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Books about St. Martin de Porres
Martin De Porres: A Saint for Our Time
/ St.
Martin De Porres-Apostle of Charity
St. Martin de Porres
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A Saint Of The Americas /
Humble Healer
St. Martin de Porres
(1579-1339)
Catholic Priest and saint
St. Martin de Porres (1579-1339) was born out
of wedlock in Lima, Peru, as the child of a Spaniard Don
Juan de Porres, a Spanish nobleman and adventurer, and
Ana Velasquez, a freed African slave.
Abandoned by Don Juan, Ana supported her two
children. This black washerwoman, though
impoverished, had a kind and sensitive soul; she
did not instill bitterness nor selfishness in her
children. Martin remained
throughout his life sensitive to the plight of the poor,
and especially the orphans to whom he would devote much
of his time and resources.
Even as a child, Martin gave scarce
family resources to the beggars whom he saw as less fortunate
than himself. Don Juan, his father,
when Martin was about eight returned to Ana and
claimed his two mulatto children in spite of shame and gossip.
He provided a good education for his children so that they had
enough money not to suffer privation.
At the age of twelve, Martin began an
apprenticeship with Marcel de Rivero, a barber/surgeon.
named He proved extremely skillful at this trade and
customers preferred his attendance
Martin de Porres joined the Dominican
Order of Preachers as a donado (lay helper or tertiary).
The donados were the lowest-ranking Dominicans,
performing the heaviest chores in the Order. He was eventually
elevated to brother but never did become a full priest.
Martin often challenged his brother
Dominicans on their racial attitudes. He noted that a group of
Indians were treated different than some whites who were
provided food without having to work for it. Martin himself
insisted on performing hard and menial tasks as caring for the
Order's horses in the evenings, even when informed that servants
were available for these chores. He extended his healing gifts,
visiting their quarters and treating their ailments.
Martin's spiritual practices were
rather harsh: he fasted for extensive periods on bread and
water. There were all-night vigils in which he prayed in the
position of the crucified, and sometimes kneeling a foot or more
off the floor. He scourged himself with chains--three times a
day: for the souls in Purgatory, for unrepentant sinners, for
his own soul.
Martin had a great love for animals.
They came to him and they understood him and he healed them
as well. After his death, Martin because of his lifelong
became the patron saint of social justice. Martin fed, sheltered
and doctored hundreds of families. In addition he established
the Orphanage and School of the Holy Cross which took in boys
and girls of all classes and taught them trades or homemaking
skills. He insisted that the workers of the orphanage be
well-paid and respected for their service.
On November 3rd, 1639, at the
age of sixty, Martin died of a violent fever.
Thousands of Peruvians attended his funeral. People from all
walks of life wanted a piece of him as a relic. They tussled for
a piece of his habit, which have been associated with
innumerable miraculous cures.
Pope Gregory XVI declared martin
"Blessed" and set his feast day for November 5th. Pope
John XXIII canonized him on May 6th, 1962 before a crowd
of 40,000 people. St. Martin de Porres continues to be greatly
revered, especially in the Americas, for his commitment to
racial and social justice. For some today he is considered
the patron saint For mixed-Race people.
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Greenback Planet: How the Dollar Conquered
the World and Threatened Civilization as We Know It
By H. W. Brands
In Greenback Planet, acclaimed historian H. W. Brands charts the dollar's astonishing rise to become the world's principal currency. Telling the story with the verve of a novelist, he recounts key episodes in U.S. monetary history, from the Civil War debate over fiat money (greenbacks) to the recent worldwide financial crisis. Brands explores the dollar's changing relations to gold and silver and to other currencies and cogently explains how America's economic might made the dollar the fundamental standard of value in world finance. He vividly describes the 1869 Black Friday attempt to corner the gold market, banker J. P. Morgan's bailout of the U.S. treasury, the creation of the Federal Reserve, and President Franklin Roosevelt's handling of the bank panic of 1933. Brands shows how lessons learned (and not learned) in the Great Depression have influenced subsequent U.S. monetary policy, and how the dollar's dominance helped transform economies in countries ranging from Germany and Japan after World War II to Russia and China today. He concludes with a sobering dissection of the 2008 world financial debacle, which exposed the power--and the enormous risks--of the dollar's worldwide reign. The Economy |
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Sex at the Margins
Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
By Laura María Agustín
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice. "Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London |
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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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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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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
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January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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update 29 November
2011
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