Showing results by narrator "Bennett Beresford" in All Categories

Neighborhood tensions reach a breaking point in the finale of New York Times best-selling author Mary Monroe's captivating series that sweeps listeners back to 1930's Alabama and into the lives of two neighboring couples whose deceitful friendships and imperfect marriages are just the beginning of their troubles...

Come meet a utopian assassin, an aging UFO contactee, a haunted Mohawk steelworker, a time-traveling prizefighter, a yam-eating zombie, and a child who loves a frizzled chicken - not to mention Harry Houdini, Zora Neale Hurston, and all their fellow travelers riding the steamer-trunk imagination of a unique 21st-century fabulist.

There once was a time when Black Americans up and down the socioeconomic ladder lived in and around the same neighborhoods. Part of this was a consequence of racially discriminatory federal, state, and city housing policies, such as exclusionary Federal Housing Authority practices and racially restrictive deeds and covenants, which prevented those who had the financial means from living anywhere else. Today, many of these neighborhoods are now centers of concentrated poverty.

Theatre journalist Eddie Shapiro sits down for intimate, career-encompassing conversations with 19 of Broadway's most prolific and fascinating leading men. Full of detailed stories and reflections, his conversations with such luminaries as Joel Grey, Ben Vareen, Norm Lewis, Gavin Creel, Cheyenne Jackson, Jonathan Groff, and a host of others dig deep into each actor's career; together, these chapters tell the story of what it means to be a leading man on Broadway over the past 50 years.

A young, Black kid from a hardworking family in one of the poorest sections of Washington, DC, despite being legally blind in one eye, leaps to the pinnacle of his sport: the Hall of Fame. A rookie bank teller rises to become one of the nation's most celebrated Black business leaders. A once-reluctant political neophyte answers the call to become a major of America's most troubled big city, and he establishes a mentoring program for African American boys that serves as a model for the nation. All of these stories belong to Dave Bing.

Here is living proof that White and Black Christians can live together. When Spencer Perkins was 16 years old, he visited his bloodied and swollen father (Pastor John Perkins) in jail. Police had beaten the Black activist severely, and Spencer never forgot the moment. He couldn't imagine living in community with a White person after that. But his plans were changed.

Bootlegging was Milton and Yvonne Hamilton's ticket out of poverty, prison time, and plain bad luck. Now they've moved on - to a bigger, richer pool of clientele - right in their own respectable new middle-class backyard. And their growing friendship with seemingly-perfect couple Joyce and Odell Watson is proving golden in more ways than one. As Milton soon learns, Odell is hiding an outside family and dubious business dealings. It's the perfect recipe for a blackmail scheme that will help Milton hide his own dirty secrets - even from Yvonne....

When Ferron Morgan's father dies in suspicious circumstances, his trauma is exacerbated by the conflict within his family and among his father's friends over whether the death was the result of medical negligence or if it was a political assassination. Ferron grew up in awe of his father's radical political endeavors, but in later years he watched as the resurgence of the political right in the Caribbean in the 1980s robbed the man of his faith.

Ellie Larrabee’s life is perfect. She’s thriving at work, living in a fabulous apartment, and engaged to the man of her dreams. To all appearances, Ellie and Rob Beauman are a golden couple—blessed with good looks, success, and romantic chemistry that’s off the charts.

The seventh child of one of Richmond, Virginia's, most ambitious hustlers, Seven is a talented poet and author with a true ear for the streets. In Gorilla Black, a boy with a love of Shakespeare and Langston Hughes struggles to thrive while growing up in the projects as the son of an alcoholic mother. In time, self-dubbed Gorilla Black will ascend to the top seat of a cocaine-fueled empire - and discover the truth about his beloved brother's death so many years before.

In ancient mythology, the Titan Prometheus was punished by the gods for bringing man the gift of fire - an event that set humankind on its course of knowledge. As punishment, Prometheus was bound to a rock. But in The Gift of Fire, those chains cease to be, and the great champion of man walks from that immortal prison into present-day South Central Los Angeles. Disheveled and lost, he is thrown in jail, where he meets lifelong criminal Nosome Blane....

Essence best-selling author Keith Lee Johnson’s fifth installment in his ongoing "Little Black Girl Lost" series picks up where the fourth book left off by continuing the diary of Josephine Baptiste. As more details about Josephine’s past come to light, the African heritage of modern-day Johnnie Wise is further explained.

Named to the New York Times Book Review's annual 10-best list, this blues-tinged novel tells the story of an unnamed black man estranged from his white wife and their three children. As he struggles to pull money together to provide for his children, his story emerges as a powerful statement about American society.

Writer, director, and starring actor in Sundance Grand Jury Prize nominee Somebodies, Hadjii remembers the trials and tribulations of youth in Don't Let My Mama Read This. From the havoc that a boy's crusty underwear can wreak on a family's reputation to the first time getting caught coming home drunk, Hadjii covers all the aspects of a "blessedly normal" childhood.

National best-selling author Keith Lee Johnson enjoyed breakout success for his novel Little Black Girl Lost. Now Johnson introduces Nelson Kennard, a former number-one NBA draft pick who blew his chance at the big time - and is about to lose the best thing that's ever happened to him, sexy school teacher Parris Stalls. Soon-to-be-dissed Nelson may have been a playa back in the day, but there's always another baller waiting in the wings.

Victor McGlothin is the Essence best-selling author of Autumn Leaves. In The Secrets of Newberry, McGlothin crafts a stunning portrait of race relations in New Orleans circa 1955. When Hampton Bynote meets Bones Arcineaux, the two begin stealing from the rich whites of the French Quarter as a way of recovering the pride that was once taken from them. But when one burglary takes a turn for the worse, the consequences haunt the two men for years to come.

Three of fiction’s most beloved writers—nationally best-selling authors all—each contribute a novella to this enchanting work. With the tales focusing on what happens when a character wins the lottery, the collection boasts hard-earned truths about Christian charity, redemption, and the place of the almighty dollar in people’s lives.

Gordon Braxton was in his second year of college before anybody bothered to speak to him about sexual violence, despite the fact that he already knew friends and family members that had survived sexual assault. Unfortunately, this is a common experience, as many young men and boys, especially Black boys, do not have an opportunity to discuss their views on sexual violence and what role they might play in preventing it. Empowering Black Boys to Challenge Rape Culture supports the training of a rising generation by providing commentary from an experienced educator.

"There is no equal justice for Black people today; there never has been. To our everlasting shame, the quality of justice in America has always been and is now directly related to the color of one's skin as well as to the size of one's pocketbook." This quote comes from George W. Crockett Jr.'s essay, "A Black Judge Speaks" (Judicature, 1970). The stories of Black lawyers and judges are rarely told. By sharing Crockett's life of principled courage, "No Equal Justice" breaks this silence.

It’s 1967 in the Chagos Archipelago—a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean—and life is peaceful and easy for hardworking Marie. Her fierce independence and love for her home are quickly apparent to Gabriel, the handsome and sophisticated Mauritian secretary to the archipelago’s administrator; it’s love at first sight. As these two lovers from neighboring islands welcome a new son, Joséphin, a bright future seems possible. But Gabriel is hiding a terrible secret.