Books in brief

New Crisis, The, Sep/Oct 2002

Some of Us Did Not Die: New and Selected Essays of June Jordan, (Basic/Civitas Books, $26). Poet June Jordan passed away on June 14 (see page 13), but her voice and spirit "did not die." The UC Berkeley African American Studies professor completed this amazing collection of essays - which capture her hope, energy and outspoken resistance - on subjects including the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks shortly before her death.

The Portable Promised Land, by Toure (Little, Brown, $23.95). In this short story collection, Rolling Stone writer Toure takes a refreshing, humorous took at African American life in Soul City, a mythical metropolis he has populated with hyperbolic, stereotypical characters such as Huggy Bear Jackson, Right Revren' Daddy Love and Man Jackson's son - Nappy.

Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination, by Robin D. G. Kelley (Beacon Press, $24.00). Kelley, a professor of history and Africans studies at New York University (see page 14), focuses on "poetic knowledge" - the ability to imagine what isn't and use this "dream" to create a new reality. He examines the dreams of Paul Robeson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Malcolm X and Ida B. Wells, among others, who produced brilliant outcomes by taking imagination and action in new directions.

Bad Boy Brawly Brown, by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown, $24.95). After six long years, Easy Rawlins is back. This time the case involves an old buddy, John, who is worried about his stepson, Brawly Brown, associating with a political group whose community image he is convinced is a cover for more untoward activities.

African American Humor: The Best Black Comedy from Slavery to Today, edited by Mel Watkins, foreword by Dick Gregory (Lawrence Hill Books, $29.95). This comprehensive tome celebrates the sharp tongues and wry wit of Black folks over the past two centuries in tales, satire, poems, anecdotes, stand-up sketches and rhymes from Moms Mabley, Langston Hughes, Richard Pryor, Chester Himes and Chris Rock, among many others.