Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1429567 in Books
• Published on: 2004-01-01
• Released on: 2004-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 334 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In books on race relations, quotidian documentary accounts often take a backseat to flashpoint polemics. But no struggle can be explained without the daily lives of the participants, and journalist Ross (The Diving Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities) gathers 35 profiles of black women and men from around the globe (notably the U.S., U.K., Ghana and Brazil). They run from the famous (Nikki Giovanni, members of Parliament) to the anonymously noble (a teacher in Rio), with the occasional soccer player and porn actor in-between. There's a real pleasure in hearing all the different voices, though they seem edited for consistency and risk running together. Finally, despite the book's lack of scholarly pretense, there's much to be learned from its traveling, open-eyed method.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ross, author of The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities (2000), traveled nearly 150,000 miles for 14 months to capture the day-to-day varied experiences of Africans in the diaspora, including the U.S., Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe. The result is a startlingly diverse collection of interviews and reports on life for black folks: poet Nikki Giovanni, author E. Lynn Harris, former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell, a black member of the British Parliament, an editor at Essence magazine, a car designer in Detroit. Ross includes journal entries from a single mother and full-time college student in Charlotte, North Carolina, raps and rhymes from a coffeehouse in London, and the ponderings of an Arizona State coach about basketball as a metaphor for life. A fascinating look at the variety of experiences, lifestyles, perspectives, and sensibilities of black folks worldwide. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"A fascinating look at the variety of experiences, lifestyles, perspectives, and sensibilities of black folks worldwide."

Customer Reviews

Personal Black experience in global perspective
This is must reading for black people seeking a global perspective on the daily life of black people. The author's unique storytelling abilty and writing style provides interesting, relaxed, reading based on first-hand observations and conversations with black folks in today's world.

Say It Loud
Lawrence Ross traveled the countries of the African Diaspora to compile the profiles that are featured in THE WAYS OF BLACK FOLKS. The stories seek to show that the people of the Diaspora may be in the different locales however they are very similar in their ideologies. Each story, a day in the featured person's life, is a compelling look into people from a sundry of backgrounds and experiences. The book opens with a stark look into the final moments of a condemned woman awaiting her execution. THE WAYS OF BLACK FOLKS contains narratives about poet Nikki Giovanni, radio DJ Frank Ski and the former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell.

Ross has assembled a book that celebrates our uniqueness as an African people. Although we may be separated by geographical backgrounds; we share a unique voice that is heard worldwide. A reader interested in African studies or those wanting to know more about people of African Diaspora will enjoy this book.

Reviewed by Robilyn Heath...

Learning who we are through others
The Divine Nine introduced the reader to different fraternal organization and from that book, the author gave birth to The Way of Black Folks, which in essence is a journey of the African American connections.

Lawrence C. Ross Jr. explores what our links are and whether it is our social status; income or birthplace. I feel truly blessed that Mr. Ross feels passionate about African Americans that he has put it on paper for all to read. For fourteen months the author traveled all over gathering, interviewing and collecting stories from ordinary people with everyday lives.

Chapter after chapter The Ways of Black Folks offer invaluable information that anyone can identify with. I found my story in the women who believes that she is not connected to the continent of Africa.It was not until I began learning my history that I realized I am apart of the continent and proud of it. I have to smile now at my ignorance, what is that old saying "Ignorance is Bliss." Under the chapter title, the geography of where the interviewee is from is listed along with a quote.

The Ways of Black Folks, A Year in the Life of a People, was a very informative read. It is my hope that many of our people read this book and try to find their own link in someones story. Lawrence C. Ross, pops in and out of the stories but never monopolizes, he is just there to clarify or give additional insight. I am happy I was afforded the opportunity to borrow this book and review it.

Missy
APOOO Bookclub