Have you ever been to an awful panel discussion? An awkward funeral? A long and frustrating meeting? A flash mob that fizzled? A dinner party with unfriendly people? According to Priya Parker, a meeting facilitator and expert on social interaction, 
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The nation’s acute affordable housing shortage has made the neighborhoods chosen for new projects less important. But where new affordable housing is built within cities matters. Affordable housing in “high opportunity” neighborhoods—- mixed-income communities that offer transit access and cultural
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When I got the new graphic novelette, The Young C.L. R. James,  I realized that while I had heard of James I knew very little about him. I suspect I am not alone in this lack of knowledge, which made
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Despite 50th anniversary stories on the Civil Rights movement and new African-American history museums, many stories of African-Americans overcoming urban racism in the north remain little known. That makes this book on Ernest Thompson, a great community and social justice
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I have lived my entire life in California and been through much of the state. But after reading Sam McManis’ rollicking new book, Crossing California, showed me just how many places I have missed. McManis is the longtime travel writer
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“No more talented or colorful figure ever played the game of baseball than Satchel Paige” —-from The Pitcher and the Dictator I am a longtime admirer of Satchel Paige. After learning of his exploits from baseball books I connected with
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Well before the Trump era, U.S. presidents were failing to address urban problems or making them worse. Governors, members of Congress, and state legislators didn’t perform much better. So the difficult job of fighting poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation shifted
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University of Santa Cruz Professor William Domhoff released a book in 1967 that forever changed how scholars looked at power in the United States. Ambitiously titled Who Rules America?, Domhoff’s book arrived like a sociological earthquake shaking the foundations of
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