Her Borinquen

Books By Puerto Rican Poet/Writer, Alberto O. Cappas

The Pledge / Doña Julia and Other Selected Poems / Never Too Late to Make a U-Turn / Lessons for Myself

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Her Borinquen

By Alberto O. Cappas

Doña Rivera

The one everybody comes to when

They run into unresolved situations

Was sold the Moon yesterday.

She was very happy 'cause the

Salesman gave her a break,

Telling her she did not have to pay taxes on it.

"It was tax free,"

he told her.

All her neighbors were surprised

That she accomplished such a big thing.

So they assembled and celebrated

Her new fortune

They decided that Doña should

Keep it a secret or else the welfare department

Would come and take the Moon away from her.

Time passed and Doña Rivera

Became a very proud woman.

At night, especially when the

Moon was bright and in full view

Doña Rivera would stay up late

And admire the beauty of her new possession.

On weekend nights,

She would invite her relatives and best friends

Over to share the experience with them

"See"

She would tell her friends and relatives

"In this country

You have the freedom to buy

Anything you want"

Source: Doña Julia and Other Selected Poems

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Alberto O. Cappas, a published poet and writer, was born in Puerto Rico, raised in New York City where he attended public schools, graduating from Brandeis High School and Harlem Prep School. he graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and lived in the city of Buffalo for over 20 years before moving back to the Big Apple in 1987, where he now resides with his wife, Mayra Vega Cappas, in the East Village.

He is the author of Doña Julia and Other Selected Poems (2008); Never Too Late to Make a U-Turn (2009), Lessons for Myself (2008); and "The Pledge: A Guide for Everyday Living" (2001)

The educational pledge is designed for students enrolled inner-city public school system. both the English and Spanish versions, have been widely published in the United States and widely used by the ducational community including community-based organizations and educational institutions.

Albert's poetry has been included in numerous anthologies and publications throughout the United States, Canada, Republic of China, and India.

Alberto is the Director of Community Affairs for the New York City Human Resources Administration; publisher founder of The New Tomorrow (TNT), a monthly publication for African American and Latino students; founder of Don Pedro Cookies; and, founder of Nubian Speakers nubianvoiceshf@yahoo.com/ [212-862-4822], a speaker's bureau marketing African American & Latino professionals, including poets and writers. Cappas Bio

Available for speaking engagements—Cappas@aol.com or Tel. 212-862-4822 and/or 718-916-8251

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AALBC.com's 25 Best Selling Books

For July 1st through August 31st 2011

Fiction

#1 - Justify My Thug by Wahida Clark
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#3 - Head Bangers: An APF Sexcapade by Zane
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#7 - The Ebony Cookbook: A Date with a Dish by Freda DeKnight
#8 - The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors by Frances Cress Welsing
#9 - The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter Godwin Woodson

#10 - John Henrik Clarke and the Power of Africana History by Ahati N. N. Toure

#11 - Fail Up: 20 Lessons on Building Success from Failure by Tavis Smiley

#12 -The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

#13 - The Black Male Handbook: A Blueprint for Life by Kevin Powell

#14 - The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore

#15 - Why Men Fear Marriage: The Surprising Truth Behind Why So Many Men Can't Commit by RM Johnson

#16 - Black Titan: A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire by Carol Jenkins

#17 - Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority by Tom Burrell

#18 - A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle

#19 - John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black Literary Activism by Keith Gilyard

#20 - Alain L. Locke: The Biography of a Philosopher by Leonard Harris

#21 - Age Ain't Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore Midlife by Carleen Brice

#22 - 2012 Guide to Literary Agents by Chuck Sambuchino
#23 - Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul by Tom Lagana
#24 - 101 Things Every Boy/Young Man of Color Should Know by LaMarr Darnell Shields

#25 - Beyond the Black Lady: Sexuality and the New African American Middle Class by Lisa B. Thompson

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Blacks in Hispanic Literature: Critical Essays

Edited by Miriam DeCosta-Willis

Blacks in Hispanic Literature is a collection of fourteen essays by scholars and creative writers from Africa and the Americas. Called one of two significant critical works on Afro-Hispanic literature to appear in the late 1970s, it includes the pioneering studies of Carter G. Woodson and Valaurez B. Spratlin, published in the 1930s, as well as the essays of scholars whose interpretations were shaped by the Black aesthetic. The early essays, primarily of the Black-as-subject in Spanish medieval and Golden Age literature, provide an historical context for understanding 20th-century creative works by African-descended, Hispanophone writers, such as Cuban Nicolás Guillén and Ecuadorean poet, novelist, and scholar Adalberto Ortiz, whose essay analyzes the significance of Negritude in Latin America. This collaborative text set the tone for later conferences in which writers and scholars worked together to promote, disseminate, and critique the literature of Spanish-speaking people of African descent. . . . Cited by a literary critic in 2004 as "the seminal study in the field of Afro-Hispanic Literature . . . on which most scholars in the field 'cut their teeth'."

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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America

By Melissa V. Harris-Perry

According to the author, this society has historically exerted considerable pressure on black females to fit into one of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.

Professor Perry points out how the propagation of these harmful myths have served the mainstream culture well. For instance, the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for black females to feel a maternal instinct towards Caucasian babies.

As for the source of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their own bodies during slavery given that they were being auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless, it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate indiscriminately.

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The White Masters of the World

From The World and Africa, 1965

By W. E. B. Du Bois

W. E. B. Du Bois’ Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization (Fletcher)

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Ancient African Nations

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Negro Digest / Black World

Browse all issues

1950 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 ____ 2005

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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan / The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll / Only a Pawn in Their Game

Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for Slavery / George Jackson / Hurricane Carter

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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg

The Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804 / January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of Haiti

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BLACK CLASSIC BOOKS

BCP Digital Printing

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update 17 November 2010