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Biography and Memoir February 2019
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Trailblazer : a pioneering journalist's fight to make the media look more like America
by Dorothy Butler Gilliam
*Starred Review* Southern-born daughter of a preacher Gilliam arrived at the Washington Post in 1961, the first black reporter on the staff of one of the nation’s most influential daily newspapers. She covered a racially segregated Washington, D.C., from a newsroom that wasn’t friendly toward the idea of integration. Gilliam got her start with smaller black newspapers in the South and covered the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. For the Post, she covered James Meredith’s integration of Ole Miss and interviewed Medgar Evers eight months before his assassination. But Gilliam faced as many challenges in D.C., both at the Post and in the changing culture of “Chocolate City” as she chronicled the social scene of black Washington as editor of the Post’s style section. Gilliam also details her own self-awakening and broadening sense of what might be available to her as a reporter and a black woman during this time of social transformation. In her compelling memoir, she recounts her trailblazing career during the turbulence of the Vietnam War, the civil rights and women’s movements, and Watergate and looks beyond her personal journey to examine efforts to diversify the staffs of news organizations and other challenges currently facing the press. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.
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| The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala HarrisWhat it is: a candid and inspiring memoir from California Democratic Senator Kamala Harris, who recently announced her 2020 presidential run.
Topics include: Harris' immigrant parents and her Oakland upbringing; her tenure as the District Attorney for San Francisco and the Attorney General of California.
Who it's for: readers interested in Harris' solutions to tackling some of the most divisive issues in American politics, including immigration, national security, income inequality, and the opioid crisis. |
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| Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by Stephanie LandWhat it's about: Single mom Stephanie Land struggles to make a living as a housecleaner and dreams of attending college to become a writer.
Is it for you? Though it does not speak to the impact of poverty on marginalized communities, Land's memoir is intimate and affecting.
Reviewers say: "An important memoir that should be required reading for anyone who has never struggled with poverty" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani ShapiroWhat it's about: After submitting her DNA for analysis on a whim, Dani Shapiro discovered that her long-deceased dad was not her biological father. Grappling with the consequences of this shocking family secret, she set out to uncover the true story of her parentage.
Book buzz: Jennifer Egan (A Visit from the Goon Squad) calls Inheritance "a gripping genetic detective story;" Julie Buntin (Marlena) says it's a "read-in-one-sitting kind of memoir." |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Harford County Public Library
1221-A Brass Mill Rd Belcamp, Maryland 21017 410-273-5600 hcplonline.org
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