Zahra Gordon

So I have this horrible (but awesome!) habit of buying books that I know I don’t have time to read; especially, if I find them at inexpensive prices in used bookstores or markets. This habit has resulted in an accumulation of unread books on my bookshelf. Here are a few of those waiting-to-be-read titles. What are you planning on reading or have read recently?

“This intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hands of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou” 

“If you’ve ever yearned for love, sex, and intimacy beyond the limits of conventional monogamy, The Ethical Slut will open you up to infinite possibilities. Relationship pioneers Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy dispel myths about sluthood and show you how to maintain a successful poly-amorous lifestyle through open communication, emotional honesty, and safer-sex practices.” 

“Remarkable yet true, engaging and unpredictable, Carlos Moore’s story is a lively firsthand account of the most pivotal moments in twentieth-century politics as well as an uplifting chronicle of the development of political and racial consciousness and the search for purpose in life” 

“From New York to Nashville, Boston to L.A., a bohemian rhapsody of rap swagger is spreading acros the land. As the New York Observer writes: ‘The poetry corpse is stirring, its beating heart is a big dark, brick-walled loft on Third Street and Avenue C called the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. It’s democratic, multicultural…sometimes funny, sometimes ribald. It has the vitality of vulgarity.” 

“Bloody Lowndes tells for the first time the remarkable story of the LCFO (Lowndes Country Freedom Organization) – the first Black Panther Party. Deeply researched, this riveting account of the missing link between rights organizing and Black Power politics offers a new way of understanding the African American freedom struggle”