Gold Winner of the 2008 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award, Biography Category Brings to life the inspiring story of one of America's Black Founding Fathers, featured in the forthcoming documentary The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song Freedom's Prophet is a long-overdue biography of Richard Allen, founder of the first major African American church and the leading black activist of the early American republic. A tireless minister, abolitionist, and reformer, Allen inaugurated some of the most important institutions in African American history and influenced nearly every black leader of the nineteenth century, from Douglass to Du Bois. Born a slave in colonial Philadelphia, Allen secured his freedom during the American Revolution, and became one of the nation’s leading black activists before the Civil War. Among his many achievements, Allen helped form the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, co-authored the first copyrighted pamphlet by an African American writer, published the first African American eulogy of George Washington, and convened the first national convention of Black reformers. In a time when most Black men and women were categorized as slave property, Allen was championed as a Black hero. In this thoroughly engaging and beautifully written book, Newman describes Allen's continually evolving life and thought, setting both in the context of his times. From Allen's early antislavery struggles and belief in interracial harmony to his later reflections on Black democracy and Black emigration, Newman traces Allen's impact on American reform and reformers, on racial attitudes during the years of the early republic, and on the Black struggle for justice in the age of Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Washington. Whether serving as Americas first Black bishop, challenging slave-holding statesmen in a nation devoted to liberty, or visiting the President's House (the first Black activist to do so), this important book makes it clear that Allen belongs in the pantheon of Americas great founding figures. Freedom's Prophet reintroduces Allen to today's readers and restores him to his rightful place in our nation's history.

Lured by the promise of "real" freedom and a new town to call their own, sharecroppers Ezekial Harban and his three daughters leave behind remnants of slavery in the war-torn south and set off for Nicodemus, Kansas. When they arrive, they are shocked to see that little of what they were promised actually exists. Many head back home, but Ezekial and his daughters are determined to build a new life in the stark territory. Dr. Boyle, a newly arrived doctor in neighboring Hill City, is called to deliver a baby in Nicodemus. He and his family are moved by the plight of the settlers there and vow to help. But the white pioneers of Hill City face problems, too. When the lives of these two families intersect, neither town will ever be the same. Freedom's Path Book 1.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN HISTORY An "important, deeply affecting—and regrettably relevant" (New York Times) chronicle of a sinister idea of freedom: white Americans’ freedom to oppress others and their fight against the government that got in their way. American freedom is typically associated with the fight of the oppressed for a better world. But for centuries, whenever the federal government intervened on behalf of nonwhite people, many white Americans fought back in the name of freedom—their freedom to dominate others. In Freedom’s Dominion, historian Jefferson Cowie traces this complex saga by focusing on a quintessentially American place: Barbour County, Alabama, the ancestral home of political firebrand George Wallace. In a land shaped by settler colonialism and chattel slavery, white people weaponized freedom to seize Native lands, champion secession, overthrow Reconstruction, question the New Deal, and fight against the civil rights movement. A riveting history of the long-running clash between white people and federal authority, this book radically shifts our understanding of what freedom means in America.

From the female soldiers of Abu Ghraib prison to Palestinian women suicide bombers, women and their bodies have been "powerful weapons" in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Kelly Oliver reveals how the media and the George W. Bush administration used metaphors of weaponry to describe women and female sexuality and forge a link between vulnerability and violence. Oliver analyzes the discourse surrounding women, sex, and gender and the use of women to justify America's decision to go to war. She also considers the cultural meaning, or lack of meaning, that lead female soldiers at Abu Ghraib to abuse prisoners "just for fun," and the commitment to death made by women suicide bombers. She examines the pleasure taken in violence and the passion for death and what kind of contexts creates them. Oliver concludes with a diagnosis of our fascination with sex, violence, and death and its relationship with live news coverage and embedded reporting, which naturalizes horrific events and stymies critical reflection.

A hands-on guide to the use of quantitative methods and software for making successful business decisions The appropriate use of quantitative methods lies at the core of successful decisions made by managers, researchers, and students in the field of business. Providing a framework for the development of sound judgment and the ability to utilize quantitative and qualitative approaches, Data Driven Business Decisions introduces readers to the important role that data plays in understanding business outcomes, addressing four general areas that managers need to know about: data handling and Microsoft Excel®, uncertainty, the relationship between inputs and outputs, and complex decisions with trade-offs and uncertainty. Grounded in the author's own classroom approach to business statistics, the book reveals how to use data to understand the drivers of business outcomes, which in turn allows for data-driven business decisions. A basic, non-mathematical foundation in statistics is provided, outlining for readers the tools needed to link data with business decisions; account for uncertainty in the actions of others and in patterns revealed by data; handle data in Excel®; translate their analysis into simple business terms; and present results in simple tables and charts. The author discusses key data analytic frameworks, such as decision trees and multiple regression, and also explores additional topics, including: Use of the Excel® functions Solver and Goal Seek Partial correlation and auto-correlation Interactions and proportional variation in regression models Seasonal adjustment and what it reveals Basic portfolio theory as an introduction to correlations Chapters are introduced with case studies that integrate simple ideas into the larger business context, and are followed by further details, raw data, and motivating insights. Algebraic notation is used only when necessary, and throughout the book, the author utilizes real-world examples from diverse areas such as market surveys, finance, economics, and business ethics. Excel® add-ins StatproGo and TreePlan are showcased to demonstrate execution of the techniques, and a related website features extensive programming instructions as well as insights, data sets, and solutions to problems included in the material. Data Driven Business Decisions is an excellent book for MBA quantitative analysis courses or undergraduate general statistics courses. It also serves as a valuable reference for practicing MBAs and practitioners in the fields of statistics, business, and finance.

Like the lines of a secret map made dimly apparent by the chemical potion brushed on a piece of paper from a child's detective kit, the outlines of what may be a substantial behavioral biology of human life seem to be coming clear. From genetic science at its most molecular to demography with its assessment of the vital experience of massive populations, there is a growing understanding of the various ways in which the human species reveals underlying commonalities of experi ence through the life cycle and over the web of interactions that constitutes the basic matter of social life. At the same time, research has been successful in two super ficially and contradictory directions: first, in showing the enormous variation in human arrangements and consciousness across and with in cultures; and second, in showing the similarity between cultures as far as basic processes of physiology, neurophysiology, and even so ciallife are concerned. But the contradiction only exists in the absence of an understanding of the fact that in a species living under as many ecological, historical, and economic niches as Homo sapiens, cultural variation is what one would naturally expect.

John Gray has become one of our liveliest and most influential political philosophers. This current volume is a sequel to his Liberalisms: Essays in Political Philosophy. The earlier book ended on a sceptical note, both in respect of what a post-liberal political philosophy might look like, and with respect to the claims of political philosophy itself. John Gray's new book gives post-liberal theory a more definite content. It does so by considering particular thinkers in the history of political thought, by criticizing the conventional wisdom, liberal and socialist, of the Western academic class, and most directly by specifying what remains of value in liberalism. The upshot of this line of thought is that we need not regret the failure of foundationalist liberalism, since we have all we need in the historic inheritance of the institutions of civil society. It is to the practice of liberty that these institutions encompass, rather than to empty liberal theory, that we should repair.

A penetrating study of the impact of culture on the Catholic Church in the U.S., and the importance of the Church to the culture."Emmaus," writes the author, "is not only the name of a town in the gospel of Luke. It is also a state of mind." He portrays the American Emmaus as an ongoing conversion walk of twentieth-century Christians who attempt to recognize the crucified and risen Christ within the complex and pluralistic cultures of the United States. He focuses on the connections between being Catholic and American at this point in history, challenges the Church to give witness to the gospel message, and shows how it is through liturgy (the gathered American community) that the Church once again takes the walk to Emmaus. Here are insights not only for Catholics but for Christians of every denomination.

First Published in 2004. The provision of effective career guidance has been presented as the answer to economic and social problems in young people, and has been seen by governments around the world as essential in ensuring economic competitiveness and prosperity. Policy discussions have centred on individuals' development of 'self-managed' careers within a global labour market, placing employability skills above all other concerns. This book goes beyond the rhetoric of careers guidance by exploring it from critical and radical standpoints. The contributors question the economic underpinning that has driven social inclusion agendas around the globe, arguing that career education and guidance needs to place greater emphasis on approaches that have a greater social awareness and within a global context. They discuss career guidance in consideration of a range of issues including social class, 'race' and gender and raise questions about the implications for policy and practice. Essential reading for students, researchers and academics and practitioners involved with careers education, this book will help the reader to improve their practice through a greater understanding of the theories and social and economic contexts involved