Twenty-five years ago, an activist and scholar named Mike Davis wrote Magical Urbanism: Latinos Reinvent the US City. It is a short book, packed with numbers, statistics and trends. Davis, who would pen many books and articles from a working class perspective throughout a lengthy career, makes a compelling case that American cities were and…
Category: Reviews
Reviews of books, articles, and the like
Think Clearly or Else!
Decision making for pilots is extraordinarily high-stakes, especially for those who fly in the military. Many of their choices in the cockpit provide little or no time for consideration. Fighter pilots make untold decisions each and every flight. They have to get it right or they may never fly again. The consequences of a poor…
No Quick Fixes: Black and White School
Dr. Cynthia Waszak Geary and Dr. LaHoma Smith Romocki, alumnae of Hillside High School, Durham, North Carolina, have done something very unusual: collaborated on a book about their experiences decades ago as Black and White high school students during a period of court ordered desegregation. In different classes and coming from different neighborhoods, Cindy and…
Poverty: Mission Matters
Education is the central mission of higher education. It’s what we do – our core function. It is far, though, from all that we do or have to do. For those of us who work in public education, in particularly in community colleges, the pursuit of mission depends in great part on the well-being of…
Migrant Workers Rights
Dedicated to “all low-wage undocumented workers,” Scaling Migrant Worker Rights: How Advocates Collaborate and Contest State Power is special kind of academic book. It spans disciplines and is equally strong in theory and data informed by direct research. Clearly written, the book shines a light on an extremely complex economic, political, and social issue: Mexican…
Left In, Left Out
Is higher education a cause, a consequence, a public or private good, a problem or a solution? Depends, I suppose, on the axe one is keen to sharpen. Increasingly I am finding discussions about higher education to sound like arguments about health care. It’s great if you’re wealthy, OK if you have some money and…
Leadership Lessons From the Navy
Imagine leadership in the military in your mind’s eye. I would wager that most of us would come up with the many of the same images of stoic heroism, courage under fire, sacrifice, valor and loyalty. Can’t you picture the soldier staring off into the distance, probably alone, with a look of resolve? Gritted teeth…