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Works

In the Library: Women's Voices in California History

Digging in the archives of the California Historical Society, the author found letters and diaries of women who fought for suffrage, abolition and against race discrimination -- whose vibrant voices had been silenced or marginalized in the dominant narrative.

An Election Observer in El Salvador Looks Back

On the eve of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, I am reminded of attempts to threaten voters and thwart democracy in the 1994 Salvadoran elections.

The Link Between Violence and Female Incarceration

The prevalence of physical abuse may be the most open secret behind the growing incarceration of women. But innovative programs -- often led by women who were themselves behind bars -- provide a supportive pathway to what advocate Susan Burton calls A New Way of Life.

The Secret Sisterhood

As someone who relies on the encouragement and wise critiques of my fellow women writers, I found this book a delightful illumination of the friendships of some of my favorite authors.

Selected Letters of Langston Hughes

I fell in love with this poet in a high school English class, and was thrilled that decades later I reviewed his work for my (new) hometown newspaper.

A Prayer for Peace, A History of War

A journey to Viet Nam with Veterans for Peace reveals the lasting legacies of war -- Agent Orange and unexploded ordnance. And an unexpected twist -- friendship between Vietnamese and U.S. veterans who had fought on opposite sides.

 

 

San Francisco's Own Rosa Parks

Charlotte Brown, the daughter of a formerly enslaved man, challenged the color bar on San Francisco street cars while the Civil War was still raging.

Wherever There's a Fight: How Runaway Slaves, Suffragists, Immigrants, Strikers, and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California

Wherever There's a Fight captures the sweeping story of how freedom and equality have grown in California, from the gold rush right up to the precarious post-9/11 era. The book tells the stories of the brave individuals who have stood up for their rights in the face of social hostility, physical violence, economic hardship, and political stonewalling.

"A lesson in American history riding the 14 Mission bus"

Published in the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday edition, July 9, 2006, this insightful article about what you can see on an ordinary bus ride generated a dozen letters-to-the-editor from people who starting thinking differently about their fellow passengers, and themselves.

Development Debacle: The World Bank in the Philippines

Development Debacle “merits more serious attention. Its depth of documentation is unparalleled in studies of the World Bank. Thanks to active helpers inside the Bank, the authors got most of the internal country and project reports on the Philippines from... the Bank... Finest effort to date.”

--Multinational Monitor