Discovering Black American

In 1978, we founded our parent company Abacus as a publisher of books and software. So for 35 years I’ve been involved with everything that accompanies the task of books – acquisition, contracts, manuscripts, editing, rewriting, printing, marketing, reviews, etc. The books that we publish are technical books: computing, electronics, aviation. While this gives me some expertise evaluating and reviewing books of this genre, I admittedly lack experience evaluating and reviewing history books.

Consequently, the mini-review that I’m about to give here is not based on my in depth knowledge of the subject matter. Rather it’s based only on my personal interest in this topic. Professionally speaking I’m not qualified to comment on history – but can you cut me some slack when I describe the book’s attractive layout and appearance, riveting content, easy reading, and many fine photographs and illustrations?

Discovering Black America is an in depth look at the forced settlement, migration, education, struggle, emergence and contribution of the Americans of African descent. I was surprised to learn that as early as 1500’s many of the early explorers to America were accompanied by black sailors. I read how the slave trade was fueled by the demand of southern farmers to establish and maintain a plantation economy. I learned how our archrival, the British, schemed to free tens of thousands of slaves during the Revolutionary War.

And so the author’s narrative continues methodically through the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, the two World Wars leading up to the contentious Civil Rights movement and onto the surprising election of our first Afro-American President.

Discovering Black America is divided into eight chapters arranged chronologically. Each chapter has several sub-sections. I found the reading to be short and sweet – quite descriptive but without any fluff. I didn’t have any trouble reading a few pages at one sitting and being able to easily pick up from where I left off later. The chapters are generously enhanced by attractive sidebars that provide additional interesting detail. The author somehow manages to apply a matter-of-fact voice to some very depressing and disappointing periods of American history.

Overall, the 240-page hardbound book is printed on high quality stock. The large book is handsome enough to adorn your coffee table, but you’ll be much better served by reading rather than just looking at it. Oh, did I mention the fine photographs and illustrations that abound its pages?

Full disclosure: since I’ve been a Facebook user, I’ve rekindled numerous friendships from the past. One of these is with Linda Tarrant-Reid, the author of Discovering Black America. Since we both graduated from New Rochelle High School (New York) in 1967, you can judge for yourself how far back this “past” extends. Anyway I’d like to commend Linda on the fine work that she’s shared through her book.

Why a review at Stay Focused? Maybe we can attribute it to editorial privilege. While “stay focused” is a term that is commonly used in photography, it is also a phrase that suggests that we don’t become distracted from things that really matter. I’d like to think that understanding the black sub-culture in our country is one of those things that really matter.

For those interested, I bought my copy of Discovering Black America online from Amazon for about $21. I found the book to be well worth its price.
 
 
Title: Discovering Black America
Author: Linda Tarrant-Reid
Publisher: Abrams
ISBN: 9 780810 970984

Reviewed by: Arnie Lee
 
 

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The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show

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Looking for a new camera? Here’s a few.

Besides being avid an photographer, I’m also a techie. This makes it difficult for me to page past the ads for new camera gear.

In addition to the higher end cameras, I also collect, experiment, use and review compact cameras.

This holiday season is an opportune time to shop for a new or replacement camera.

Why, you ask?

Well, the prices for high quality compact cameras are extremely attractive. Competition among the major manufacturers is very high and that drives prices down. In one week, I saw the price of several medium-end point-and-shoot models drop 20% as the manufacturers scurried to garner additional holiday sales.

This isn’t meant to be a review but let me point out a few of the bargains that I saw.

Canon PowerShot SX230 HS – 14X optical zoom, 12mp, 1080 HD video, builtin GPS, $200 was $300
Nikon Coolpix S6200 – 7x optical zoom, 16mp, 720 HD video, $130 was $200
Nikon Coolpix S6200 – 10x optical zoom, 16mp, 720 HD video, $150 was $230
Nikon Coolpix S9100 – 18x optical zoom 12mp, 1080 HD video, $250 was $330
Samsung SH100 – 5X optical zoom, 14mp, 720 HD video, builtin wifi upload, $130 was $180
Sony CyberShot WX9 – 5X optional zoom, 16mp, 1080 HD video, $140 was $200

You’ll notice that I have listed three Nikon models. Over the past several months, Nikon has been very aggressive with both the number of models that they’ve made and the pricing of them.

I’ve used three of the cameras listed and have found that the image quality from all to be very good. I am also impressed with the ability to take pictures in low-light with the Nikon models.

I also enjoy the longer zoom range on many of the models which let me “reach” subjects are farther away than my feet can take me.

If you’re looking for a new or replacement camera that doesn’t break the bank, you have a large choice available. Best of luck with your shopping.

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Folllowup: After writing this article, I saw a “deal” that I didn’t want to turn down. I ordered a compact camera to be my pocket companion. I’m buying the Canon Powershot SX230HS for $189.

This is the third Canon SX200 series camera that I’ve owned. I’ve taken well over 11,000 photos and videos with my older SX210. Being small, it is easy to carry with me on my travels. Yes, I’ve made this camera work hard these past two years.

The new SX230 takes better photos in low light situations, retains the extended 14x telephoto zoom lens and includes built-in GPS that records the location of my photos. This will make it easy for me to remember where I snapped all of the new pictures.

With the end of the holidays, retailers are anxious to sell any excess inventory. This makes now a great time to be shopping for a new camera- there are many bargains to be found.

 

 
Written by Arnie Lee

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