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World Before Racism: An Art Story
Utilizing works of art as a primary source, Lisa Farrington's research in The World Before Racism conclusively answers the questions: Who invented racism? When? And why?
The term racism is understood to mean that race is the principal determinant of specific human traits and capacities and that due to racial differences, one race is inherently superior to all others. Over time, racism has commonly referenced the notion that the White race is superior to all others, fostering prejudice and discrimination. In The World Before Racism: An Art Story, author and art historian Lisa Farrington meticulously examines the intersection of art, history, and race, using original works of art as primary source materials to support her premise that racism is a construct, invented in the mid-1700s, to support the financial, political, and religious structures of European colonialism.
Using art from ancient Egypt, classical Greece, and the Roman Empire, through Medieval Europe and the colonization of the New World, to the art of the present day--sources that cannot be easily altered, edited, or selectively translated--Farrington expertly examines the intricate interplay between the Black and White races, how they saw and understood each other over the centuries. The artworks serve as powerful voices, precisely conveying the artist's intended messages. The goal of The World Before Racism is to present irrefutable evidence that the ideology of racism is unfounded, unsupported, unjustified, and destined to fade away like so many other archaic and erroneous ideas.
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Sold outWild Folk: Tales from the Stones
Wild Folk comprises seven richly illustrated fables of transformation and power, summoned from the ancient stones beneath our feet and transformed by word and image into portals between past and future. The tales are neither new nor old. They are full of 'wild folk', shape-shifting spirits that carry the energy that connects all things.
In its pages you will meet selkies and salmon and Black Fox, as big as a wolf and so fast and cunning she drives the Lord of the Manor to madness and oblivion; the woman of flowers who is happier living as an owl; the boy who learns to feel the songs and stories of trees through his skin; Wayland, the smith who can hammer metal to such airy thinness he makes his own wings; and the great white raven, a bird so rare it awakens the king who sleeps beneath the stones of the wild west cliffs of Wales.
This a book made to be looked at and held (it might be the first time stained glass images have been created specifically to illustrate a book). Tamsin paints on glass, the most mysterious stone of all, used for centuries to tell stories to people who couldn't read or write. A story painted on glass is something you can look at and look through, sometimes both at once.
It brings together Jackie's words and Tamsin's images, but the stories come from both. It is a true collaboration born out of friendship and hope. These are tales to make you see, listen and most of all feel the wild magic that links stone, tree, fox and star.
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Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the Cia, and the Tragedy of Mkultra
"I am endlessly fascinated by this subject. Your book is amazing. I'm really excited you put in the time to write it. I feel like we could talk about this stuff for hours and hours and hours." --Joe Rogan, The Joe Rogan Experience podcast
Sidney Gottlieb was the CIA's most cunning chemist. As head of the infamous MKULTRA project, he oversaw an assortment of dangerous--even deadly--experiments. Among them: dosing unwitting strangers with mind-bending drugs, torturing mental patients through sensory deprivation, and steering the movements of animals via electrodes implanted into their brains. His goal was to develop methods of mind control that could turn someone into a real-life "Manchurian candidate." In conjunction with MKULTRA, Gottlieb also plotted the assassination of foreign leaders and created spy gear for undercover agents. The details of his career, however, have long been shrouded in mystery. Upon retiring from the CIA in 1973, he tossed his files into an incinerator. As a result, much of what happened under MKULTRA was thought to be lost--until now. Historian John Lisle has uncovered dozens of depositions containing new information about MKULTRA, straight from the mouths of its perpetrators. For the first time, Gottlieb and his underlings divulge what they did, why they did it, how they got away with it, and much more. Additionally, Lisle highlights the dramatic story of MKULTRA's victims, from their terrible treatment to their dogged pursuit of justice. The consequences of MKULTRA still reverberate throughout American society. Project Mind Control is the definitive account of this most disturbing of chapters in CIA history.
The inside story of the CIA's secret mind control project, MKULTRA, using never-before-seen testimony from the perpetrators themselves. -
Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk
The rise, fall, and revival of the Caesar of Silicon Valley.
Elon Musk has cast himself as the savior of humanity, an altruistic force whose fortune is tied to noble pursuits from halting our dependence on fossil fuels to colonizing Mars. Once frequently heralded as a modern-day Edison, Musk has taken up a new place in the public consciousness with his growing desire to disrupt not just the automotive and space industries but the policies that shape our nation, placing him at the center of America's most complex undertakings in manufacturing, politics, and defense and technology, even as his increasingly erratic personal behavior has raised questions about his stability and judgement. Musk famously leads his companies from a bully pulpit, eroding guardrails and cutting through red tape whenever possible with little regard for the fallout as long as it serves his larger goals. Many in his orbit have seen their lives upended or their careers throttled by believing in his utopian vision. As the scale of the wagers he makes with his fortune and concerns about his credibility have grown in recent years, he alternately seems to be in complete command or on the verge of a meltdown. Yet in the long run, he has only become wealthier, and now the stakes have risen. Thanks to astute political maneuvering, Musk is no longer limited to gambling with a company's bottom line or the livelihoods of his workers; he is poised to apply his uncompromising approach to business to the foundational rules and regulations that hold our society together. At a moment when America's tech gods are more influential than ever, Hubris Maximus is a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of lionizing magnetic leaders. Washington Post journalist Faiz Siddiqui offers a gripping, detailed portrait of a singularly messy and lucrative period in Musk's career, as well as a case study in the power of using one's platform to shape the public narrative in a world that can't turn away from its screens.Sold out -
Miracle Children: Race, Education, and a True Story of False Promises
A riveting investigation into a school, a scam, and a notorious college admissions scandal that exposes the inequalities and racial segregation of American education, from two award-winning New York Times journalists
T.M. Landry College Prep, a small private school in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, boasted a 100 percent college acceptance rate, placing students at nearly every Ivy League university in the country. The spectacle of Landry students opening their acceptance letters to Harvard and Yale was broadcast on television and even celebrated by Michelle Obama. It became a national ritual to watch the miraculous success of these youngsters--miraculous because Breaux Bridge is one of the poorest counties in the country, ranked close to the bottom for test scores and high school graduation rates. T.M. Landry was said to be "minting prodigies," and the prodigies were often black. How did the school do it? It didn't: It was a scam, pulled off with fake transcripts and personal essays telling fake stories of triumph over adversity. Worse, Landry's success concealed a nightmare of alleged abuse and coercion. In a yearslong investigation, Katie Benner and Erica L. Green explored the lives of the students, the school, the town, and Ivy League admissions to understand why black teens were pressured to trade in racial stereotypes of hardship for opportunity. Gripping and illuminating, Miracle Children argues that the lesson of T.M. Landry is not that the school gamed the system but that it played by the rules--that its deceptions and abuses were the outcome of segregated schools, inequitable education, and the belief that elite colleges are the nation's last path to life-changing economic opportunity. -
Gray Squirrels
Did you know gray squirrels are excellent hiders? They can hide up to 25 acorns in 30 minutes! Readers will learn this and other amazing facts through this engaging book. Each spread is filled with leveled text and vibrant images. The book is also packed with special features that showcase the range, habitats, physical traits, diet, and life stages of gray squirrels. Readers will be squirrely to learn more about these incredible rodents! -
Rats
Rats scurry throughout cities while looking for a bite to eat. Beginning readers can learn more about these critters' favorite foods, where they live, and how they get along with humans in this informative title. A sidebar highlights common species, while photo labels and a picture glossary offer support for unfamiliar words. Scamper along with these urban animals in this low-level title! -
Scale Boy: An African Childhood
An extraordinary chronicle of youth that evokes the paradoxes of modern Africa--complex, contradictory, and full of conflict, tragedy, and joy.
Scale Boy is a memoir that brings great brightness and joy to the tumultuous years of discovering oneself and one's community; though there are moments of danger and confusion in his story, Nganang aims to present a new vision of a young Black African man's coming-of-age.
Patrice Nganang, the acclaimed author of Dog Days, Mount Pleasant, and, most recently, A Trail of Crab Tracks, which was a 2022 New Yorker Book of the Year, writes about his vibrant, animated youth in Cameroon, a period of upheaval and change in the country's history and in his life. -
Sold outCamilla, Cartographer
2019 Ezra Jack Keats Book Award Nominee
A Bank Street College Best Book of the YearCamilla loves maps and has always wondered what it would be like to explore and discover a new path for the first time. When a snowstorm covers the path to the creek, Camilla's historic maps inspires her to make her own path--and her own map! Includes a Note to Parents and Caregivers celebrating discovery and adventurous problem-solving.
Includes a Note to Parents and Caregivers celebrating discovery and adventurous problem-solving.
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Small Garden Envy: Great Ideas for Planning and Planting Your Garden
Fifty enviable small gardens yield inspiration and advice for planning and planting.
This desirable little book features fifty small gardens from all over the world that will make you green with envy. With a new approach to gardening where photography is the hero, it also contains the practical advice you need to create your own covetable outdoor haven.
Showcasing a variety of garden styles, like wildflower meadow, traditional cottage, grassy, drought-proof, sustainable, Mediterranean, minimalist, container and many more, the book is packed with ideas that you'll want to steal!
Each garden has a sumptuous opening spread, followed by another that breaks down the layout and planting, including the plant names, and gives you the knowledge to have a go yourself.
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Navajo Code Talker Manual
From Navajo men in service to their country came an extraordinary weapon in the Pacific Arena of World War II. Twenty-nine Navajo Marines were recruited to adapt their language into a code so secret and difficult that the Germans and Japanese could never break it. The code grew, and so did the numbers of Code Talkers, forever altering the course of the war and American history. This unique, interactive book includes a brief history of the Navajo Code Talkers, a lesson on learning and using the code, and a four-page foldout of the original Code Talker dictionary. -
My First Look & Find: My Favorite Colors
Embark on a colorful adventure with your child through this captivating look-and-find book! Designed for ages 2-5, it's packed with vibrant illustrations and engaging activities to develop cognitive skills. Each page invites exploration, from the bustling farmer's market to the serene beach. As your little one identifies colors and objects, they'll enhance their attention to detail and color recognition. This hardcover edition ensures durability, perfect for repeated readings. With simple prompts and interactive elements, it's an ideal introduction to colors, sparking curiosity and imagination.
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