Natalie Y. Moore

Mayors Richard M. Daley and Rahm Emanuel have touted and promoted Chicago as a "world class city." The skyscrapers kissing the clouds, the billion-dollar Millennium Park, Michelin-rated restaurants, pristine lake views, fabulous shopping, vibrant theater scene, downtown flower beds and stellar architecture tell one story. Yet, swept under the rug is the stench of segregation that compromises Chicago. The Manhattan Institute dubs Chicago as one of the most segregated big cities in the country. Though other cities - including Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Baltimore - can fight over that mantle, it's clear that segregation defines Chicago. And unlike many other major U.S. cities, no one race dominates. Chicago is divided equally into black, white, and Latino, each group clustered in their various turfs. In this intelligent and highly important narrative, Chicago-native Natalie Moore shines a light on contemporary segregation on the South Side of Chicago through reported essays, showing the life of these communities through the stories of people who live in them. The South Side shows the important impact of Chicago's historic segregation - and the ongoing policies that keep it that way.

A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation

The South Side

Billboard

The Billboard is about a fictional Black women's clinic in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood on the South Side and its fight with a local gadfly running for City Council who puts up a provocative billboard: "Abortion is genocide. The most dangerous place for a Black child is his mother's womb," spurring on the clinic to fight back with their own provocative sign: "Black women take care of their families by taking care of themselves. Abortion is self-care. #Trust Black Women." The book also has a foreword and afterword and Q&A with a founder of reproductive justice. As a play and book, The Billboard is a cultural force that treats abortion as more than pro-life or pro-choice.

The Billboard

Natalie Hopkinson

A portrait of today's African-American male evaluates both archetypes and stereotypes, exploring black masculinity as it is represented by a range of personalities, from professionals and hip-hop figures to family men and criminals. Original.

A New Look at Black Masculinity in the Hip-hop Generation

Deconstructing Tyrone

Lance Williams

In gangster lore, the Almighty Black P Stone Nation stands out among the most notorious of street gangs. Louis Farrakhan hired the Blackstone Rangers as his Angels of Death. Fifteen years before 9/11, the U.S. government accused the Stones of plotting domestic terrorist acts with Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. And currently, founding member Jeff Fort is serving a triple life sentence at the only U.S. federal supermax prison Were the Stones criminals, brainwashed terrorists, victims of their circumstances, or champions of social change? Or were they all of these, their role perceived differently by different races and socioeconomic groups? Authors Natalie Y. Moore and Lance Williams answer these and other questions in this provocative tale that explores how teens from a poverty-stricken Chicago neighborhood built a powerful organization that united 21 individual gangs into a virtual nation With a colorful cast of characters, from white liberal do-gooders, vocal black nationalists, and hardworking community organizers to the members of the Nation of Islam and overzealous law enforcement officers, The Almighty Black P Stone Nation details how the U.S. government funded the gang with money during the War on Poverty; how law enforcement used the gang to gain headlines and increase its own funding during the War on Drugs; and how federal prosecutors successfully argued that leader Fort masterminded a deal for $2.5 million to commit acts of terrorism in the United States on behalf of Libya, setting the stage for prosecutors to link U.S. street gangs to terrorists from Arab states A fascinating look inside the evolution of a gang that went from street-corner teens to convicted terrorists, The Almighty Black P Stone Nation is not only an exciting story but also a timely look at urban crime and violence, an exploration of how and why gangs flourish, and an expose of the way in which minority crime is targeted in the community, reported in the media, and prosecuted in the courts.

The Rise, Fall, and Resurgence of an American Gang

The Almighty Black P Stone Nation

This expos� investigates the evolution of the Almighty Black P Stone Nation, a motley group of poverty-stricken teens transformed into a dominant gang accused of terroristic intentions. Interwoven into the narrative is the dynamic influence of leader Jeff Fort, who--despite his flamboyance and high visibility--instilled a rigid structure and discipline that afforded the young men a refuge and a sense of purpose in an often hopeless community. Details of how the Nation procured government funding for gang-related projects during the War on Poverty era and fueled bonuses and job security for law enforcement, and how Fort, in particular, masterminded a deal for $2.5 million to commit acts of terrorism in the United States on behalf of Libya are also revealed. In examining whether the Black P Stone Nation was a group of criminals, brainwashed terrorists, victims of their circumstances, or champions of social change, this social history provides an exploration of how and why gangs flourish and insight into the way in which minority crime is targeted in the community, reported in the media, and prosecuted in the courts.

Natalie Y. Moore

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