front cover of The Beat Of My Drum
The Beat Of My Drum
An Autobiography
Michael Babatunde Olatunji
Temple University Press, 2005
Babatunde Olatunji's record album Drums of Passion proclaimed that the time had come for America to recognize Africa's cultural contributions to the music world. Through his many albums and live performances, the Nigerian drummer popularized West African traditional music and spread his message of racial harmony. In this long-awaited autobiography, Olatunji presents his life story and the philosophy that guided him. Olatunji influenced and inspired musicians for more than forty years—from luminaries to music students and the many ordinary people who participated in his drum circles. He writes about rhythm being "the soul of life," and about the healing power of the drum. Ultimately, The Beat of My Drum shows why at the time of his death in 2003, Olatunji had become, according to The New York Times, "the most visible African musician in the United States."
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front cover of Every Woman's Guide to Diabetes
Every Woman's Guide to Diabetes
What You Need to Know to Lower Your Risk and Beat the Odds
Stephanie A. Eisenstat M.D. and Ellen Barlow
Harvard University Press, 2007

Women have long needed a book devoted to their unique issues with diabetes. This up-to-date and practical guide advocates simple lifestyle changes that can help women reduce their risk of getting diabetes or, if already diagnosed, prevent the disease’s most serious complications. Every Woman’s Guide to Diabetes translates the latest findings from diabetes research into proven strategies busy women can use to stay healthy and gain control over an often overwhelming disease. The authors discuss the nature of diabetes, helping readers through the complex medical decisions involved in diabetes treatment. They highlight strategies to decrease the emotional stress and social isolation that often accompany diagnosis, and offer everyday techniques for managing blood sugar.

Key features include:

— Unique aspects of diabetes for women throughout the life cycle
— Timetable of recommended tests and check-ups
— Guide to medications with common dosages
— Charts to help organize diabetes-care tasks and supplies
— Time-management tips for better disease regulation
— Guide to contraceptives available to women with diabetes
— Review of issues critical to women before, during, and following pregnancy
— Advice for overcoming barriers to weight loss and exercise
— Plan for intelligent diet trade-offs while still enjoying meals
— Practical tips for planning exercise
— Strategies to avoid diabetes “burn-out”

Written by two physicians (one of whom is a woman living with diabetes) and an experienced medical writer, Every Woman’s Guide to Diabetes recognizes the power that women have in their households to effect lifestyle changes that will benefit themselves and loved ones, including their mothers, daughters, sisters, and partners. This power can reduce the toll of the diabetes epidemic.

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front cover of On the Beat of Truth
On the Beat of Truth
A Hearing Daughter’s Stories of Her Black Deaf Parents
Maxine Childress Brown
Gallaudet University Press, 2013

As an African American woman born in 1943, Maxine Childress Brown possessed a unique vantage point to witness the transformative events in her parents’ lives. Both came from the South -- her father, Herbert Childress, from Nashville, TN, and her mother, Thomasina Brown, from Concord, NC. The oldest of three daughters, Maxine was fascinated by her parents’ stories. She marveled at how they raised a well-respected, middle-class family in the midst of segregation with the added challenge of being deaf.

       Her parents met in Washington, DC, where they married and settled down. Her father worked as a shoe repairman for $65 per week for more than 15 years. A gifted seamstress, her mother gave up sewing to clean houses. Because of their modest means, Maxine and her sisters lived more than modest lives. When Maxine’s tonsils became infected, her parents could not afford the operation to have them removed. For her high school prom, her mother bought her a dress on credit because she had no time to sew. Herbert Childress showed great love for his young daughters, but events turned him to bitterness and to drink. Throughout all, Thomasina encouraged her girls, always urging them to excel. She demanded their honest best with her signature phrase, her flat hand raised from her mouth straight up in the air, “on the beat of truth.”

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