Toni Cade Bambara

Fifteen unforgettable short stories from an essential author of African American fiction gives us compelling portraits of a wide range of unforgettable characters, from sassy children to cunning old men, from uptown New York to rural North Carolina. "Bambara grabs you by the throat ... she dazzles, she charms." — Chicago Daily News A young girl suffers her first betrayal. A widow flirts with an elderly blind man against the wishes of her grown-up children. A neighborhood loan shark teaches a white social worker a lesson in responsibility. And there is more. Sharing the world of Toni Cade Bambara's "straight-up fiction" is a stunning experience.

A collection of early, emerging works from some of today's most celebrated African American female writers When it was first published in 1970, The Black Woman introduced readers to an astonishing new wave of voices that demanded to be heard. In this groundbreaking volume of original essays, poems, and stories, a chorus of outspoken women -- many who would become leaders in their fields: bestselling novelist Alice Walker, poets Audre Lorde and Nikki Giovanni, writer Paule Marshall, activist Grace Lee Boggs, and musician Abbey Lincoln among them -- tackled issues surrounding race and sex, body image, the economy, politics, labor, and much more. Their words still resonate with truth, relevance, and insight today. Contents: Woman poem by Nikki Giovanni Poem by Kay Lindsey Naturally by Audre Lorde And what about the children by Audre Lorde Reena by Paule Marshall The diary of an African nun by Alice Walker Tell Martha not to moan by Shirley Williams Mississippi politics - a day in the life of Ella J. Baker by Joanne Grant Motherhood by Joanna Clark Dear black man by Fran Sanders To whom will she cry rape? by Abbey Lincoln The black woman as a woman by Kay Lindsey Double jeopardy: to be black and female by Frances Beale On the issue of roles by Toni Cade Black man, my man, listen! by Gail Stokes Is the black male castrated? by Jean Carey Bond and Patricia Peery The kitchen crisis by Verta Mae Smart-Grosvenor End racism in education: a concerned parent speaks by Maude White Katz I fell off the roof one day (a view of the black university) by Nikki Giovanni Black romanticism by Joyce Green Black people and the Victorian ethos by Gwen Patton Black pride? Some contradictions by Ann Cook The pill: genocide or liberation? by Toni Cade The black social workers' dilemma by Helen Williams Ebony minds, black voices by Adele Jones and group Poor black women's study papers by poor black women of Mount Vernon, New York by Pat Robinson and group A historical and critical essay for black women in the cities, June 1969 by Pat Robinson and group The black revolution in America by Grace Lee Boggs Looking back by Helen Cade Brehon From the family notebook by Carole Brown Thinking about the play The great white hope by Toni Cade Are the revolutionary techniques employed in The battle of Algiers applicable to Harlem? by Francee Covington

...teacher takes her inner city students to FAO Swhwart

Velma Henry has always been a fighter, but she has fallen on hard times. Exhausted by her political struggles, she is undergoing healing in the Southwest Community Infirmary. Confronting her there is Minnie Ransom, spinster and fabled vehicle of the spirit world. Velma Henry has always been a fighter, but she has fallen on hard times. Exhausted by her political struggles, she is undergoing healing in the Southwest Community Infirmary. Confronting her there is Minnie Ransom, spinster and fabled vehicle of the spirit world.

https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/the-war-of-the-wall-1 “The War of the Wall” details the experiences of two kids as a street artist paints on their beloved wall in their neighborhood. The narrator describes the frustration that the people of the community have with the artist, who is not only painting over one of their favorite places to play, relax in the shade, and hold on to the memories of a lost friend, but the artist is unwilling to accept the hospitality from anyone who tries to offer her food, or find out what she is up to. When the narrator and Lou go out into the country to meet up with their grandmother, they learn about graffiti from dad and grandmother who are watching the news, and they decide that they are going to deface the painting when they return back to Taliaferro Street. When they return, however, they find that the mural was a beautiful picture that not only reminded the community of all of the things that they loved about the wall, but celebrated the vibrant cultural richness of their community.

This suspenseful novel portrays a community--and a family--under siege, during the shocking string of murders of black children in Atlanta in the early 1980s.  Written over a span of twelve years, and edited by Toni Morrison, who calls Those Bones Are Not My Child the author's magnum opus, Toni Cade Bambara's last novel leaves us with an enduring and revelatory chronicle of an American nightmare. Having elected its first black mayor in 1980, Atlanta projected an image of political progressiveness and prosperity. But between September 1979 and June 1981, more than forty black children were kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and brutally murdered throughout "The City Too Busy to Hate." Zala Spencer, a mother of three, is barely surviving on the margins of a flourishing economy when she awakens on July 20, 1980 to find her teenage son Sonny missing. As hours turn into days, Zala realizes that Sonny is among the many cases of missing children just beginning to attract national attention. Growing increasingly disillusioned with the authorities, who respond to Sonny's disappearance with cold indifference, Zala and her estranged husband embark on a desperate search. Through the eyes of a family seized by anguish and terror, we watch a city roiling with political, racial, and class tensions.