Prior Book Selections
AY23 BUMC Reads Selection:
Evicted by
[The author] takes us into the poorest neighborhoods of Milwaukee to tell the story of eight families on the edge. Arleen is a single mother trying to raise her two sons on the 20 dollars a month she has left after paying for their rundown apartment. Scott is a gentle nurse consumed by a heroin addiction. Lamar, a man with no legs and a neighborhood full of boys to look after, tries to work his way out of debt. Vanetta participates in a botched stickup after her hours are cut. All are spending almost everything they have on rent, and all have fallen behind. The fates of these families are in the hands of two landlords: Sherrena Tarver, a former schoolteacher turned inner-city entrepreneur, and Tobin Charney, who runs one of the worst trailer parks in Milwaukee. They loathe some of their tenants and are fond of others, but as Sherrena puts it, "Love don't pay the bills." She moves to evict Arleen and her boys a few days before Christmas. Even in the most desolate areas of American cities, evictions used to be rare. But today, most poor renting families are spending more than half of their income on housing, and eviction has become ordinary, especially for single mothers. In vivid, intimate prose, Desmond provides a ground-level view of one of the most urgent issues facing America today. As we see families forced into shelters, squalid apartments, or more dangerous neighborhoods, we bear witness to the human cost of America's vast inequality-- and to people's determination and intelligence in the face of hardship. Based on years of embedded fieldwork and painstakingly gathered data, this masterful book transforms our understanding of extreme poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving a devastating, uniquely American problem. Its unforgettable scenes of hope and loss remind us of the centrality of home, without which nothing else is possible.
ISBN: 9780553447439Publication Date: 2016-03-01
AY22 BUMC Reads Selection:
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington
Medical Apartheid by
The first comprehensive history of medical experimentation on African Americans. Starting with the earliest encounters between Africans and Western medical researchers and the racist pseudoscience that resulted, it details the way both slaves and freedmen were used in hospitals for experiments conducted without a hint of informed consent--a tradition that continues today within some black populations. It shows how the pseudoscience of eugenics and social Darwinism was used to justify experimental exploitation and shoddy medical treatment of blacks, and a view that they were biologically inferior, oversexed, and unfit for adult responsibilities. New details about the government's Tuskegee experiment are revealed, as are similar, less well-known medical atrocities conducted by the government, the armed forces, and private institutions. This book reveals the hidden underbelly of scientific research and makes possible, for the first time, an understanding of the roots of the African American health deficit.
ISBN: 9780767915472Publication Date: 2008-01-08
AY21 BUMC Reads Selection:
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
So You Want to Talk about Race by
In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a hard-hitting but user-friendly examination of race in America. Widespread reporting on aspects of white supremacy--from police brutality to the mass incarceration of Black Americans--has put a media spotlight on racism in our society. Still, it is a difficult subject to talk about. How do you tell your roommate her jokes are racist? Why did your sister-in-law take umbrage when you asked to touch her hair--and how do you make it right? How do you explain white privilege to your white, privileged friend? In So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo guides readers of all races through subjects ranging from intersectionality and affirmative action to "model minorities" in an attempt to make the seemingly impossible possible: honest conversations about race and racism, and how they infect almost every aspect of American life.
ISBN: 9781580058827Publication Date: 2019-09-24
The Book
![Book jacket designed by Angela Carlino of DISABILITY VISIBILITY: 17 First-Person Stories for Today adapted for young readers edited by Alice Wong. The cover has thin vertical gray lines with overlapping geometric shapes in green, blue, magenta, yellow and purple. [right] 3 images in a row of a book titled ‘Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century Edited by Alice Wong’ the book cover has overlapping triangles in a variety of bright colors with black text overlaying them and an off-white background. Book cover by Madeline Partner.](//syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781984899422/LC.GIF&client=springshare)
Disability Visibility by ISBN: 9781984899422Publication Date: 2020-06-30A groundbreaking collection of first-person writing on the joys and challenges of the modern disability experience: Disability Visibility brings together the voices of activists, authors, lawyers, politicians, artists, and everyday people whose daily lives are, in the words of playwright Neil Marcus, "an art ... an ingenious way to live." According to the last census, one in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some are visible, some are hidden--but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together an urgent, galvanizing collection of personal essays by contemporary disabled writers. There is Harriet McBryde Johnson's "Unspeakable Conversations," which describes her famous debate with Princeton philosopher Peter Singer over her own personhood. There is columnist s. e. smith's celebratory review of a work of theater by disabled performers. There are original pieces by up-and-coming authors like Keah Brown and Haben Girma. There are blog posts, manifestos, eulogies, and testimonies to Congress. Taken together, this anthology gives a glimpse of the vast richness and complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own assumptions and understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and past with hope and love.
![Book jacket designed by Angela Carlino of DISABILITY VISIBILITY: 17 First-Person Stories for Today adapted for young readers edited by Alice Wong. The cover has thin vertical gray lines with overlapping geometric shapes in green, blue, magenta, yellow and purple. [right] 3 images in a row of a book titled ‘Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the 21st Century Edited by Alice Wong’ the book cover has overlapping triangles in a variety of bright colors with black text overlaying them and an off-white background. Book cover by Madeline Partner.](http://syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9781984899422/LC.GIF&client=springshare)
Other Ways to Access
- Disability Visibility AnthologyOrder paperback, e-book, audiobook (multiple retailers). Available on Bookshare and the Library of Congress’ Braille and Audio Reading Download program (downloadable talking book #DB99604 and Braille currently in process of being added).
- Plain Language TranslationPlain language translation of Disability Visibility First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century by Sara Luterman.
- BARD AccessLibrary of Congress’ Braille and Audio Reading Download program (downloadable talking book #DB99604 and Braille currently in process of being added).
The E-Book & Audiobook
Looking for a copy of the e-book or audiobook? Borrow it from the Boston Public Library, or your local public library, through Libby!
For more information on how to get a library card from the BPL and access Overdrive's reading app, Libby, visit our Leisure Reads guide!
Follow this step by step guide to get an eCard from the Boston Public Library.
If you are a Massachusetts resident and don't already have a Boston Public Library card, you can register for one online.
- Visit the BPL's website and under their Services tab, click on eCards.
- Click on the blue button that days Register or Renew and eCard.
- Verify that you are a Massachusetts resident and follow the prompts to fill in your contact information.
- Enter your email, and create a PIN you would like to use as your password.
- Verify your contact information and agree to BPL's terms.
- Now you can use your eCard!
Now you have access to all of the BPL's online resources, including OverDrive and Hoopla!
If you have any additional questions or need help getting an eCard, contact Kristen at Alumni Medical Library at kmsher@bu.edu.