission. The Army doesn't change until society tells it to do so.

Mr. Moskos would have done a better job in presenting the Army as an alternative for African-Americans to explore as they embark on their way to viable careers for their lives. The Army is not racism free and better attention needs to be addressed to the institutional barriers. Purchase this book if you are highly optimistic or have your head buried in the sand regarding integration the Army way.

Perhaps confirming suspicions of most African-Americans, I can attest to the very real resentment that their presence in the ranks engenders. It is true that their representation in the NCO corps is quite heavy, but I have personally observed that the officer corps is equally topheavy with whites. Naturally the officer corps is better educated, if not always smarter. To the average white observer without the benefit of liberal indoctrination,it is quite obvious that the reason for this preponderance of Black NCO's is that the military lifestyle is often infinitely more palatable than the civilian cycle of poverty, drugs, and crime that surely await the average black who is either too witless, or too proud to take advantage of the many programs developed by Whitey to raise him above his circumstances. This is not to say that many African-Americans do not benefit in a true moral sense from the strict meritocracy envisioned and implemented by the military. Quite often they are superior soldiers and human beings when shown the truth and beauty of discipline and self-sacrifice. Unfortunately, there are many more who have never managed to embrace these equalizing truths, and have managed to cling to the ghetto mentality to the detriment of those they presume to command. For this reason you will see most whites leave service after the contracted number of years, and many blacks stay on to fill the NCO ranks.

Yes, the battle with MOVE itself was a tragedy, but not as much of a tragedy as the publishing of this book! While it is full of good information, just as much information is missing! Pages are out of order, entire chapters are missing, and it is impossible to follow! If you want to know the story of MOVE, this is not the book to use, unfortunately. The author should be sueing the publisher for this mess! And he definitely deserves a free reprint!

Unfortunately, I cannotnt recommend Charles L. Blockson, Black
Genealogy because so much of what he writes is either misleading or
unhelpful. Blockson's treatment of Black genealogical records for the
post-slavery era (after 1865) is somewhat adequate but pedestrian.
There are several other commonly-available books that address these
records much better. It is in his treatment of records from the
slavery period that Blockson does his readers the greatest disservice.
His experience with records of slavery seems to be limited to records
of Pennsylvania - which might account for his woefully inadequate
treatment of Southern legal records where most genealogists in search
of slave ancestors may need to look. Some of the most significant of
such records are probate records, deeds, conveyances, and lawsuits
- but the reader would never know it from reading this book.
Blockson devotes a total of only THREE SENTENCES to "wills,
estate inventories, and tax records" (p.71). According to the
single sentence devoted to tax records, their value is merely to
"prove that slaves were valuable assets to ironmasters in the
latter part of the eighteenth century." In his discussion of
Federal Census records (p.45), he says, "Slave schedules were
made for every state. . . with slaves listed under their owners'
names." He fails to explain that slaves are not named in these
censuses, but only listed by age and gender. There is no discussion
of the uses and shortfalls of the slave censuses. Rather than discuss
these most fruitful and likely sources, Blockson urges readers to seek
records of slave "breeding sessions" (p.72), to browse
museum collections for "slave collars" with names on them
(p.75), to search for "branding records" in county
courthouses and branding irons in museum collections (p.75)! These
bizarre recommendations are urged in spite of the fact that the author
does not offer a single example of such things (he admits that it is
"difficult to find any [courthouse branding] records
today"!). Furthermore, if museums have relics such as branding
irons, the author fails to show how finding them would help a
researcher trace his or her ancestors. On p.77, Blockson addresses
the relative difficulty of finding records of slave paternity compared
to slave maternity, but adds, "You may run into problems tracing
your DIRECT family line (father to father)." One has to wonder
why Blockson believes that tracing maternal ancestry is less
"direct" (and by implication, less satisfactory) than
tracing paternal ancestry. Blockson's book is punctuated with
lengthy, angry polemics against slavery and racism, which will
probably be unhelpful to most genealogical searches. The main
objective of Blockson's book seems to be to arouse his readers'
indignation at racism and the "inhuman system of slavery,"
rather than to lead researchers to records of their ancestors.