Erskine Peters, PhD African-American Studies / $9.95 paper (ISBN 0-916147-18-5) / 107 pages / 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" African Americans in the New Millennium explores the entire panorama of the African American experience touching on social, political, historical, economic, religious and spiritual aspects as we proceed toward the millennium. Dr. Peters uses a very accessible question and answer format to examine topics relevant to Americans. In a flowing conversational style, Peters looks at time, circumstance and history to see where past blueprints have worked and where they have not. By knowing one's blueprints, Peters believes, we can begin to alter our consciousness and behavior patterns to produce effective change in individuals and society. This book aims at a deeper understanding of the historical and spiritual context of the African American experience. Dr. Peters brings forth a diverse array of topicsăany one question and answer may provide a key or catalyst for change which is the book's deeper purpose. The underlying focus of African Americans in the New Millennium is self development and spirituality. A generation after the riots of the sixties and passage of the Civil Rights Act, it is time for African Americans to dig deep within themselves and become free of their doubts and victimizations. Dr. Peters believes that ultimately African Americans will claim their greatest power by recognizing and understanding that all humanity exists as an experience in being, all having their own world views but also a common bond transcending the modes of race, sex or religion. Dr. Peters does a masterful job of debunking the common themes upon which the majority of Black Americans have constructed their lives since our introduction to these shores in 1619. The race is on, he suggests, for each person to rewrite their code of behavior their blueprint for successful passage into the next millennium. Along with suggesting that Black Americans scrap the monolithic approach to dealing with life, Peters also suggests that they dump the deep-seated and long-standing devotion to the messianic complex.
Black Books Bulletin

Homeless in the Nineties Collected Poetry: 1962-1992 Claire Burch Poetry / Drawings and Paintings by the Author / $17.95 paper (ISBN 0-916147-19-3) / 650 pages / 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"

"I became easily engaged as I began to read Claire Burch's poetry. At first, I was afraid to tackle it because I thought I wouldn't be able to handle such a massive volume. But as I made my way into it, and began to be taken in by her most provocative turn of mind, and her interesting presentation of situations, I was glad that there was lots of it and that there was always more to come. I knew immediately that I was on an enchanting odyssey, and that when finished I would look forward to taking the adventure again and again. Claire Burch writes in a style that compels you to be alert, while it amuses and awakens you. Like all poets of distinguished capacity, Burch is skeptical of the orthodox. Thus she is always teasing with our given perceptions of reality, understanding that if the orthodox functions to do anything, it is to conceal rather than reveal truth. Moreover, Burch is an excellent narrative poet. Her sequences are given lyric continuity and dramatic coherence through the exploration of the thought and action of two major characters, Babe and 606. But this coherence and dramatic effect comes mainly through Babe, the longest survivor. It is Babe who mainly reveals to us what it is that makes the dilemmas of life so weighty, who carries us through the great range of human anxieties, and who does manage to give us wisdom without enveloping it in sophistry. Rarely giving us an overwrought phrase, Burch writes poetry with a lyrical and dramatic ease that makes you want to become a part of her thought and her craft. In her reality, life is a poetic stance, a stance of continuous revelation and astonishment, of paradox and contradiction made bare, and of hypocrisy made comic and ungilded."
Erskine Peters, Professor of English, University of Notre Dame

Contains the section "Arrival Of James Baldwin: Mysterious Circumstances" pp. 453 - 482

Videos Available

Color / sound / 90 minutes / ISBN 0-916147-49-5 A celebration of the ideas of James Baldwin, punctuated by original music and a ride through the city of Oakland during one of his visits. Also including additional excerpts from his work, read by Professor Erskine Peters, and an illuminating speech by Baldwin.

The Ghost of James Baldwin at Glide Memorial

Visual Art and Installations

Return of James Baldwin: Mysterious Circumstances (The Paintings)
A suite of mixed media, visual art, by Claire Burch, based on variations of a photograph she took of him at age 18.
Available for exhibition.