The following is a list of books published by Oberlin faculty and or alumni within the last three years.
Reminiscences of an American Composer and Pianist
by George Walker '41, classical music composer, pianist
The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2009
The first African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Music for his composition Lilacs, George Walker recounts the most significant events in his life and distinguished career as a composer and musician. Born in 1922, Walker's life was filled with many firsts. He graduated first from his class and with highest honors from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music at age 18, and went on to attend the Curtis Institute, studying piano, chamber music, and composition. In 1945, he became the first African American to graduate from Curtis, earning an artist diploma in piano and composition. He also earned a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music, becoming its first African American graduate.
He made his debut as an instrumentalist performing in a town hall at Curtis. He later played piano with the Philadelphia Orchestra, becoming the first African American to perform with the orchestra. Walker's compostion, Lyric for Strings, is one of the most popuar orchestral works by a living American composer. His Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra premiered with the Boston Symphony in 1996 under conductor Seiji Ozawa, which later that year received the Pulitzer Prize.
Black Women's Resistance in the U.S. South and South Africa
by Pamela E. Brooks, associate professor of African American studies
University of Massachusetts Press, 2008
In the mid-1950s, as many developing nations sought independence from colonial rule, black women in the American South and in South Africa launched parallel campaigns to end racial injustice within their respective communities. Just as the dignified obstinacy of Mrs. Rosa Parks sparked the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, the 20,000 South African women who marched in Pretoria a year later to protest the pass laws signaled a new wave of resistance to the system of apartheid. In both places women who had previously been consigned to subordinate roles brought fresh leadership to the struggle for political freedom and social equality. In this book, Pamela E. Brooks tells their story, documenting the extraordinary achievements of otherwise ordinary women. In comparing the experiences of black women activists in two different parts of the African diaspora, Brooks draws heavily on oral histories that provide clear, and often painful, insight into their backgrounds, their motives, their hopes, and their fears.
Freedom Roadby James Millette, professor of African American studies
Arawak Publications 2008
The abolition of the slave trade was significant in that it was the first clear declaration by a major imperial power of the illegality and the barbarism of trafficking in human beings, which had previously been widely supported in the highest circles of European society. But, diplomatically, it also allowed Great Britain, the rising superpower of the day, to use slave trade abolition and later the abolition of slavery itself, as bludgeons against its rivals and to clothe the imperialism of Pax Britannica in moral dress. For the slaves, the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 was at once a disappointment and a harbinger of the total emancipation that was to come … objectively … despite its ambiguities, the abolition of the slave trade was the beginning of the end for the slave institution in the Anglophone Caribbean. Within three decades, slavery became insupportable, and emancipation became real.
by Ed E. Duncan '70
Thomson West 2008
This work brings together in one text numerous decisions (a) interpreting under Ohio law the principle provisions of the widely used Commercial General Liability ("CGL") insurance policy and (b) discussing generally the law of insurance coverage in Ohio. Unlike other coverage publications that discuss law in all 50 states and, therefore, contain a less comprehensive treatment of Ohio law, the treatise is unique both in its use of the universally recognized CGL policy as a template and in its focus on Ohio law. This publication should prove useful both for attorneys representing insurers and for those representing the insured in disputes leading up to, and including, coverage litigation.
Blue-Chip Black: Race, Class, and Status in the New Black Middle Class
by Karyn R. Lacy '87
University of California Press, 2007
Lacy explores an increasingly important social and demographic phenomenon: middle-class blacks who live in distinctly middle-class suburbs where poor blacks are not present. These "blue-chip black" suburbanites earn more than $50,000 annually and work in predominantly white professional environments. Lacy examines the complicated sense of identity they craft to manage their interactions with lower-class blacks, middle-class whites, and other middle-class blacks as they seek to reap the benefits of their middle-class status.
Diversity and the Future of the U.S. Environmental Movement
Edited by Emily Enderle '03
Yale University Press, 2007
Diversity and the Future of the U.S. Environmental Movement explores why diversity and properly executed inclusion are critical to the future success of environmental organizations and the wider environmental movement in the United States. The book contains essays by a diverse group of distinguished environmentalists from many sectors, including business, nongovernmental organizations, religion, science, health, journalism, and education. It demonstrates how diversity can create value, resiliency, and competitive advantages for environmental organizations large and small.
Sucking Salt: Caribbean Women Writers, Migration, and Survival
by Meredith Gadsby, assistant professor of African American studies
University of Missouri Press, 2006
Through these close readings, Gadsby shows that Caribbean women express complex identities born out of migration and develop practical approaches to hardship that enable them to negotiate themselves out of difficulty. Her innovative study reveals that "sucking salt" is an articulation of a New World voice connoting adaptation, improvisation, and creativity - and lending itself to new understandings of diaspora, literature, and feminism.
