Comments from Marian Styles-McClintock: Enjoyed the book! I will be calling on you for advise and hopefully to arrange for a speaking engagement. Thank you for reaching out to your brothers and sisters. A service that is long time overdue. May God continue to bless you.

Date : 8/8/2000

I recently purchased your new book, very enlightening. I'm just finishing up. I would like to talk with you when you have some free time, about some additional investing. Your advice is very helpful. I also appreciate that you are Frat.( Will you be attending the upcoming convention). I knew you were an Alpha Man. I have a lot of concerns and questions to ask. I and other Bros want to join an investment club and need more advice, I mentioned your book and its strong points, they want to check it out. Thanks for this book, I'm just about done took me 2 weeks. Look to hearing from you soon. P.S. You look rather young for 50.

Help me become a millionare by 55. Kenric Horton

Comments from Kurt Gillon: Great book, I have read several wealth, character building books authored by African American and this rates at the top. I passed it along to a friend who generally does not read financial books. She was happy that I forwarded her the book and is looking to apply the principles that you outlined.

Again, great book.

KPG

Thank you for writing the book Investing In The Dream.. My girlfriend insisted I read it and i am glad she did. Although I had some knowledge of investing your book made it so much clearer. I feel better able to prepare myself for retirement. THANK YOU!!!!! Denise M. Bagby

I read your Book and read your columns. The latest column "Financial decisions" featured in The Challenger Newspaper is great. I am a single mother, fulltime employee as well as a parttime college student; I definitely know first hand how expensive it is to raise children. Your book has made the difference.

Wuanda Figueroa

I waited for the book to come out in paper back. That was my first mistake. --what a shame on my part. However, thanks to The Miami Times newspaper where I see your column, I must say that I have been enlightened and inspired by your indispensible information.

Willie F. Ford, Jr.

When the "founding fathers" wrote the constitution, it brought about great change. Today great change is needed...so what else ought we do but change the constitution? Jackson makes that notion convincingly clear. As i read this book, I kept thinking "I wish I had this book in college." In college, the dynamics of social and political thought were always about programs and policies....it was the bandaid solution. This book lays out the treatment and, most importantly, the diagnosis! Where have we been as a nation? The answer to that question is the real diagnosis....it is the diagnosis no one wants to hear, that Jackson has exposed. But we must acknowledge the diagnosis so we can identify the proper treatment and know how to apply it. How do we heal? The answer to that question is the treatment -- changing the constitution is so fundamental that it is largely ignored by politicos and scholars. Perhaps it is ignored because the constitution has been held as an immovable object. But, as Jackson explains, the constitution can be changed, and any changes (or amendments) become as rock solid as the constitution itself. Jackson has laid out a strategy that has rarely (in part and never in toto) been suggested for our nation -- a new idea -- that fact alone makes this book a MUST HAVE. Jackson has also laid out a strategy that will yield a prognosis for the nation that is desireable to all -- that fact makes this book a MUST DO!

This book is must reading for anyone who desires to understand how politicial idealogy has developed in the US. Additionally, the book offers a clear agenda for moving the United States towards a more perfect union. I predict that we will see the issues raised in this book edvident in the next presidential election.

Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.in his newest book " A More Perfect Union" has proven that he is so much more than the beneficiary of great civil, social, political and theolological pedigree. In this his, chef doeuvre, along with contributor Frank Watkins, he provides the reader with a sweeping commentary of not merely race but racism in all of its legislative origin.

Imagine not stumbling upon the word racism until 1936 and finding no rise of the African American experience. Preposterous. Is it not? But truth. Congressman Jackson not only reveals why we must be outraged, not in the riotous form, but further demonstrates, in this important piece how we must engage our outrage by "economic reform."

Reader do not be discouraged by the book's smallprint or numerous pages. This plethora of information only lends itself to the extensive research and detail the author and his contributor insisted upon. Welcome these pages as they are wealthy. FINALLY there exists an "inclusive textbook" which it resembles and rally for it soon to be.

The reader will delight in a discovery of previously undocumented
yet factual pieces of African-American history "as American as apple pie." Congressman Jackson Jackson exhibits how African-Americans significantly shaped America and its politics. Furthermore, he examines how each American President, past and present viewed(s)and dealt(s) with the race problem and provides the reader with deriviations of words such as Jim Crow, locates and defines for his reader new political buzz words and delves into how "A More Perfect Union" can be achieved through Equal Opportunity, Human Rights,Full Employment, Universal and Comprehensive Health Care, Affordable Housing, Quality Public Education, Fair Taxes, Foreign Policy, Politics, and Moral Responsibility. Congressman Jackson actually dissects each of the above-mentioned and provides VIABLE solutions to their achievement.

Congressman Jackson and his contributor Frank Watkins must be applauded for preaching more than just "high sounding benevolent social rhetoric" as some of his counterparts. A section of the book is semi-autobiograhical and gives the reader perspective into his personal experiences and his subsequent growth. In it he reveals his humanity and there is substantial evidence that he has not taken his political responsibility lightly.

Readers add this book to your shelf only after reading and re-reading. It must "court" your dictionary and your other reference material. This book will invite you to consult it time and time again. It is indeed reference-WORTHY. Although it is a lofty, thought-provoking, brave and maybe even an unpopular undertaking, it is brillantly and perfectly executed. As Lincoln stated "the hen is the wisest of all animal creation because she never cacles until the egg is laid". Congressman Jackson is no hen but an egg he has laid-and "A More Perfect Union" is clearly Faberge'. We recognize if we never did before, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. as one of our most heady, intellectual statesmen of the 21st century. A must Read!!! BRAVO!!!!

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Anybody with any viewpoint whatsoever on the subject of the death penalty will want, and need, to review the hard anecdotes that are interspersed within this brief but wide-ranging overview. For those of you who oppose the death penalty on moral grounds, you will fine augmentation for the foundations of your feelings. For those who aren't sure but who are afraid that innocent people might be executed under an imperfect system, the authors provide you with frightening evidence that you're right. And for those looking toward a legislative reconsideration of the entire subject, the appendix is invaluable.

This book is outstanding in its analysis of this important issue. Particularly insightful is the work of editors (ghost writers?) Denis Gaynor and John McFarlane. Mssrs. Gaynor and McFarlane outline in glorious, living detail the horrors of a death penalty culture. Highly recommended.

Two to three thumbs up!

Most white people rarely think about racial discrimination except as something that happened "back then" "down south". We're (I write this as a white man) far more likely to whine about "reverse discrimination," about how unfair affirmative action is and how confusing PC speech has become (Are "they" black, African-Americans, people of color or *what* ?). We tend to think of black people three ways:

1) We see them as white people with extra pigmentation. We don't really notice any difference and blithely assume that they're "just like us".

2) We see them as gods and superheros, running faster, jumping higher, dancing better, and better endowed in various ways.

3) We demonize them--welfare mothers pumping out babies, gangstas, crack ho's & that junkie pulling a smash 'n' grab to feed his habit.

Rarely do we ever try to understand what it's like, growing up different. Langston Hughes, in this powerful little book, opens a window for us. Although aimed at children of all races, perhaps the people who benefit most from this work will be white "liberals" who think racism is horrible until an African-American family moves in down the block.

"Misery is when the taxi cab won't stop for your motoher and she says a bad word."

"Misery is when you first realize so many things bad have black in them, like black cats, black arts, blackball."

"Misery is when you go to the Department Store before Christmas and find out that Santa is a white man."

"Misery is when you start to help an old white lady across the street and she thinks you're trying to snatch her purse."

These, and a whole host of others, are poignantly illustrated by Arouni. The book is introduced by Jesse Jackson, who points out that some things are dated (society has evolved a bit since 1967), but that plenty of room for progress remains. Historical events, such as the presidential election of 2000, demonstrate that deep and systematic racism still pervades American life. This was the last work that Langston Hughes wrote. He died in 1967, while working on the manuscript.

Both my 13-year-old son and my 8-year-old daughter have found the book touching. Reading it with them has helped them to have a better understanding of what it might be like to be "different." I believe this book opens the way for genuine dialogue between people of different races, instead of maintaining projections and biases.

More books are needed like this for our youth of this next century..

It is very possible to go into this book not knowing what to expect and come out fully educated about Martin Luther King Jr.'s and Fred Shuttlesworth's endeavor to desegregate Birmingham, Alabama. In his eloquent style of writing, King patiently explains the situation for African Americans before, during, and after his movement for equality. One admires him as a human being much more after reading his own heartfelt words as he remembers these times. King uses simple logic to delineate exactly why he did what he did. Suddenly, after reading this book, a nonviolent direct action movement makes so much sense. History lesson? Story? Documentary in words? Why We Can't Wait is all of these, but above all, this is the work of one man's private and public struggle for civil change. Why we can't afford not to read this book: It looks back at a darker time in American history, more specifically, in 1963. As a student, just knowing that these turbulent times were not too long ago is somewhat upsetting. However, this book serves as a document marking how far America has come since then. The afterword by Jesse Jackson demonstrates this purpose perfectly.

This is a fantastic work by Martin Luther King Jr discussing the 1963 situation in Birmingham, Alabama, where King and others took a big step towards bringing down racism.

King's words and ideas are truly provocing, and should be read by all - they are not just applicable to the situation in 1963, but also to our lives today.

If everybody read this book and listened to its message, the world would be a better place.

Dr. King's "Why We Can't Wait" is a remarkable book. The chapter containing the famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is one of the great political, religious and social works humanity has ever produced. If you read nothing else about the civil rights movement, or about Martin Luther King, this letter will show you why it was the right thing to do, why he won a Nobel Peace Prize, and why America (and the world) is a better place because King lived.

Every American should read two documents: The Constitution and "The Letter from Birmingham Jail."

This is a good book and he sermons read well. But while this is not bad on paper, this might be better as an audio book or on CD. Havign heard Rev. Franklin's sermons on the radio as a child (including some of the ones included in this book), I could testify that you would be better off hearing this.

In this collection of sermons and a narrative of a life, delivered to Jeff Todd Titon by the Reverend Franklin himself, the language and performance ability of a gifted preacher are presented carefully and revealingly. We learn how Franklin interpreted his conversion to the ministry, what it means to give a good sermon, and how Franklin's life history affected his religous work. The sermons themselves are presented with effective ethnopoetics which reveal the rhythms and pacing of Franklin's sermons. Yet, the texts of the sermons fail to reveal how the congregation responded to Franklin's sermons, and that audience response is integral to understanding the way Franklin spoke and paced and performed his sermons. I would also be interested in some analysis of the sermons, though I like that their presentation is in fact privileged, and absent of the editor's voice. Overall, an important and affective work that should be read by anyone who's interested in African American sermonic discourse, music, or religous traditions.

To begin with some background on Rev. Franklin: he was born in that hotbed of Afro-American culture, the Mississippi Delta; was a prodigy like his daughter Aretha, in that he was called to preach at fifteen; and was one of the ministers who backed Dr. King whenever the civil rights movement needed funds. Rev. Franklin became nationally known in the black community for the beauty, the literacy, the poetry of his song sermons. Besides his church work, he became a recording artist and toured with Aretha. His song sermons are divided into a prose development of his theme, which are studded with home truths about human nature and find deep and original insights in even the most well-worked veins of Biblical interpretation, and then break into the "whooping" of black preachers, which is rendered in the book as poetry. Finally he often turns to outright song. It is hard to exaggerate the important of Rev. Franklin as an artist. His is a God of kindness, power and patience; his is a vision that sees hardship as the teacher of wisdom, and his poetry are parables which lift each piece into a realm of exaltation. Several of the sermons recorded in the mid-1950's are uncanny predictions of the upcoming civil rights movment, when Afro-Americans took matters into their own hands and faced their oppressors by appealing to their better natures.

And if I say this book soars with the music of Mozart, do not say I exaggerate; and if I say this book is as wise as the wisdom of Solomon, do not say I am foolish; and if I say this book touches with the beauty of the Good Samaritian, do not say I chase dreams; for we are better than we think we are.

I wanted to read this book so that I had an understanding of what some of the "folks" were hearing from people they trusted. The thought was: How can I help someone if I don't understand what they may have heard?

Now that I'm finished with it I have a few quick thoughts:

GOOD: The book tries to strike a balance between being technical and practical - It explains some of the "concepts" well, but then goes into specific deatil about "WHO" to call for things (i.e. credit reporting agencies, SBA etc.)

GOOD: The book touches on all the major subjects that people unfamiliar with personal money mgmt trip over. Insurance, home-buying, investing, insurance, credit, avoiding scams etc. are all topic that you MUST understand (to some extent) to avoid financial pitfalls.

BAD: Occassional references to the bible are a nice idea, but there aren't enough of them to have a substantial meaning to a reader. In the end they are jsut distracting.

BAD: The book doesn't have much of a "recommended reading" or additional reading section. Very helpful for those just starting out.

GOOD: Chapters are easy to read during lunch. At 15-25 pages, it is easy to read this books during lunchtime over the course of 2 weeks.

GOOD: Forget the msgr and your issues with him. The advice is solid, and right in line with what most financial planners would tell you (although, it is NO substitute for a professional - which the authors give advice on how to hire one)

BAD: May be helpful to have a good dictionary handy if you are a novice reader.

KB

This book covers all you need to know in planning your financial future. I found it to be comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and very well written. There is no substitute for having a good analysis of how to use financial planning strategies. Mary Gotschall's attempt is a 5-star winner. "It's About the Money" is definitely the bottom line in financial planning - a must read.

This is one of the best books on personal finances ever written for the layperson. In easy-to-under prose, it explains how to amass wealth and how to manage it. An indispensable addition to the library of anyone looking to improve their financial situation over the long haul!

If you want to read an excellent NONFICTION book about Jesse Jackson, read "Shakedown : Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson" by Kenneth R. Timmerman.

Jesse Jackson does a wonderful job of not only appealing to the emotions of the readers, but to stun with great statistics to support the truth that the phrase 'justice system' is, in fact, an oxymoron. Rev. Jesse Jackson reflects accurately the need for reform, and even provides names and addresses of a great number of organizations nation-wide so that readers can get involved to fight the injustices of the criminal justice system. It is not only a great book for those who are at all interested the criminal justice system, but those who are interested in politics, race-relations, and history. He takes a broader look at the death penalty than most of the other articles and in-depth analyses that I've read. I would recommend this book to anyone who is at all interested in learning the truth about race-relations in the United States.

Jesse Jackson has written a wonderful argument against the use of the death penalty. It is too bad that most of those who need convincing will not read this, and those who do will disregard all information or logic to maintain their support for the death penalty and their demonizing of its victims. Jackson provides interesting tidbits of information. For example, when death penalty supporters pointed out a decrease in murder in the two weeks following the first execution after the Supreme Court's moritorium, Jackson replied that the decrease occured only in the Eastern states, and was due to major blizzards at the time.

Jackson points out what should be obvious to everyone, that black persons and poor persons are more likely to get the death penalty than the white or rich. The representation of poor defendants in court has been terrible. Jury selection may exclude persons who oppose the death penalty. Since many opponents base their opposition on concern about executing an innocent, while many supporters are wilfully blind about the possibility of a person's innocence; that means death penalty juries are more likely to convict on the flimsiest of evidence.

Jackson discusses the Ehrlich study of 1975, the study most prominently cited to ostensibly show a crime-reduction effect of the death penalty. He discussed various criticisms, and pointed out that no other study has repeated the results, but he left out the most damning indictment of Ehrlich's study: the strong dependence of the results on the last year of the study. (Finkelstein and Levin, Staticstics for Lawyers (1990) pp. 446 and 534) If the final year analyzed was 1969, 1968, or 1967, the result was about eight murders reduced per execution. If 1966, seven murders reduced. If 1965, 4.5 murders reduced. If 1964, 1.5 murders reduced. If the study ended earlier in the 1960s, the results would have been two and eight murders INCREASED for each execution.

That kind of result was predictable from Ehrlich's use of logarithms of the numbers of executions. In the years 1965 - 1969, there were seven, one, two, zero, and zero executions. Earlier years had double-digit or triple-digit numbers of executions. Using logarithms strongly emphasizes lower numbers over higher numbers. (Decreasing from 200 to 100 has the same effect of decreasing from 2 to 1.) In any case, studies in which the results vary with endpoint are worthless.

I believe that the Ehrlich study illustrates a fundamental difference between physical science and other fields of study, such as economics or law. In the sciences, the mathematical error might have been caught by peer review. Even if the study got by peer review, once the error was exposed, the consensus would be to dismiss the study and forget about it except as an example of bad science. But in law and politics, the trend has been to cite the study prominantly and then possibly cite

criticism of the study, letting the reader decide for himself. Supporters and opponents take sides based on their proclivities and ignore logic from the other side.

In discussing public opinion regarding the death penalty, Jackson tells of a faction of death-penalty supporters who dig in and retrench whcn confronted with negative facts on the death penalty. That faction truly does exist. Some can be found on the newsgroup alt.activism.death-penalty, where they persistently and wilfully disregard evidence of innocent persons being executed, or that execution doesn't deter murder. These pro-death-penalty persons are little more than malicious know-nothings.

I saw one post (in 1994) that replied to an article posted about the innocence of Roger Coleman, that summarized the article as something like, "Account of Coleman's brutal murder of Wanda McCoy deleted." Another post around the same time responded to statistics showing a drop in murders after Canada

eliminated the death penalty, and amazingly asserted that the drop would have been greater had Canada not eliminated the death penalty. There was absolutely no basis for such an assertion in the statistics.

In fact, when the governor of Illinois issued a moritorium on executions, because of too many innocents having been convicted, our estimed Texas governor and future Republican presidential nominee, George W. Bush, not only refused to join the moritorium, but went ahead to execute an innocent man March 1st, Odell Barnes.