GFP Alum Books

Black Masculinity and Sexual Politics

Anthony J. Lemelle, Jr.
2012

African American males occupy a historically unique social position, whether in school life, on the job, or within the context of dating, marriage and family. Often, their normal role expectations require that they perform feminized and hypermasculine roles simultaneously. This book focuses on how African American males experience masculinity politics, and how U.S. sexism and racial ranking influences relationships between black and white males, as well as relationships with black and white women. By considering the African American male experience as a form of sexism, Lemelle...

Witchcraft, Sorcery or Medical Practice?: The Demand, Supply and Regulation of Indigenous Medicines in Durban, South Africa (1844-2002)

Thokozani Xaba
2010

This study argues that the survival of indigenous medicines in urban areas is rooted in the nature, development and administration of African settlement in South African cities. Specifically, this study argues that the socio-economic conditions of African existence in urban areas, together with the application of influx control laws, had an unintended effect of dissuading Africans from approaching state institutions for the resolution of their concerns. Instead, Africans were forced into relying on using unofficial means in negotiating their physical, social, economic, political and...

Integration Interrupted: Tracking, Black Students, and Acting White After Brown

Karolyn Tyson
2011

An all-too-popular explanation for why black students aren't doing better in school is their own use of the “acting white” slur to ridicule fellow blacks for taking advanced classes, doing schoolwork, and striving to earn high grades. Carefully reconsidering how and why black students have come to equate school success with whiteness, this book argues that when students understand race to be connected with achievement, it is a powerful lesson conveyed by schools, not their peers. Drawing on over ten years of ethnographic research, the book shows how equating school success with “...

Unequal Childhoods: Class, Race, and Family Life

Annette Lareau
2011

Class does make a difference in the lives and futures of American children. Drawing on in-depth observations of black and white middle-class, working-class, and poor families, Unequal Childhoods explores this fact, offering a picture of childhood today. Here are the frenetic families managing their children's hectic schedules of "leisure" activities; and here are families with plenty of time but little economic security. Lareau shows how middle-class parents, whether black or white, engage in a process of "concerted cultivation" designed to draw out children's talents and...

Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys

Victor Rios
2011

Victor Rios grew up in the ghetto of Oakland, California in the 1980s and 90s. A former gang member and juvenile delinquent, Rios managed to escape the bleak outcome of many of his friends and earned a PhD at Berkeley and returned to his hometown to study how inner city young Latino and African American boys develop their sense of self in the midst of crime and intense policing. Punished examines the difficult lives of these young men, who now face punitive policies in their schools, communities, and a world where they are constantly policed and stigmatized.

Creating the Opportunity to Learn: Moving from Research to Practice to Close the Achievement Gap

A. Wade Boykin
Pedro Noguera
2011

In Creating the Opportunity to Learn, Wade Boykin and Pedro Noguera help navigate the turbid waters of evidence-based methodologies and chart a course toward closing (and eliminating) the academic achievement gap. Turning a critical eye to current and recent research, the authors present a comprehensive view of the achievement gap and advocate for strategies that contribute to the success of all children.

Street Life: Poverty, Gangs and a Ph.D

Victor Rios
2011

Street Life: Poverty, Gangs, and a Ph.D. traces the true-life coming-of-age story of Dr. Victor Rios, a college professor who grew up amid poverty and violence in Oakland, CA; he demonstrates his perseverance and resilience by surmounting the incredible obstacles he faces to earn his college degrees. We chose this novel for its insightful attention to some powerful social and emotional themes: poverty, social inequality, violence, perseverance, and resilience. Students will find themselves relating to and being inspired by Victor’s story; this curriculum will help students...

Choosing Ethnicity, Negotiating Race: Korean Adoptees in America

Mia Tuan
Jiannbiin Lee Shiao
2011

Transnational adoption was once a rarity in the United States, but Americans have been choosing to adopt children from abroad with increasing frequency since the mid-twentieth century. Korean adoptees make up the largest share of international adoptions—25 percent of all children adopted from outside the United States—but they remain understudied among Asian American groups. What kind of identities do adoptees develop as members of American families and in a cultural climate that often views them as foreigners? Choosing Ethnicity, Negotiating Race is the only study of this...

Invisible No More: Understanding the Disenfrachisement of Latino Men and Boys

Pedro Noguera
Aida Hurtado
Edward Fergus
2011

Latino men and boys in the United States are confronted with a wide variety of hardships that are not easily explained or understood. They are populating prisons, dropping out of high school, and are becoming overrepresented in the service industry at alarming degrees. Young Latino men, especially, have among the lowest wages earned in the country, a rapidly growing rate of HIV/AIDS, and one of the highest mortality rates due to homicide. Although there has been growing interest in the status of men in American society, there is a glaring lack of research and scholarly work available...

Organizing at the Margins: The Symbolic Politics of Labor in South Korea and the United States

Jennifer Jihye Chun
2009

The realities of globalization have produced a surprising reversal in the focus and strategies of labor movements around the world. After years of neglect and exclusion, labor organizers are recognizing both the needs and the importance of immigrants and women employed in the growing ranks of low-paid and insecure service jobs. In Organizing at the Margins, Jennifer Jihye Chun focuses on this shift as it takes place in two countries: South Korea and the United States.