News from June 2020:

Led by Black Lives Matter, protests and Black rights advocacy continue all over the country.

Gain some insight into the history of the civil rights struggle in America and learn more about ongoing efforts to combat racial injustice:

Black against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party, by Joshua Bloom, Waldo E. Martin, Jr. link

The Burning: Massacre, Destruction, and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, by Tim Madigan link

They Were Her Property: White Women as Slave Owners in the American South, by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers link

Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America, by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva link

From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor link

Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody link

Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals link

Race for Profit by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor link

Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis link

Ain’t I a Woman by bell hooks link

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches, by Audre Lorde link

Good White Racist?: Confronting Your Role in Racial Injustice, by Kerry Connelly link

 

Ohio State Univ. Professor, Rattan Lal, PhD, is awarded the World Food Laureate for developing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food production.

Learn more about conservation and sustainable farming practices with these Tantor titles:

Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life, by David R. Montgomery link

Grain by Grain: A Quest to Revive Ancient Wheat, Rural Jobs, and Healthy Food, by Bob Quinn, Liz Carlisle link

The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming, by Masanobu Fukuoka link

Restoration Agriculture: Real-World Permaculture for Farmers, by Mark Shepard link

Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers’ Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm, by Forrest Pritchard link

 

Spanish Fisherman Accidentally Discovers Medieval Virgin Mary Statue.

Learn more about Medieval Spain and with these titles:

Medieval Christianity: A New History, by Kevin Madigan Link

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain, by Dario Fernandez Morera link

 

Letter written by Van Gogh and Paul Gaugin sells for $236K.

Deep dive into Van Gogh and Gaugin’s competitive friendship with:

Van Gogh: The Life, by Steven Naifeh, Gregory White Smith, link

Or listen to stories about other famous rivalries from the art world with:

The Art of Rivalry: Four Friendships, Betrayals, and Breakthroughs in Modern Art, by Sebastian Smee link

 

Neuroscientists may have found a way to treat depression with hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Take a trip into the world of psychedelic plants and their impact on science and culture with a few of these titles:

Healing Mushrooms: A Practical and Culinary Guide to Using Mushrooms for Whole Body Health, by Tero Isokauppila link

Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge: A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution, by Terence McKenna link

Fungipedia: A Brief Compendium of Mushroom Lore, by Lawrence Millman link

High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies, by Erik Davis link

True Hallucinations: Being an Account of the Author’s Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil’s Paradise, by Terence McKenna link

 

New study shows that an Alaskan volcanic eruption may have aided in the fall of the Roman Republic.

 

Find other examples of volcanic disasters with global effects with these titles:

The Last Volcano: A Man, a Romance, and the Quest to Understand Nature’s Most Magnificent Fury, by John Dvorak link

The Day the World Ended: The Mount Pelee Disaster: May 7, 1902, by  Gordon Thomas, Max Morgan-Witts link

The Year Without Summer: 1816 and the Volcano That Darkened the World and Changed History, by William K. Klingaman, Nicholas P. Klingaman link

Disaster!: A History of Earthquakes, Floods, Plagues, and Other Catastrophes, by John Withington link