A Change is Gonna Come chronicles more than forty years of black music: from the hopeful, angry refrains of the Freedom movement to the slick pop of Motown; from Woodstock and the 'Summer of Love' to Vietnam and the race riots; from disco inferno to the Million Man March. This is an insightful and riveting study which looks at the place black music occupies in social history, its battle for the desegregation of popular music and its contribution to social change outside the recording studio

Vernon Robinson Jr. knows we all share a common bond that is more than just the blood we shed, the color of our skin, or the universal language we speak. That common bond is adversity. In this true story, Robinson, who has seen his share of struggles in his lifetime, offers a poignant glimpse into his forty-year journey to conquer his childhood demons, overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, learn to believe in himself, and pursue his dreams. Robinson begins by detailing a difficult childhood in which he was forced at a young age to cope with death and endure an abusive home environment. Seemingly destined to walk a dark path, Robinson shares how he turned to the streets and was challenged to avoid drugs, gangs, and crime. Determined to turn his life around, Robinson eventually joined the Marines where he pushed boundaries, embraced opportunities, and utilized his street smarts. But with the good came a relentless fear of failure and another devastating life experience that threatened his survival. As he chronicles how he managed to overcome his most daunting challenge, Robinson proves to younger generations that anything is possible. A Change Is Gonna Come shares one man's powerful journey through life as he learned to overcome adversity and became a decorated marine, a devoted husband, and a proud advocate of diabetes awareness.

Get your head out of your @*&. Snowflake. Stupid liberal. Ignorant conservative. There is much discussion today about the decline in civility in American politics. Couple this phenomenon with the fracturing and hardening of political attitudes, and one might wonder how deliberative democracy, much less political civility, can survive if we can't even talk to people with whom we disagree. Insults are thrown, feelings are hurt, and family and friends, at best, decide to avoid political discussions altogether. At worst, arguments cause social groups to break apart. How can deliberative democracy survive if we can't even speak to people with whom we disagree? As this book argues, we need a new way to discuss politics, one that encourages engagement and room for dissent. One way to approach this challenge is to consider how public opinion changes. By and large, public opinion is sticky and change occurs very slowly; one exception to this is the more recent and significant change in public opinion toward LGBTQ rights and marriage equality. The marriage equality movement is considered one of the great success stories of political advocacy, but why was it so successful? Brian F. Harrison argues that one of the most powerful reasons is that a broad range of marriage equality advocates were willing to engage in contentious and sometimes uncomfortable discussion about their opinions on the matter. They started everyday conversations that got people out of their echo chambers and encouraged them to start listening and thinking. But the question remains, if simple conversation can work in one arena, can it work in others? And how and where does one approach such conversation? Drawing from social psychology, communication studies, and political science, as well as personal narratives and examples, A Change is Gonna Come reflects on the last fifteen years of LGBTQ advocacy to propose practical ways to approach informal political conversation on a variety of contentious issues. This book seeks to answer the seemingly simple question: how can we be politically civil to each other again?

The women who work at St. Paul Human Services--flirtatious, self-centered Tangie, Sabrina the gossip, lonely widow Bonnie Mae, and devout but self-righteous Cordelia--cope with men, friendship, family, and religious faith.

Is Barack Obama the savior of liberalism—or the last liberal president? Charles R. Kesler's spirited analysis of Obama's political thought shows that he represents either a new birth of liberalism—or its demise. Who is Barack Obama? Though many of his own supporters wonder if he really believes in anything, Charles R. Kesler argues that these disappointed liberals don't appreciate the scope of the president's ambition or the long-term stakes for which he is playing. Conservatives also misunderstand Obama, according to this leading conservative scholar, educator, and journalist. They dismiss him as a socialist, hopelessly out of touch with the American mainstream. The fringe Right dwells on Obama's foreign upbringing, his missing birth certificate, Bill Ayers's supposed authorship of his books. What mainstream and fringe have in common is a stubborn underestimation of the man and the political movement he embodies. Reflecting a sophisticated mix of philosophy, psychology, and history, and complemented by a scathing wit, I Am the Change tries to understand Obama as he understands himself, based largely on his own writings, speeches, and interviews. Kesler, the rare conservative who takes Obama seriously as a political thinker, views him as a gifted and highly intelligent progressive who is attempting to become the greatest president in the history of modern liberalism. Intent on reinvigorating the liberal faith, Obama nonetheless fails to understand its fatal contradictions—a shortsightedness that may prove to be liberalism's undoing. Will Obama save liberalism and become its fourth great incarnation, following Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson? Or will he be derailed by his very successes? These are the questions at the heart of Kesler's thoughtful and illuminating book.

Music critic Michael Gray presents opinionated entries on hundreds of figures, musical works, and other widely varied topics related to singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Also includes the text on CD-ROM.

Features the most influential musical protests and statements recorded to date, providing pop-culture viewpoints on some of the most tumultuous times in modern history. Includes songs about the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, policy in the Middle East, teenage rebellion, animal rights, and criticisms of mass media.

This book takes a thematic approach to the history of rock and roll through 1980, listing "classic," "definitive," and "reference" songs for each theme. Also includes recommendations for building a rock library, rock and roll in the movies, and a general history of rock and roll.