Divided By Faith

By Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith

The writer's purpose is clear: "To learn about American life, this book examines the role of white evangelicalism in black-white relations." The authors contend that whites want to tear down the racial walls, but do more harm than good in their efforts. 

This book is a story of how well-intentioned people, their values, and their institutions actually recreate racial divisions and inequalities they ostensibly oppose.

Emerson and Smith set the stage in Chapter 1, "Confronting the Black-White Racial Divide." The challenge is racialization and a racialized society where "we are never unaware of the race of a person with whom we interact." A racialized society dispenses "economic, political, social, and even social rewards to groups along social lines." 

Divided by Faith does more than point fingers and lay blame. It constructs a way forward. The book is not a simple read or an easy read. It is well organized, thoroughly researched, and carefully noted.

The Warmth of Other Suns

By Isabel Wilkerson

A masterpiece. Isabel Wilkerson's impeccable research and captivating narrative weaves the migration stories of Ida Mae Gladney, Robert Foster, and George Starling as microcosms of The Great Migration of blacks who fled the South in search of freedom and a better life from 1915 to 1970. As she takes us on their journeys we meet Jim Crow in all his ugliness and feel the Southern caste system that imprisoned generations of African Americans. She brilliantly interlaces story with appropriate doses of hard demographics and sociological theory. What an education! Wilkerson exposed my misunderstanding of the "desegregated North." She increased my appreciation for and gratitude to those who have endured and overcome injustice so that a more just society exists.

Letter From The Birmingham Jail

By Martin Luther King Jr.

Confined to the Birmingham city jail, Dr. King succinctly and carefully answers the criticism of his fellow clergymen regarding the nonviolent protests of the civil rights movement. King writes, "I have looked at the South's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: 'What king of people worship here? Who is there God? Where were their voices . . .?" King's questions for the white church and its leadership are one's for his day and our day too.

Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education

By Joan P. Shapiro and Jacqueline A. Stefkovich

Ethical Leadership and Decision Making in Education provides an overview of the ethics of justice, critique, and care. The authors argue for a fourth ethical paradigm, that of professional ethics. Shapiro and Stefkovich provide a framework to help educators develop that "professional ethic" paradigm through the use of a dynamic, multidimensional model. 

The author's overview of the ethics of justice, critique, and care is clear, sufficient, and brief. Personally, I would like to see them treat that portion of their book with a little more depth. That said, their overview of the literature and documentation is stellar and their explanations cogent.

Shapiro and Stefkovich do a really outstanding job of highlighting the complexity, i.e. paradoxical nature of ethical decisions. Their case-study approach is helpful and made more so by the number and variety of cases they attach to each of the complex dilemmas an educational leader may face.

It is easy to see why this book is in its fourth edition. A very helpful resource and guide. I echo Martha McCarthy's words: "This book is a must-read for the educational leaders and those who prepare them for their ethically challenging roles."

Hidden Figures

By Margot Lee Shetterly

I'm giving Hidden Figures five stars for bringing to light these hidden figures of flight, for her careful research, for her thoroughness, and for helping the reader to appreciate that our country can advance on two fronts (space and civil rights) even though one (space) may outpace the other (civil rights). Shetterly highlights the inequities for both blacks and women without an off-putting rancor; though justifiable for those who lived/live it.

While her story line could be more crisp and her characters more clearly differentiated in places, I love this book. It is history and civil rights advocacy presented in a compelling fashion.

In the Heart of the World

By Mother Teresa

As the title suggests, this work is a brief but rich compendium of Mother Teresa's thoughts, stories, and prayers (hers and others). You can read it quickly, but will benefit more by musing on it unhurriedly. Francis Bacon said, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." This book is to be chewed and digested.

A Man In Full

By Tom Wolfe

Reading Tom Wolfe is an education in culture, the vicissitudes of life, the human condition, the power of narrative, and the riches of the English language. Like Sherman McCoy (Bonfire of The Vanities) and Charlotte Simmons (I Am Charlotte Simmons), Wolfe's protagonist Charlie Croker is frustratingly real. The author's attention to detail is amazing and his story captivating . . . riveting in some places. At some point every writer must land the plane. To me, A Man In Full felt like it hit the tarmac a little hard. Were Wolfe to place a Bible in Conrad's hands instead of Epictetus and The Stoics many may have ignored his sermon. That said, I appreciated the message!

The Holy Bible (ESV)

By Crossway Bibles

Charles Spurgeon reportedly said, "To me the Bible is not God, but it is God’s voice, and I do not hear it without awe." I say "Amen" to that. I have read the Bible since my youth -- over and over -- and my experience mirrors that of the prophet Jeremiah, "When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight." Jeremiah 15:16