Books about Grass roots from Amazon.com

Will Lee has returned to his roots to kick off his campaign for the Senate. A prominent lawyer, he has come back to his hometown of Delano, Georgia, to plan his strategies, and to argue an explosively controversial case that could seriously damage his fledgling political career. For Delano is a town with a dark secret -- a smoldering hotbed of racial hatred and moral outrage, held in the thrall of a sinister group called The Elect. Its violent, evil forces will stop at nothing to keep the candidate out of office. But Will Lee isn't about to back down, even though it may cost him his career -- and his life..
Price: $3.82 [Notify me when price goes down.]

From steel workers, Teamsters, and coal miners to teachers, actors, and civil servants, union members once accounted for more than one third of the American workforce. At a mere 12 percent, union membership today is a shadow of what it once was. What happened to organized labor in America and what can be done to restore it to its role of the defender of middle-class values and economic well-being?

Award-winning investigative reporter Philip M. Dine takes us on a riveting journey through America's cities and back roads, its factories and union halls, to answer those questions. From the health care crisis to massive job flight overseas, from rampant home foreclosures to illegal immigration, he clearly shows how virtually every major economic, political, and social trend impacting our way of life is tied to the state of America's unions.

Combining a compelling narrative with expert analysis, Dine offers firsthand accounts of the union members striving to make their voices heard in a political landscape increasingly shaped by corporate interests, including how:

• The women of Delta Pride-a major player in the multi-billion dollar catfish industry-went up against generations of racial and economic prejudice
• Iowa's firefighters union flexed its collective muscle to score a major political victory in the 2004 caucus
• The American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO played a key role in bringing down the Iron Curtain
• The Teamsters enlisted community support to temporarily stop a move by Mr. Coffee to relocate to Mexico and saved nearly 400 manufacturing jobs in the Cleveland area

A reporter who has covered labor for two decades, Dine not only details where labor has gone wrong, but he also offers sage advice on how it can adapt to a global economy to recover the ground it lost over the last quarter century.

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Price: $12.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Through the prism of America's most enduring African-inspired art form, the Lowcountry basket, Grass Roots guides readers across 300 years of American and African history. In scholarly essays and beautiful photographs, Grass Roots follows the coiled basket along its transformation on two continents from a simple farm tool once used for processing grain to a work of art and a central symbol of African and African American identity. Featuring images of the stunning work of contemporary basket makers from South Carolina to South Africa, as well as historic photographs that document the artistic heritage of the southern United States, Grass Roots appears at a moment when public recognition of the Gullah/Geechee heritage is encouraging a reexamination of Africa's contribution to American civilization.

Working with basket makers from Charleston and Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, historian Dale Rosengarten has been studying African-American baskets for over 20 years and brings her research up-to-date with interviews of artists and the results of recent historical inquiry. Anthropologist Enid Schildkrout draws on her research in West Africa and museum collections around the world to explore the African antecedents of Lowcountry basketry. Geographer Judith A. Carney discusses the origins of rice in Africa and reveals how enslaved Africans brought to America not only rice seeds but, just as important, the technical know-how that turned southern coastal forests and swamps into incredibly profitable rice plantations. Historian Peter H. Wood discusses the many skills that enslaved Africans contributed to the settlement of the Old South and at the same time used to resist the conditions of their servitude. John Michael Vlach, a leading authority on African American folk art, discusses the history of visual depictions of plantation life. Fath Davis Ruffins, a specialist on the imagery of popular culture, sheds light on the history embedded in old photographs of African Americans in the Charleston area. Cultural historian Jessica B. Harris explores the tradition of rice in American cooking and the enduring African influences in the southern kitchen. Anthropologist and art historian Sandra Klopper sketches the history of coiled basketry in South Africa, illuminating its evolution from utilitarian craft to fine art, parallel to developments in America. Anthropologist J. Lorand Matory traces the changing meanings of Gullah/Geechee identity and discusses its appearance as a significant force on the American cultural scene today..
Price: $21.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Tony Buzan, Tony Dottino and Richard Israel pick up a theme they first introduced nearly a decade ago in The Brain Smart Leader and document a way of fundamentally changing the perspective and behaviour of leaders and employees in your organization.

Their approach shows how to:
* use the brain's capacity for solving problems and implementing innovative plans to make the organization's vision a reality;
* adopt a three-speed technique - first gear to slow down and allow new learning or support for difficult transition periods. Second gear shifts up to a productive work outcome, and then third gear revs up to champion innovation and change;
* apply a series of proven models for dealing with information overload, making the best use of scarce resources, such as time, and keeping sight of successful outcomes as they are developed..
Price: $25.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"A book community groups can't afford to be without " -- The Christian Science Monitor "The 'Bible' of fundraising for nonprofit groups." -- Sojourner "Flanagan's book takes the guesswork out of grass roots fundraising and puts the profit in." -- Foundation News "The book is worth buying simply for the information it contains. But added extras are Flanagan's humor and commonsense style of writing, which makes the book easy to read and enjoyable." -- Grassroots Fundraising Journal Practical, comprehensive, and readable, this new, updated edition of The Grass Roots Fundraising Book is an indispensable resource for novice community fundraisers. Professional fundraiser Joan Flanagan includes foolproof money-making strategies already tested by hundreds of successful fundraisers, the basics of organizing special events, advice on approaching philanthropists, a step-by-step guide to direct mailing, the how-tos of door-to-door canvassing, and much more..
Price: $21.18 [Notify me when price goes down.]

African American university and college presidents, vice presidents, and deans offer firsthand reflections on their encounters with racism in higher education and the strategies they use to overcome obstacles they face.

Grass Roots and Glass Ceilings offers observations and reflections on the experiences of African American leaders in predominantly white institutions of higher education. These current and past presidents, vice presidents, and deans relate frankly and in detail their personal experiences in the academic setting. They discuss their perseverance over obstacles such as racism and sexism, and examine the current and future state of higher education in America. Grass Roots and Glass Ceilings debunks the prevalent myth that academia is a setting where race is irrelevant, and where people are judged only by their intellectual capability..
Price: $17.90 [Notify me when price goes down.]