African-American-Health Books

Author Vicki L. Calton offers insightful tips and wisdom for African-American women in her book You Can Be All That!: A Guide to Beauty and Success. Beneficial for women of all ages, this book is an excellent resource that provides insight on how to carry yourself in a manner that is both positive and uplifting.

Focusing on a variety of topics, Ms. Calton shares tips on beauty, self-esteem, and relationships, issues that are encountered in today's world. From beginning to end, she shares these tips with a style and grace that makes you feel as if she's speaking directly to you. Ms. Calton challenges you through this book to apply the skills at hand and if used, many positive changes will result.

While I would have loved to seen additional insight from other women, overall Ms. Calton has provided an excellent and positive resource for African-American women of all ages and backgrounds. As a young woman pursuing her education and working in the professional field, this is one resource that I will definitely refer to for many years to come.

Reviewed by Kanika (Nika) Wade

You Can Be All That is a wonderful resource, full of information for African-American women seeking to brush up on etiquette and polish their professional image. Ms. Calton's conversational tone makes it easy for anyone to follow her practical suggestions for success. The tips and techniques in this book are great to share with young ladies just entering the world of work. Thanks, Ms. Calton.

I greatly enjoyed the book. As a corporate professional working in the HR field, I strongly recommend this book to young woman entering the workforce. It contains tips and techniques that women of all ages can benefit from.

Andrea King Collier and Willarda V. Edwards, MD have written a book that can benefit every single woman who cares about the men in her life. The book may be entitled The Black Woman's Guide to Black Men's Health, yet, it is "every man's" book and guide.

Chock full of health information, I was interested in learning about my own health as well as my husband's. I found this book to be an ideal source of information.

The beginning chapters cover simple basic facts that can aid in determining what can affect a Black man's health. You can learn how to detect when something is happening to the men in your life and assist in helping before the situation gets out of hand. The authors advise that we as women obtain all information possible in terms of health care. I learned that communication is everything when it comes to finding out exactly how our men feel. Collier and Edwards talk about how to target the right doctor as well as the right insurance coverage.

The later chapters discuss the major issues affecting the health of our men. The authors discuss the effects of cancer, obesity, HIV/AIDS and other major illnesses. Because Type 1 Diabetes is an illness that affects my own family, I was very interested in the information. The authors explain what diabetes is, the system, the types and the treatment.

This is a book that crosses every creed, color and cultural line. But, this book is desperately needed in the Black community because we are so affected by lack of understanding regarding health care issues. These authors have taken a bold and much-needed stand.

Armchair Interviews says: Collier and Edwards have written a guide to help women guide their men to better health and in effect, a longer and more fulfilling life.

I thought this book was very well written and easy to understand. The recommendations are attainable and free! It demonstrates that nothing more than love and communication are needed to support your loved one in maintaining, or obtaining the necessary medical attention for, a healthy life. This book will help not only black men and their families, but men and families of all ethnicities. I know the cover and pages of my book will become bent and torn as I use it over and over as a personal resource for health issues. Thank you, Andrea and Willarda.

If you are a fan of the Chicken soup books, You'll love Black-eyed peas for the soul, a collection of inspirationl, and stories of hope from african americans of every wake of life.

This unique book carries the reader into many worlds through the experiences of the writers. A reader is inspired by stories of faithfulness in varied relationships. Lessons about the kind of persistence that leads to life altering achievement are included from unexpected authors like George Washington Carver. It is good to read perspectives from African-Americans from many different disciplies and philosophies. I don't think we have heard enough about the presence of this book in the literary world. My suggeston to everyone is read it and improve the quality of your life. BLACK-EYED PEAS FOR THE SOUL IS A TREASURE.

The Dilemma's of Being an African American Male in the New Millennium: Solutions for Life Transformation is a very timely work. The plight of the Black Male in America has reached a crisis state. Recently, other works have emerged to deal with this issue such asThe Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life by Kevin Powell and State of Emergency: We Must Save African American Males by Jawanza Kunjufu.

In Dilemma's Chance Lewis and Kris Erskine enumerate the six dilemmas that they deem the most important to solving the issue of the Black Male crisis. The book is divided into two parts. The first part is the issues and the second part is the solutions. The issues listed are: vertical relationship with God, horizontal relationship with family, educational attainment, unemployment and underemployment, substance abuse, and economics.

The book does a great job pointing out and illustrating the ills facing the African American male. Although this is not new ground, this same information can be found in the works of many other scholars such as Jawanza Kunjufu, Naim Akbar, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Janice Hale and others. What I really enjoyed about this section was that it was written for easy reading. One does not need a doctorate in education to understand what the authors are trying to convey in this section. The first section of the book also makes good use of charts to reinforce the seriousness of the issues Black Men are facing.

In the second part of the book where we are given the solutions to the issues outlined in the first section I think the best information resides in chapter 9. Chapter 9 is entitled Improving the Academic Achievement for the African American Male. From my perspective, this is the answer to all of the other questions posed in the book. My only issue with chapter 9 is that I would like to have seen more mention of technology integration beyond a bullet item on a list. I spoke with Dr. Lewis about this on http://wwww.diopanddupeshow.com and he explained why he wrote the chapter that way. You can listen to this interview on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/kaidupe

African American males are indeed in need of solutions for life transformation. This book is an easy read and one that anyone who cares about African American males and their success should add to their library.

Dupé

This is a great book, a must read! This book provides a clear articulation of many of the dilemmas that African American males face. More importantly, this book provides relevant solutions for parents, community members, wives, mothers, educators and many others to assist African American males to overcome these dilemmas and rebuild their communities.

This is hit book. It is both imaginative and fun. I would readit more than once. i fav character is genma. She is fat. gets theworms,.

Story of a family's attempt to encourage baby Gemma to eat. Problem is finally solved by an enterprising older brother who disguises fruit to look like a lady's hat. Entertaining story, beautiful art, although I was struck by fact that story showed no racial diversity in the family's black neighborhood and church. Story should easily hold interest of preschoolers, and younger.

I like this book, from what I could understand, but I recommend that you have atleast a minimal scientific background to get the full picture! It's not too confusting without one because the message is clear that we are different, but for the scientific terms, you might get a little thrown off. The message is clear!

MELONOS.... was the term used by ancient non racist white folks called greeks to indicate how black these africans in egypt were. also these same greeks called the male black the negro and the female negress which also means black. MELANIN IN THE MEDICAL FIELD IS THE COLOR FOR BLACK. the end of the world is here. all whites are now getting a chance to see that black is really important. melanin is a life saver. white people who hate blacks, i wonder how they feel when they have to take a black pill. instead of burning your skin they can take a black pill now for protection.i regard the sun as the light. the only people who are scared of the light are whites. they are the only ones who really need protection from something that gives life. with out the light there is no life. in this book that was written years ago the author said that whites will manufacture melanin pills. guess what. in europe they are manufacturing melanin pills. i love my black skin i love my melanin and maybe thats why we are so much more graceful than all others. maybe melanin is the reason why blacks are the most immitated of all human beings on this planet. every day i see more and more whites immitating culture that is not theirs especially black culture. its not the culture they want they want your souls, they want your melanin.....

whites are the only and first ones to make a color issue. so it was up to scientists like this one and many more to seek the truth and findings in a book like this does tell a good story and yes we are different but the white man seems to think he is better. white skin people are the minority of the earth this book will let you know. melanin is only in the eyes and hair of whites. melanin is allthroughout black and brown bodies. so when they use the cave man theory to say whites came first thats a lie. whites are the minority of the earth and could not of produced more black or browns than themselves. MELANIN GET THIS BOOK. i hope you liked my review.

This is a fantastic book but I am worried that it renders black gay men invisible once again.

According to the CDC's own statistics, the number one transmission for AIDS in black America is through unprotected sex between men. Still, Levenson focuses on the stories of (straight) black female PWAs rather than gay black male PWAs. He goes into detail about white gay organizations fighting with black (probably straight) organizations over funding. Never once does he describe which type of non-profit would be mostly likely to effectively assist gay black men. Levenson intimates that white gay men contract AIDS mostly through gay sex, but black Americans contract it mostly through drug use. Again, this is not true: statisticians have proven this fact again and again. The author shows his deep empathy for the struggles of HIV-positive, rural, black women, but he says nothing on HIV-positive, rural, black, gay men. Levenson, even unpurposely, implies that, "All the gays are white and all the blacks are straight." Black gay men are tokenized here and this book tacitly continues the fallacy that a person can only belong to one oppressed group.

In his defense, I wonder if Levenson takes the spotlight off of gay black men because this group has already spoken about their struggles with HIV so effectively. (Examples include "Tongues Untied," "Brother to Brother," Essex Hemphill's essays, E. Lynn Harris' first novels, etc.) J.L. King brought national attention to black men "on the down low." However, black gay leader Keith Boykin has attacked King's presentation as flawed and dangerous. So maybe Levenson didn't "even want to go there." Levenson has lived in New York City and the Bay Area; he cannot possibly say he could not get contact with HIV-positive black gay men to tell their stories.

I wonder if Levenson felt that not enough has been written on black women and AIDS and thus he wanted to carve his own niche. Black women do have higher rates of education and work in the social services at higher rates than black men. Thus, perhaps he focused on women because they will be more likely to read and spread the word on his text. Like everyone, I am concerned how HIV transmission keeps jumping among black women. Still, the reality is that the majority of HIV-positive blacks in the United States are male. In fact, no HIV-positive, straight, black man is covered in this book.

This book is highly readable. Levenson takes scientific jargon and public policy squabbles and makes them comprehensible to the average person. His style must be highly influenced by Randy Shilts. Though I love me some Keith Boykin, his "Beyond the Down Low" took forever to read whereas Levenson's book is an undifficult page turner. His mastery of journalism, narrative, and academic research shines through as he blends these genres together wonderfully. For those who love hearing conspiracies theories aimed against black America, this book is full of such ideas!

Like Shilts' "And the Band Played On," Levenson discusses the battles that take place behind closed doors. While Shilts covered the non-racialized (read: white) aspects of AIDS, here, Levenson spells out how activists and some scientists have from the beginnings asked, "And what about people of color?!" Levenson is considerate and fair-minded when covering sides of debates. For example, he makes it understandable why San Franciscans wanted to horde funds when the numbers showed that AIDS was spreading nationally. He makes Congressional Black Caucus members sound sincere, even as others have condemned them for being slow to take action. I actually do think he gave scant attention to the failure in black churches and black national organizations, But again, maybe he felt that Cathy Cohen had already covered that angle well in "The Boundaries of Blackness."

Though Magic Johnson is mentioned once, there is much about blacks and AIDS that I felt he left out. He says little about AIDS' origins in Africa. He says nothing about Gaetan Duclas' (aka "Patient Zero") contacting AIDS while having sex in Africa. He never mentions Haitians. He says nothing about the AIDS-related death of the supposedly heterosexual black newscaster Max Robinson. This was not a chronology of Black American AIDS; it was more a series of controversial matters and real-life narratives on this topic.

The book says little about current arguments over the slicing of the AIDS pie. For example, has AIDS in Africa overshadowed Black American AIDS? Have new statistics stating that young gay men are not protecting themselves made AIDS seem more related to gays again? This is not a comprehensive book, but it is provocative and does shed light on important matters. All public policy majors and workers in public health departments should read this book.

I loved this book despite its major flaw.

This is an exceptionally well written, well researched look into not only AIDS and black America, but into some of the darker corners of American life itself. Levenson writes with clarity and empathy while answering the tough questions that until now, only a few have known how to ask. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone interested in our society, the spread of AIDS and how black America got left holding the bag.

i initially bought this book for my husband, but i ended up reading it instead. i couldn't put this book down.

Many psychologists recommend that if one is truly attempting to heal deep wounds of emotional frustration, exhaustion and depletion the mind has to change focus. At the root of that catalytic change must be an ability to properly access what went wrong and a commitment to truly be honest and call a spade a spade. In his latest literary offering, Walking Proud: Black men living beyond the stereotypes, medical doctor George Edmond Smith performs a much needed truth-telling session about black male sexuality in an effort to heal old cultural wounds that are infecting the black family. Dr. Smith takes a fresh and frank comprehensive approach to explore the attitudes and issues associated with black male sexuality. Smith identifies the impact stereotypes and cultural influences have had in blocking many black men and women from having fruitful relationships and happy home lives. The 12 chapter-256 page book discusses how Black men view themselves as family members and romantic partners. Walking proud delivers powerful advice on how societal stereotypes sabotage relationships, how to change hurtful behavior as Dr. Smith examines what anger and abuse mean in sexual relationships. Practical tools on how to develop intimate communication skills, in addition to how to deal with sexual problems like impotence and other sexual dysfunction are also discussed. Not one to talk about black men in a vacuum, Dr. Smith incorporates female insight into Walking Proud to reveal what black women expect from black men and what black men need from their women and even touches on the controversial subject of homosexuality....With a forward by Essence columnist and psychologist Gwendolyn Goldsby Grant, Walking Proud attempts to preserve a paternal model needed in the black community and seeks to make it a norm rather than an exception.

The book is interesting to say the least. I can hardly believe that someone would actual use this book for their children, but as a college student my friends and I, we enjoyed it immensely! Very entertaining!

It arrived before scheduled and was nicely taken care of! I recommend it!

I bought this book to read to my 6 year old. After receiving it and reading it I realized its a bit strong. This book goes into detail about the actual act of intercourse and what happens. A more immature perspective on it rather than just the facts. It gives a poor description at that. I am not one that shys away from talking about this subject with my children, and this book gives a poor decription of it all. I would rather give my kids the facts and a more christian background and explanation on birds and the bees. I did read some of this to my oldest daughter and I had to fill in where the book is lacking and skip certain things so I could better explain them.
Very Disappointed and do not understand why this book has been around for 30+ years.

I got this book because I feel sex education is very important. I was raised by a Labor & Delivery room nurse and a reproductive biologist set of parents. We had very scientific and meaningful discussions about all topics relating to love and reproduction. I was appalled with the humorous implication of sex in this book. We came from sperm? "this sticky stuff is how you and I and all of us started" What about the preparation of the the egg? And the combinations of DNA? An orgasm feels like a sneeze? What are we kidding? Now kids will never think of sneezing the same. And anyway, if that is how others' orgasms feel... so sad for you! And a woman's orgasm does not originate from the vagina. All the boys -and girls for that matter- who read the book will forever be confused! Why do kids need to have the feeling of an orgasm explained anyway? I appreciate the attitude of frankness in the book; However, I think it is blatantly written by a man (our poor daughters) and leaves out the amazing science of reproduction. I will continue my search for a book with better content.

I checked this book out in a local bookstore, and I have to say, I was pretty disappointed in it. I didn't like the overall "masculinity" of the book as a whole. They give names to female anatomy that I don't think are conducive to a child's learning of the physiology of humans, and yet the male parts are given straight forward names. Why do the female ones get slang words instead?

I wasn't happy with the effort put into describing all aspects of sex. Why do children need to know exactly what it feels like, what it looks like, etc? Really, shouldn't they just learn that it's an expression of love and they'll learn the rest soon enough? Don't children have enough on their plates as it is without them having to deal with graphic sexuality at such young ages?

I truly feel the best way to talk to your child about sex is to do just that, talk to them. Don't just go buy some book and hand it to them and expect that to work.

I gave this book two stars instead of one because it won't hurt the child if he/she reads it. But it's definitely not what I had in mind for the first conversation with my 8-year-old daughter about how babies are made, and I'm glad I looked at it at the store before committing.

Problem number 1 is that there is too much emphasis on the description of the sexual intercourse and feelings during it. For this age, I would prefer something focused on reproduction and anatomy. The whole book is just a dozen pages, and this part takes up three or four of them! The description is cheesy, silly and just doesn't do the deed any justice ('wiggling' and 'tickling' are the typical words).

Problem number 2 is, as mentioned by other reviewers, that it's very male-centric. There is nothing about where the egg comes from, nor a picture of it. When the anatomical differences are discussed, it simply says boys have a penis and girls don't, end of discussion, and not what girls do have.

Problem number 3 is that the font is too large with small spacing, so I found it hard to read. And I didn't fancy the pictures much.

I also find it kind of distasteful that there is a whole page in the beginning talking about what an embarrassing subject this is and how difficult it is to talk about it. Maybe if sex education books didn't start with warnings like that and dealt with the matter in an age-appropriate manner, it would be much easier.

After reading the reviews i got excited and ordered this book, There is no substance in this book. Just kept going on about hair drama growing up, rambling on about nothing. Most of the information that she gave is in the black hair magazines from decades ago. Save your money there is seriously nothing new and just about hair drama.
Very disappointed!

Bonner's book was where I started on the journey to a more natural style. She's got some great suggestions as far as how to detangle, what kinds of products to use, and fun styles for texturized hair. TEXTURIZED: find a different guide if you intend to go all natural. A virtue of Good Hair that I really appreciated were the anecdotes that I can relate to as a young woman who left home and left 18 years of braids - which my mama maintained - behind and had no idea how to care for my hair. I needed to hear that the hair God gave me will be beautiful if I'll respect it and to see beautiful examples of African hair AND have someone tell me how to make those looks happen. So she's a proponent of texturing which isn't 100% natural. The woman has some good kitchen table advice for those of us who are embarking on the journey to beautiful balck hair.

Before reading this book, I felt that I could only wear my hair in two ways: permed and broken. Mrs. Brittenum Bonner shows you how to wear your hair naturally without sacrificing beauty and style. I've wet set my hair now using braids and twists, and come close to the pictures she has in her book--although at one point, my Zorro style looked nothing like hers or how it was supposed to (I discovered then that I needed to make my sections smaller if I wanted the hair to curl at all, much less look similar to the picture).

But aside from being an instruction manual, her anecdotes were what kept me reading the book. She is a natural-born comedienne, drawing on the experiences we all have as not only black women, but as women, period.

Lonnice is an excellent writer. The book is funny and down to earth while being honest and straight forward. Lonnice kept me laughing with stories from her own experiences from the straightening comb to the jheri curl. She provides tips on shampooing, conditioning, as well as daily maintenance. I would have liked to have seen newer twist styles but you can buy "Let's Talk Hair" by Pamela Ferrell or "Texured Tresses" by Diane Da Costa, which are both great for that.

This is great book for starters. Even though she advocates texturizers, it is a good alternative. I recommend it to anyone considering wearing their hair in its natural texture. THe styles and car instruction that she recommends can be done on texturized and natural hair so the texturizers is not really a big deal.

Great starter book!!