Desegregation in Boston and Buffalo examines how the citizens and the political leadership of the two cities dealt with controversial court orders to end the segregation of public schools. Although the cities shared many similarities, they witnessed very dissimilar outcomes. Taylor covers key factors such as inter-ethnic relations and the struggle of various ethnic groups for political empowerment, and focuses on the political development of African American communities in urban environments and the role of Black elected leadership in helping to diffuse potentially volatile situations.

This book is a detailed study on the ascetic forest monk tradition in the Lao-speaking provinces of northeastern Thailand in the wake of the early twentieth century politico-religious reforms. The narrative alternates between the periphery and the capital, dealing with historic transformations and persistencies in the social field of wandering forest monks as well as the contemporary impact of this monastic tradition in the wider social and political milieu. The writer uses original ethnographic materials and provides a rare insight into the formation of monastic lineages and the local politico-religious histories of present-day northeastern Thailand.

This book delves into democratic deficiencies in the United States federal government, especially those that disenfranchise minority communities. It highlights key contemporary and persistent challenges to American democracy, examines them in their historical context, and proposes reforms to remedy them. It will serve as unique secondary text for US government & politics, African American racial & ethnic politics, and public policy courses.

Before there was Islam, there was Alexander. Before there was Christianity, there was Alexander. This is the story of Alexander the Great's invasion of the Middle East and of his astonishing effort to unite the civilized world under a central government designed to promote peace and international trade. This is the story of one man's courageous determination to advance freedom of religion and racial equality in Egypt, Mesopotamia [Iraq today], Asia Minor [Turkey], Persia [Iran], and Bactria [Afghanistan]. Why let Bucehpalus, or Oxhead (the horse Alexander rode during the ten years of the conquest) tell this story? Because by using the famous stallion (or Bullheaded Black, as I call him) as the narrator, it allows me to cut the story to the bone, to cover the main facts of Alexander's life, but also to inject a little common sense, or horse sense, if you will, about the major influences upon Alexander's ideas and motivations: the obvious influence, for example, of his father and mother, and the less obvious influence of Aristotle, who was his personal tutor for three or four years when Alexander was a teenager. This is a basic story: basic biography, basic world history, and basic geography. This is also the story of Alexander's idea for a better world. His dream perished with him in Babylon, when he unexpectedly died in 323BC at the tender age of 33. In fact, a comprehensive dream like his, incorporating religious freedom and racial equality, did not flower profusely again until 1776 in America, and did not shoot promising tendrils forward again in Iraq and Afghanistan until the United States of America's preemptive strikes in the 21st Century. What would Alexander say to us today about disputes over religion and the various gods of the world's great faiths? Read this book! You will be surprised!

Compares the political activities of African Americans who settled in Ghana in the 1950s and 1960s with those who settled in the 1980s to the present. After repeated coups and periods of military rule, Ghana is now one of Africa’s longest enduring democratic republics. Exiles, Entrepreneurs, and Educators compares the political proclivities of two generations of African Americans who moved to Ghana. Steven J. L. Taylor blends archival and ethnographic research, including interviews, to provide a unique perspective on these immigrants who chose to leave an economically developed country and settle in an impoverished developing country. The first generation consisted of voluntary exiles from the US who arrived from 1957 to 1966, during the regime of President Kwame Nkrumah, and embraced both Nkrumah and his left-leaning political party. In contrast to the first generation, many in the second generation left the US to establish commercial enterprises in Ghana. Although they identified with the Democratic Party while living in the US, and were politically active, they avoided political activity in Ghana and many identified with the Ghanaian party that is modeled after the Republican Party in the US. Taylor dispels some of the incorrect assumptions about African politics and provides readers with an insightful look at how developing nations can embark upon a path toward democratization. “This book is an exciting addition to existing scholarship about African American expatriates in Ghana.” — April Copes, Anne Arundel Community College

This publication explains what hydroponics is and provides information about it for the home gardener. Includes information on the two basic systems and the advantages/disadvantage of each, nutrient solution, nutrient deficiency/toxicity symptoms, macroelements, and microelements.