This Weekend - African Festival of the Arts

Azizi Books is selling discounted advance tickets to the African Festival of the Arts.

This Labor Day weekend Chicago's Washington Park transforms into an authentic African village complete with three stages of spectacular entertainment featuring Kool and the Gang, Rachelle Ferrell, Diblo Dibala, Nicholas Payton, Big Daddy Kane and Black Sheep among outstanding others; African Marketplace showcasing authentic art and culture; luscious African cuisine and fare; cultural pavilions; fantastic family fun; and premiering the first ever African Festival of the Arts youth tennis tournament.

For more information about the festival click here.

Shocking Facts About Chicago Public Schools

September 2 is scheduled to be the first day of school for the Chicago Public School district but this year, students are taking a stand and boycotting the first day back. The boycott is organized by The Save Our Schools campaign (S.O.S.) in protest to the serious lack of funding that Chicago Public Schools receive as opposed to suburban schools.

S. O. S. says,
"On September 2, we have decided that instead of children attending the first day of school for Chicago Public Schools, we are taking our children to a well funded school district in Winnetka and attempt to register/enroll them. If the state won’t provide the necessary school funding for poor and minority children school districts in Chicago, we’ll go where they can receive a quality education."

Save Our Schools Now

Take a look at these shocking facts!

Only 6 of 100 Black and Latino high school freshmen males will graduate from a four year college. Source: University of Chicago’s Consortium on Chicago School Research

Between 2003 and 2007, white students' reading scores went up while African American, Hispanic and low-incomes student's scores went down. (Chicago Sun-Times, October 31, 2007)

Money spent in Illinois on:
Housing an adult prisoner: $21,000
Educating a child in Chicago: $10,000
Source: Illinois State Board of Education
Office of Governor Rod Blagojevich

Only 9% of African American 4th graders ranked proficient or above in reading, ranking Illinois 38 out of 41 states. (Chicago Sun-Times, November 2, 2006)

Illinois has the largest unaddressed district-to-district funding gap in the nation. (Source: Education Trust)

2005-2006 School Year Graduation
Rates in Chicago
Black males - 37%
White males - 62%
(Source: Schott Foundation)

Illinois ranks 49 out of the 50 states when it comes to funding education from state funds. (Source: Education Trust)

View more facts about the school funding crisis...

Sign up to be a volunteer for this cause!
http://www.saveourschoolsnow.com/volunteers.html

Book Review - Blood Colony by Tananarive Due

It is really no secret that Tananarive Due is one of my favorite authors. Ever since reading her story about the African Immortals in high school, I have not only been addicted to her books but to the entire speculative fiction genre in general. To this day, if I absolutely had to choose one, 1997's "My Soul To Keep" is still my favorite book. Well, it has been seven years since the publication of "The Living Blood" by Tananarive Due, the second installment in the African Immortal series, but finally the third installment is here. "Blood Colony" is that novel.

It is hard for me to not love a book by Tananarive Due, but I'll only give this one 4 of 5 stars. "Blood Colony" is wonderfully written and more intriguing than the average novel, but after waiting such a long time for this third installment, when I finished, I still felt like I wanted more.

Set in 2015, we meet up with the Wolde family and the Life Brothers. While they have been distributing their healing "living" blood in secret to third world countries, plagued with sickness, an Underground Railroad of distributors in North America are selling the same thing under the street drug name of Glow. I can't say that I am disappointed, because I am not, but I didn't get a sense that I learned anything new from these characters. The book continues their stories, and we catch up with their lives, but none of the mysteries completely unfold. "Blood Colony" is written so that it could be a stand alone novel, but I think you need to read the other two books to get a full grasp of the characters and to really connect with them and all that they have been through.

Very good but not great. "My Soul To Keep" and "The Living Blood" set the bar up very high and I cannot help but to compare. I have read them both more than once, but unlike the other two, I may not be picking up "Blood Colony" again for a second go 'round. I'll wait until book four.

Live or Die?

"You can either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

Like millions of other people, I went to go see The Dark Knight this weekend. Aaron Eckhart's character, Harvey Dent, says the above quote to Bruce Wayne, his date, and Rachel Dawes over dinner one evening when discussing the Batman.

This quote got me thinking about some of our leaders today. People in the media have been attacking people like Jessie Jackson for slipping up and saying controversial statements in regards to this year's presidential election. Then they come out and say things like, this person hasn't really done anything. Wow. Really, Jesse Jackson hasn't done anything? He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He ran for president and got thousands of African Americans to register to vote for the first time. Would we be saying the same things we say about Jesse, about Dr. King if he had lived? Maybe. But, it was not his fate. He did die a hero, while Jesse has lived long enough to watch himself become somewhat of a villain in spite of all the good he has done. Sad.

Book Signing with L. A. Banks

Last Saturday Azizi Books had our book signing with author L. A. Banks. As hard as I tried, I couldn't catch up and read the entire series to date before she came! (I'm still on book nine, The Cursed) While she was here, I told her that I was really hooked on the Vampire Huntress Legends and asked how she came up with so many imaginative ideas for the storyline. Mrs. Banks told me that it was the news that sparked some of her great ideas. Sometimes, the consequences of events that take place in our world, while being very real to us, can also spark great fiction. I thought about her reference to Hurricane Katrina in earlier books in the series and nodded. So true!

Here are some pictures of us with L. A. Banks and Naleighna Kai.

Book Review - One in a Million

It's been a while since I reviewed any books on this blog... that is because since we booked L. A. Banks to do a signing at Azizi Books, I have been using all of my personal reading time to get through her Vampire Huntress Legend series. (I'm on book 9 of the 10 that have been released, as of today. Great series. I'm totally obsessed.) So, needless to say, I haven't been able to fit many of my other reading interest in as they come up. Mainly, due to time constraints, but I did make room for this new release.

Last week, Azizi Books was also fortunate enough to have Kimberla Lawson Roby come to our store to sign her newest book, One in a Million.

Book Review
One in a Million by Kimberla Lawson Roby

I liked this novella. Shorter than a novel of course, but I totally got into the story by the end of the first chapter. I think that many women will be able to relate to, Kennedi, the main character, as she goes through dealing with a series of major (and I do mean major) life changes all at once. She experiences that which we all dread in marriage and that which we all dream about in life. Overall, this book was really a page-turner. I could have easily read the whole book in one sitting, because you have to see what will happen next.

Thanks for coming to Azizi Books Kimberla! This book is another good one I'm sure your new and old fans will truly appreciate.

One in a Million is available at Azizi Books.
Buy One in a Million from our online store www.blackbooksdirect.com

Azizi Books is IndieBound!

We are IndieBound!
IndieBound is a community-oriented movement initiated by the American Booksellers Association (ABA) that enlightens the world about the value of independent businesses and promotes those values that make indies unique. IndieBound brings together booksellers, readers, indie retailers, local business alliances, and others who believe that healthy local economies help communities thrive.

Read more about IndieBound.

As an independent retailer, I am very excited about this movement. With competition for consumer dollars higher than ever, consumers are now faced with an important choice. You may choose to take pride in your community by supporting local business, who support local economies, or not, and give your money to the national chains, sending more of your dollars out of your community, and possibly even the country. The ABA is bringing light to this situation through IndieBound by letting people know they do have this choice. There is great value that can be gained by supporting independent retailers.

Don't let globalization make your community obsolete, support IndieBound with your declaration today!

Sign the declaration

Declaration of IndieBound

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for individuals to denounce the corporate bands which threaten to homogenize our cities and our souls, we must celebrate the powers that make us unique and declare the causes which compel us to remain independent.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all stores are not created equal, that some are endowed by their owners, their staff, and their communities with certain incomparable heights, that among these are Personality, Purpose and Passion. The history of the present indies is a history of experiences and excitement, which we will continue to establish as we set our sights on a more unconstrained state. To prove this, let’s bring each other along and submit our own experiences to an unchained world.

We, therefore, the Kindred Spirits of IndieBound, in the name of our convictions, do publish and declare that these united minds are, and darn well ought to be, Free Thinkers and Independent Souls. That we are linked by the passions that differentiate us. That we seek out soul mates to share our excitement. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the strength of our identities, we respectively and mutually pledge to lead the way as we all declare that we are IndieBound!