Did you know that you are awesome? It's true! Don't believe me? Well then, let me take you on what Grandpa calls a Quest of Awesome so you can see and find all that is absolutely awesome about YOU! By finding and celebrating the Awesome that is already within you, you will also find confidence, self-love, and joy! And best of all, once you have found your Awesome, you can help others find theirs.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Finalist for the NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Literary Work" "Valerie has been one of Barack and my closest confidantes for decades... the world would feel a lot better if there were more people like Valerie blazing the trail for the rest of us."--Michelle Obama "The ultimate Obama insider" (The New York Times) and longest-serving senior advisor in the Obama White House shares her journey as a daughter, mother, lawyer, business leader, public servant, and leader in government at a historic moment in American history. When Valerie Jarrett interviewed a promising young lawyer named Michelle Robinson in July 1991 for a job in Chicago city government, neither knew that it was the first step on a path that would end in the White House. Jarrett soon became Michelle and Barack Obama's trusted personal adviser and family confidante; in the White House, she was known as the one who "got" him and helped him engage his public life. Jarrett joined the White House team on January 20, 2009 and departed with the First Family on January 20, 2017, and she was in the room--in the Oval Office, on Air Force One, and everywhere else--when it all happened. No one has as intimate a view of the Obama Years, nor one that reaches back as many decades, as Jarrett shares in Finding My Voice. Born in Iran (where her father, a doctor, sought a better job than he could find in segregated America), Jarrett grew up in Chicago in the 60s as racial and gender barriers were being challenged. A single mother stagnating in corporate law, she found her voice in Harold Washington's historic administration, where she began a remarkable journey, ultimately becoming one of the most visible and influential African-American women of the twenty-first century. From her work ensuring equality for women and girls, advancing civil rights, reforming our criminal justice system, and improving the lives of working families, to the real stories behind some of the most stirring moments of the Obama presidency, Jarrett shares her forthright, optimistic perspective on the importance of leadership and the responsibilities of citizenship in the twenty-first century, inspiring readers to lift their own voices.
After moving to an affluent suburb of Denver in 1975, ninth-grader Tiphanie, the only Black girl in her new high school, feels out of place until she befriends another outsider--Jackie Sue, whose "trailer trash" home life makes Tiphanie's problems seem like a walk in the park. In October 1975, while most teens are worried about their Happy Days Halloween costumes, Tiphanie Jayne Baker has bigger problems. Her parents have just decided to uproot the family to the ritzy suburb of Brent Hills, Colorado, and now she's the only Black girl at a high school full of Barbies. But the longer Tiphanie stays in her new neighborhood, the more her ties to her old community start to fray. Now that nowhere feels like home, exactly where does she belong?
For the Class of 2002 comes a smart and edgy collection of words to the wise from Spalding Gray, Fay Weldon, Tom Robbins, and dozens more of the most creative and visionary people on the planet. 50 photos throughout.
Did you ever wonder about the enslaved people in your ancestry? Have you asked the oldest living relative what they remember? Do you know what to do next? I was able to find my second great grandfather, Beverly Vance (1832-1899), in 1880 and 1870 on the census along with his mother, his wife, and his children. Have you located your formerly enslaved ancestor in the 1880 and 1870 censuses? This book, entitled My Best Genealogy Tips: Finding Formerly Enslaved Ancestors, will lead to discovering ancestors who had been enslaved. My move to South Carolina When I first moved to South Carolina in 2005, I no longer had to research my ancestors from afar. I lived in the same town as the South Carolina Department of Archives and History. I went regularly to Richland Library where I learned about my family in Richland County, and I identified Abbeville County as the place where they were enslaved. After going through and documenting everything I had, I reached out to the community where Beverly was enslaved in Abbeville County, South Carolina. Originally, I was puzzled because I could not find them in 1880. Greenwood County was redistricted in 1897. They did not move, but Greenwood County did not exist before 1897. It was Abbeville County, SC before 1897. Digging a little deeper I moved to Greenwood County, SC and spent two years trying to uncover what I could. The research included in this book is for those of you who would like to take my examples and use them to find burials for those who were formerly enslaved. I documented formerly enslaved ancestors and worked with the descendants of enslavers to discover what they knew. I did not take the advice given to me by other people while I was researching. It is so important to have a clear head when you are looking for family. I was told that I would not be able to document my ancestors before 1870. I was told that I would not find them married after enslavement. I was told that I did not need to search for them on land deeds or even in newspapers. These are the things that I was told. Let me say that if I had entertained any of what I was told, I would not have had the findings presented in this book. I did not listen, and I have found all but one of my ancestors married after enslavement. So, just remember when you have become a little down because you have made that overwhelming discovery and grandma just does not want to talk or people with the best intentions give the wrong advice. For these reasons, I have a habit of visiting courthouses, libraries, historical societies, and archives to see their resources in-person after I have exhausted researching online. Even with all that has been put online, I notice parts of collections. All the original documentation is kept at the repository. Do not get me wrong though. Databases such as familysearch.org and Ancestry.com are vital. FamilySearch Books, WorldCat.org, Internet Archive, and Amazon.com are places I have found my ancestors. Louisiana In 2016, Ellis and I went on an adventure to discover more about his family in Louisiana. We started out in New Orleans and discovered his Grandmother Louise’s parents after searching among the clerk of court records in East Feliciano Parish. Alabama Ellis and I also visited the Jefferson County, Alabama where Ellis found a plat map which showed his grandparents' property. Mississippi and North Carolina I will share my recent findings with you. They are a much harder group of people to research involving Buck Nelms (B. 1830) and his family from Mississippi and North Carolina back to 1841. For me oral history has played an integral part in my finding documentation. I have gathered many examples of historical records that you will want to know about so that you too can find your formerly enslaved ancestor.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER With her popular blog, Finding Cooper's Voice, Kate Swenson has provided hope and comfort for hundreds of thousands of parents of children with Autism. Now, Kate shares her inspiring story in this powerful memoir about motherhood and unconditional love When Kate Swenson’s son Cooper was diagnosed with severe, nonverbal autism, her world stopped. She had always dreamed of having the perfect family life. She hadn’t signed up for life as a mother raising a child with a disability. At first, Kate experienced the grief of broken dreams. Then she felt the frustration and exhaustion of having to fight for your child in a world that is stacked against them. But through hard work, resilience and personal growth, she would come to learn that Cooper wasn’t the one who needed to change. She was. And it was this transformation that led Kate to acceptance—and ultimately joy. In Forever Boy, Kate shares her inspiring journey with honesty and compassion, offering solace and hope to others on this path and illuminating the strength and perseverance of mothers.
Fighting midlife inertia, Sherry Stanfa-Stanley chose to stare down fear through The 52/52 Project: a year of weekly new experiences designed to push her far outside her comfort zone. These ranged from visiting a nude beach with her seventy-five-year-old mother in tow to taking a road trip with her ex-husband—and then another one with his girlfriend. She also went on a raid with a vice squad and SWAT team, exfoliated a rhinoceros (inadvertently giving him an erection), and crashed a wedding (where she accidentally caught the bouquet). While finding her courage in the most unlikely of circumstances, Sherry ultimately found herself. For midlifers, fatigued parents, and anyone who may be discontent with their life and looking to shake things up, try new things, or just escape, Finding My Badass Self is proof it's never too late to reinvent yourself—and that the best bucket list of all may be an unbucket list.
OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A roadmap on the journey to truth and authenticity… [The Way of Integrity] is filled with aha moments and practical exercises that can guide us as we seek enlightenment.” –Oprah Winfrey Bestselling author, life coach, and sociologist Martha Beck explains why “integrity”—needed now more than ever in these tumultuous times—is the key to a meaningful and joyful life As Martha Beck says in her book, “Integrity is the cure for psychological suffering. Period.” In The Way of Integrity, Beck presents a four-stage process that anyone can use to find integrity, and with it, a sense of purpose, emotional healing, and a life free of mental suffering. Much of what plagues us—people pleasing, staying in stale relationships, negative habits—all point to what happens when we are out of touch with what truly makes us feel whole. Inspired by The Divine Comedy, Beck uses Dante’s classic hero’s journey as a framework to break down the process of attaining personal integrity into small, manageable steps. She shows how to read our internal signals that lead us towards our true path, and to recognize what we actually yearn for versus what our culture sells us. With techniques tested on hundreds of her clients, Beck brings her expertise as a social scientist, life coach and human being to help readers to uncover what integrity looks like in their own lives. She takes us on a spiritual adventure that not only will change the direction of our lives, but also bring us to a place of genuine happiness.
From one of contemporary literature’s bestselling, critically acclaimed, and beloved authors: a “luminous” novel (Jennifer Egan, The New York Times Book Review) about a fiercely compelling young widow navigating grief, fear, and longing, and finding her own voice—“heartrendingly transcendant” (The New York Times, Janet Maslin). Set in Wexford, Ireland, Colm Tóibín’s magnificent seventh novel introduces the formidable, memorable, and deeply moving Nora Webster. Widowed at forty, with four children and not enough money, Nora has lost the love of her life, Maurice, the man who rescued her from the stifling world to which she was born. And now she fears she may be sucked back into it. Wounded, selfish, strong-willed, clinging to secrecy in a tiny community where everyone knows your business, Nora is drowning in her own sorrow and blind to the suffering of her young sons, who have lost their father. Yet she has moments of stunning insight and empathy, and when she begins to sing again, after decades, she finds solace, engagement, a haven—herself. Nora Webster “may actually be a perfect work of fiction” (Los Angeles Times), by a “beautiful and daring” writer (The New York Times Book Review) at the zenith of his career, able to “sneak up on readers and capture their imaginations” (USA TODAY). “Miraculous...Tóibín portrays Nora with tremendous sympathy and understanding” (Ron Charles, The Washington Post).
Embark on an awkwardly awesome and imperfect journey with your guide, Jason Freeman, as he endeavors to uncover life's most elusive qualities: success and satisfaction. Eager to enter the world, Jason's umbilical cord became kinked like a garden hose. He lost a bit of oxygen, gifting him with a pronounced speech impediment and coordination awkwardness, a fitting introduction into the imperfect nature of life. Jason promptly ignored this wisdom, and tried for stressful decades to attain perfection. For many years, he assumed his quest was a solitary one, until eventually discovering that perfectionism has a way of plaguing most of us. Like many people, Jason had perfect dreams but on too many occasions found himself sitting on the sidelines of life. Out of misery and desperation, he discovered, and began to implement something that would become key to his success and satisfaction, a simple game-changing concept: 'Doing your Imperfect Best.' Today, Jason does what eight years ago he thought was impossible for him: yoga, owning his own business, speaking to audiences across the country and, now, authoring a book. In 'Awkwardly Awesome - Embracing My Imperfect Best', Jason takes you along on his journey of obstacles, frustrations and epiphanies leading to the powerful Imperfect Best Concept. Part memoir, part self-help guide, the narrative pauses on occasion, asking you, the reader, direct questions relevant to your own life as it introduces concepts intended to transform your journey.
