Our Folks

This year marks the golden anniversary of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the flagship band of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Formed in 1966 and flourishing until 2010, the Art Ensemble distinguished itself by its unique performance practices—members played hundreds of instruments on stage, recited poetry, performed theatrical sketches, and wore face paint, masks, lab coats, and traditional African and Asian dress. The group, which built a global audience and toured across six continents, presented their work as experimental performance art, in opposition to the jazz industry’s traditionalist aesthetics. In Message to Our Folks, Paul Steinbeck combines musical analysis and historical inquiry to give us the definitive study of the Art Ensemble. In the book, he proposes a new theory of group improvisation that explains how the band members were able to improvise together in so many different styles while also drawing on an extensive repertoire of notated compositions. Steinbeck examines the multimedia dimensions of the Art Ensemble’s performances and the ways in which their distinctive model of social relations kept the group performing together for four decades. Message to Our Folks is a striking and valuable contribution to our understanding of one of the world’s premier musical groups.

With the growing concern over healthcare in America, studies show that elderly African- Americans often come out on the losing end of the system due to lack of health insurance. Because of this growing population, taking care of elderly patients in the African-American community has become the responsibility of their family. If you're facing such a situation, your questions may be many and your answers few. Taking Care of Our Folks is a definitive guide to caring for your elderly relatives. Drawing on comprehensive and detailed research, this essential resource aims to ensure that elderly African-Americans receive culturally competent healthcare and live more productive, independent, and pain-free lives. Deborah Y. Liggan, MD, discusses the major health issues and offers case studies of how each illness affects this ethnic group. She offers up-to-date information on nutrition, pharmacology, technological advances, and self-help for each disease. Topics focus specifically on elderly African-Americans and include: Neurology of aging Cardiovascular problems Mental health and aging Approach to gastrointestinal problems Prominent cancers With clear and concise language, Taking Care of Our Folks will serve as an invaluable tool for caregivers and aging patients alike. Take the first step to competent and compassionate caregiving today!

This is a book of family stories, of pioneers who immigrated to central Illinois from a variety of locations in Germany. They dared to leave the Old World and seek their fortune in the New World and strove every day of their lives to improve the quality of life for their children and descendants. They left a part of Europe, Germany, comprising a radius of about a hundred miles, and settled in America, in central Illinois, within a radius of about twenty-five miles. Between 1845 and 1869, some came as families, some as individuals , but they all chose to inhabit the villages of Danvers, Minier, Petersburg, or the surrounding farmland. Of the pioneer generation, there were sixteen people whose stories are like little jewels embroidered onto the warp and woof of the historical tapestry of their time. The second-, third-, and fourth-generation folks are likewise described within the context of their times and always leading in a straight line of lineage to Mary and Bill Oehler, the authors parents. Every life has a story. It has been a pleasure to delineate these thirty-one lives.

RECOLLECTIONS: My Folks and Fields by Eddie B. Rozelle Editor, Rebecca Rozelle Burt In 1960 Eddie B. Rozelle self-published Recollections: My Folks and Fields. The book is a cultural and social history centered in Clay County, Alabama, located in the east central section of the state. By using a manual typewriter and a mimeograph machine and finally having the pages bound in heavy paper, the author recorded a thorough depiction of rural life in southern Alabama in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This new edition, edited by Eddie Rozelles daughter Rebecca Rozelle Burt, is essentially identical to the first. The editing involved little other than correcting mechanical and structural errors. An appendix was added, consisting of relevant material that should be of great interest to readers. Though Rozelle makes it clear that the grueling work involved in farming dominated the lives of most inhabitants of the region, the enormous amount of detail concerning education, medical care, church activities, entertainment, and civic practices re-creates a particular time and place in American history. The narratives of specific events come alive in this writers hands, sometimes with humor, at others with a tragic eye. The strengths of the small, close-knit world were characterized by the interdependence of family and community. Most inhabitants of the Hatchett Creek community worked together to improve their lot, both collectively and individually. It is obvious that Rozelles appreciation of these values, even the hardships of his early life, led him to write this history.

My work speaks to questions, mens ways, the people, places of lands, power positions, lies, wars, slavery, hate to a point of killing! The trail of tearsthe indians were willing to share through an equal process the land products! Slavery to work the land taken from the indian slaves and blacks became one, slavery to death that cannot be right! To the so-called christian soul, the wars are to die and fight on the wrong side of history. My work speaks to the fear of skin color. How sad and sick must be our minds! We can see one soul in the environment and another person in their environment! Its just one big lie that keeps the warmth of the sun out of our lives! My work carry you one way but lets you go another way! In 1914 was the war to end all war. We see how that worked out; we have the same old sin. You may give an answer or not. My work is to make one think or not be seen, just maybe of the million books out. My work speak out when a person loves a dog better than a man. When a man because of skin cannot just walk his dog, his dog, kill the man save the dog.

Wouldnt it be awesome if you could have a conversation with someone about anything no matter how tricky the topic and still not be judged? Growth and conversations go hand in hand. Both represent each other. In a classical conversation, our aspirations, our thoughts, our sense of responsibility can all shift because we begin to perceive life differently after meeting different people. This allows us to arrive at new interpretations and choices that truly make greater sense and impact. As we dwell in a technology-driven era, our conversations are endangered because we have abandoned face-to-face conversations in the name of mere connections. If you are wanting, struggling, trying to find a place where you can learn and have conversations (even the hard ones), if you are ready to deepen your awareness, develop emotional flexibility, or simply tease your curiosity, this book is for you. In the book Be.you.tiful, author and counselor Sunita K. Mani offers practical guidelines on how to deal with everyday issuesbig or small, addiction, infatuation, career, body image, parents, friendships, and more. It contains chunks of conversations related to different aspects that define the life of a young adult. Divided into short crisp segments of dialogues pertaining to a concerned topic, Sunita journeys through the minds of youngsters. Sunita has helped many young adults search their souls and find their answers to complex problems and a way out of tricky situations. She presents Be.you.tiful to help young people build their self-confidence, dismantle inner obstacles, and find the courage to chase their passion.