The Spirit of Our Work
Black Women Teachers (Re)member
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $21.60
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Joy Vandervort
About this listen
An exploration of how engaging identity and cultural heritage can transform teaching and learning for Black women educators in the name of justice and freedom in the classroom
In The Spirit of Our Work, Dr. Cynthia Dillard centers the spiritual lives of Black women educators and their students, arguing that spirituality has guided Black people throughout the diaspora. She demonstrates how Black women teachers and teacher educators can heal, resist, and (re)member their identities in ways that are empowering for them and their students. Dillard emphasizes that any discussion of Black teachers’ lives and work cannot be limited to truncated identities as enslaved persons in the Americas.
The Spirit of Our Work addresses questions that remain largely invisible in what is known about teaching and teacher education. According to Dillard, this invisibility renders the powerful approaches to Black education that are imbodied and marshaled by Black women teachers unknown and largely unavailable to inform policy, practice, and theory in education. The Spirit of Our Work highlights how the intersectional identities of Black women teachers matter in teaching and learning and how educational settings might more carefully and conscientiously curate structures of support that pay explicit and necessary attention to spirituality as a crucial consideration.
©2021 Cynthia Dillard (P)2021 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Punished for Dreaming
- How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal
- By: Bettina L. Love
- Narrated by: Bettina L. Love, Karen Chilton
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Punished for Dreaming Dr. Bettina Love argues forcefully that Reagan’s presidency ushered in a War on Black Children, pathologizing and penalizing them in concert with the War on Drugs. New policies punished schools with policing, closure, and loss of funding in the name of reform, as white savior, egalitarian efforts increasingly allowed private interests to infiltrate the system. These changes implicated children of color, and Black children in particular, as low performing, making it all too easy to turn a blind eye to their disproportionate conviction and incarceration.
-
-
Wow!!!
- By TKL on 10-20-23
By: Bettina L. Love
-
Unearthing Joy (A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning)
- By: Gholdy Muhammad
- Narrated by: Melaine Morgan
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this follow-up to Cultivating Genius, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad adds a fifth pursuit—joy—to her groundbreaking instructional model. She defines joy as more than celebration and happiness, but also as wellness, beauty, healing, and justice for oneself and across humanity. She shows how teaching from cultural and historical realities can enhance our efforts to cultivate identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and—indeed—joy for all students, giving them a powerful purpose to learn and contribute to the world.
-
-
It’s all about joy and love
- By elyse arrington on 09-01-24
By: Gholdy Muhammad
-
Fugitive Pedagogy
- Carter G. Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching
- By: Jarvis R. Givens
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Black education was a subversive act from its inception. African Americans pursued education through clandestine means, often in defiance of law and custom, even under threat of violence. They developed what Jarvis Givens calls a tradition of "fugitive pedagogy"—a theory and practice of Black education in America. The enslaved learned to read in spite of widespread prohibitions; newly emancipated people braved the dangers of integrating all-White schools and the hardships of building Black schools.
-
-
All Educators should read this book
- By Audie D. on 05-27-23
By: Jarvis R. Givens
-
We Want to Do More Than Survive
- Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom
- By: Bettina Love
- Narrated by: Misty Monroe
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on her life’s work, Bettina Love persuasively argues that educators must teach students about racial violence, oppression, and how to make sustainable change in their communities through radical civic initiatives and movements. She argues that the US educational system is maintained by and profits from the suffering of children of color. Instead of trying to repair a flawed system, educational reformers offer survival tactics in the forms of test-taking skills, acronyms, grit labs, and character education, which Love calls the educational survival complex.
-
-
Must read for all parents and educators
- By loving purple on 08-17-20
By: Bettina Love
-
Rest Is Resistance
- A Manifesto
- By: Tricia Hersey
- Narrated by: Tricia Hersey
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too many of us have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, and machine‑level pace—feeding into the same engine that enslaved millions into brutal labor for its own relentless benefit. In Rest Is Resistance, Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop, casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted.
-
-
What an experience
- By makeba jones on 10-26-22
By: Tricia Hersey
-
Jim Crow's Pink Slip
- The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership
- By: Leslie T. Fenwick
- Narrated by: Deanna Anthony
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1954, the Supreme Court's Brown decision ended segregated schooling in the United States, but regrettably, as documented in congressional testimony and transcripts, it also ended the careers of a generation of highly qualified and credentialed Black teachers and principals. In the Deep South and northern border states over the decades following Brown, Black schools were illegally closed and Black educators were displaced en masse. By engaging with the complicated legacy of the Brown decision, Leslie T. Fenwick illuminates a crucial chapter in education history.
-
-
JCPS
- By Charles J. Jones on 02-25-24
-
Punished for Dreaming
- How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal
- By: Bettina L. Love
- Narrated by: Bettina L. Love, Karen Chilton
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Punished for Dreaming Dr. Bettina Love argues forcefully that Reagan’s presidency ushered in a War on Black Children, pathologizing and penalizing them in concert with the War on Drugs. New policies punished schools with policing, closure, and loss of funding in the name of reform, as white savior, egalitarian efforts increasingly allowed private interests to infiltrate the system. These changes implicated children of color, and Black children in particular, as low performing, making it all too easy to turn a blind eye to their disproportionate conviction and incarceration.
-
-
Wow!!!
- By TKL on 10-20-23
By: Bettina L. Love
-
Unearthing Joy (A Guide to Culturally and Historically Responsive Teaching and Learning)
- By: Gholdy Muhammad
- Narrated by: Melaine Morgan
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this follow-up to Cultivating Genius, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad adds a fifth pursuit—joy—to her groundbreaking instructional model. She defines joy as more than celebration and happiness, but also as wellness, beauty, healing, and justice for oneself and across humanity. She shows how teaching from cultural and historical realities can enhance our efforts to cultivate identity, skills, intellect, criticality, and—indeed—joy for all students, giving them a powerful purpose to learn and contribute to the world.
-
-
It’s all about joy and love
- By elyse arrington on 09-01-24
By: Gholdy Muhammad
-
Fugitive Pedagogy
- Carter G. Woodson and the Art of Black Teaching
- By: Jarvis R. Givens
- Narrated by: Leon Nixon
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Black education was a subversive act from its inception. African Americans pursued education through clandestine means, often in defiance of law and custom, even under threat of violence. They developed what Jarvis Givens calls a tradition of "fugitive pedagogy"—a theory and practice of Black education in America. The enslaved learned to read in spite of widespread prohibitions; newly emancipated people braved the dangers of integrating all-White schools and the hardships of building Black schools.
-
-
All Educators should read this book
- By Audie D. on 05-27-23
By: Jarvis R. Givens
-
We Want to Do More Than Survive
- Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom
- By: Bettina Love
- Narrated by: Misty Monroe
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on her life’s work, Bettina Love persuasively argues that educators must teach students about racial violence, oppression, and how to make sustainable change in their communities through radical civic initiatives and movements. She argues that the US educational system is maintained by and profits from the suffering of children of color. Instead of trying to repair a flawed system, educational reformers offer survival tactics in the forms of test-taking skills, acronyms, grit labs, and character education, which Love calls the educational survival complex.
-
-
Must read for all parents and educators
- By loving purple on 08-17-20
By: Bettina Love
-
Rest Is Resistance
- A Manifesto
- By: Tricia Hersey
- Narrated by: Tricia Hersey
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too many of us have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, and machine‑level pace—feeding into the same engine that enslaved millions into brutal labor for its own relentless benefit. In Rest Is Resistance, Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop, casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted.
-
-
What an experience
- By makeba jones on 10-26-22
By: Tricia Hersey
-
Jim Crow's Pink Slip
- The Untold Story of Black Principal and Teacher Leadership
- By: Leslie T. Fenwick
- Narrated by: Deanna Anthony
- Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1954, the Supreme Court's Brown decision ended segregated schooling in the United States, but regrettably, as documented in congressional testimony and transcripts, it also ended the careers of a generation of highly qualified and credentialed Black teachers and principals. In the Deep South and northern border states over the decades following Brown, Black schools were illegally closed and Black educators were displaced en masse. By engaging with the complicated legacy of the Brown decision, Leslie T. Fenwick illuminates a crucial chapter in education history.
-
-
JCPS
- By Charles J. Jones on 02-25-24
-
Black AF History
- The Un-Whitewashed Story of America
- By: Michael Harriot
- Narrated by: Michael Harriot
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America’s backstory is a whitewashed mythology implanted in our collective memory. It should come as no surprise that the dominant narrative of American history is blighted with errors and oversights—after all, history books were written by white men with their perspectives at the forefront. It could even be said that the devaluation and erasure of the Black experience is as American as apple pie. In Black AF History, Michael Harriot presents a more accurate version of American history.
-
-
LOVE It!
- By KMB on 09-29-23
By: Michael Harriot
-
Teaching to Transgress
- Education as the Practice of Freedom
- By: bell hooks
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Teaching to Transgress, Bell Hooks - writer, teacher, and insurgent black intellectual - writes about a new kind of education, education as the practice of freedom. Teaching students to "transgress" against racial, sexual, and class boundaries in order to achieve the gift of freedom is, for Hooks, the teacher's most important goal. Bell Hooks speakes to the heart of education today: how can we rethink teaching practices in the age of multiculturalism? What do we do about teachers who do not want to teach, and students who do not want to learn? How should we deal with racism and sexism in the classroom? Full of passion and politics, Teaching to Transgress combines a practical knowledge of the classroom with a deeply felt connection to the world of emotions and feelings. This is the rare book about teachers and students that dares to raise questions about eros and rage, grief and reconciliation, and the future of teaching itself.
-
-
Useful but not earthshaking
- By Lana Whited on 11-20-18
By: bell hooks
-
The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
-
-
Comprehensive and Cutting
- By Thomas Ray on 12-30-21
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
-
Finding Me
- A Memoir
- By: Viola Davis
- Narrated by: Viola Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever. This is my story, from a crumbling apartment in Central Falls, Rhode Island, to the stage in New York City, and beyond. This is the path I took to finding my purpose but also my voice in a world that didn’t always see me.
-
-
Absolutely beautifully Written❤️
- By Love bug23 on 05-02-22
By: Viola Davis
-
You Are Your Best Thing
- Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience
- By: Tarana Burke, Brené Brown
- Narrated by: Tarana Burke, Brené Brown, the Contributors, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tarana Burke and Dr. Brené Brown bring together a dynamic group of Black writers, organizers, artists, academics, and cultural figures to discuss the topics the two have dedicated their lives to understanding and teaching: vulnerability and shame resilience.
-
-
Listen up...
- By HeyJude on 04-29-21
By: Tarana Burke, and others
-
Ratchetdemic
- Reimagining Academic Success
- By: Christopher Emdin
- Narrated by: Christopher Emdin
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Building on the ideas introduced in his New York Times best-selling book, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood, Christopher Emdin introduces an alternative educational model that will help students (and teachers) celebrate ratchet identity in the classroom. Ratchetdemic advocates for a new kind of student identity - one that bridges the seemingly disparate worlds of the ivory tower and the urban classroom.
-
-
It's useless to me
- By GG on 02-28-23
-
My Grandmother's Hands
- Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies
- By: Resmaa Menakem MSW LICSW SEP
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this groundbreaking book, therapist Resmaa Menakem examines the damage caused by racism in America from the perspective of trauma and body-centered psychology. My Grandmother's Hands is a call to action for all of us to recognize that racism is not only about the head but about the body, and introduces an alternative view of what we can do to grow beyond our entrenched racialized divide.
-
-
Think You Don't Need This? Think Again, Please!
- By Carole T. on 03-27-21
-
Black Feminist Thought
- Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment
- By: Patricia Hill Collins
- Narrated by: Kaliswa Brewster
- Length: 17 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In spite of the double burden of racial and gender discrimination, African-American women have developed a rich intellectual tradition that is not widely known. In Black Feminist Thought, originally published in 1990, Patricia Hill Collins set out to explore the words and ideas of Black feminist intellectuals and writers, both within the academy and without. Here Collins provides an interpretive framework for the work of such prominent Black feminist thinkers as Angela Davis, bell hooks, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde.
-
Just as I Am
- A Memoir
- By: Cicely Tyson, Michelle Burford
- Narrated by: Cicely Tyson, Viola Davis, Robin Miles
- Length: 16 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just as I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. Here, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word. I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of the old hymn for which this book is named. I am a daughter and mother, a sister, and a friend. I am an observer of human nature and the dreamer of audacious dreams.
-
-
A Legend and National Treasure
- By Mz Fabulous on 01-29-21
By: Cicely Tyson, and others
-
God Is a Black Woman
- By: Christena Cleveland
- Narrated by: Robin Eller
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For years, Christena Cleveland spoke about racial reconciliation to congregations, justice organizations, and colleges. But she increasingly felt she could no longer trust in the God she’d been implicitly taught to worship—a white male God who preferentially empowered white men despite his claim to love all people. A God who clearly did not relate to, advocate for, or affirm a Black woman like Christena.
-
-
If you’ve grown up brown and evangelical but never quite fit in the whitemalegod club this book is for you.
- By Jason Como on 12-05-22
-
The Will to Change
- Men, Masculinity, and Love
- By: bell hooks
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Everyone needs to love and be loved - even men. But to know love, men must be able to look at the ways that patriarchal culture keeps them from knowing themselves, from being in touch with their feelings, from loving. In The Will to Change, bell hooks gets to the heart of the matter and shows men how to express the emotions that are a fundamental part of who they are - whatever their age, marital status, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.
-
-
A unique call to an ethic of creative love
- By Amazon Customer on 09-26-20
By: bell hooks
-
Hood Feminism
- Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot
- By: Mikki Kendall
- Narrated by: Mikki Kendall
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Today's feminist movement has a glaring blind spot, and paradoxically, it is women. Mainstream feminists rarely talk about meeting basic needs as a feminist issue, argues Mikki Kendall, but food insecurity, access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care are all feminist issues. All too often, however, the focus is not on basic survival for the many, but on increasing privilege for the few. Author Mikki Kendall takes aim at the legitimacy of the modern feminist movement arguing that it has chronically failed to address the needs of all but a few women.
-
-
I Learned So Much!!!
- By Rebecca on 06-13-20
By: Mikki Kendall
Critic reviews
“Dillard has written a remarkable book that will move readers committed to making the United States a more just and inclusive society.” (Library Journal, Starred Review)
“With breathtaking prose, Cynthia Dillard has written a love letter to Black women teachers. The Spirit of Our Work beautifully anchors itself in the dynamism, creativity, and magic of Black women and girls. For all who teach and for all who learn, this book offers a brilliant roadmap for creating learning spaces in which we welcome and celebrate the fullness of our shared and expansive humanity.” (Treva B. Lindsey, author of Colored No More: Reinventing Black Womanhood in Washington, D.C.)
“Dr. Cynthia Dillard has given us all a precious gift in this book, The Spirit of Our Work: Black Women Teachers (Re)member. No matter what your race is, hold this book in your hands with anticipation. Soak up, pause, and reflect as you read each page and prepare to act upon what you learn. Dr. Dillard has shared a road map for how we can transform education through uplifting the lineage and power of Blackness, Black women teachers, and the sacred educational road to Black freedoms. In doing so, Dr. Dillard teaches us that to develop liberatory educational environments where Black women educators can (re)claim and (re)member their inherent freedom means nothing less than liberation for us all.” (Anneliese Singh, author of The Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism, and Engage in Collective Healing)
Related to this topic
-
The Second Mountain
- How People Move from the Prison of Self to the Joy of Commitment
- By: David Brooks
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author David Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith, and to a community. Our personal fulfillment depends on how well we choose and execute these commitments. Brooks looks at a range of people who have lived joyous, committed lives, and who have embraced the necessity and beauty of dependence. He gathers their wisdom on how to choose a partner, how to pick a vocation, how to live out a philosophy, and how we can begin to integrate our commitments into one overriding purpose.
-
-
Pursue meaning, reject hyper-individualism
- By Adam Shields on 05-07-19
By: David Brooks
-
Bet on Black
- The Good News About Being Black in America Today
- By: Eboni K. Williams
- Narrated by: Eboni K. Williams
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When The Real Housewives of New York City hired its first black cast member after more than 13 years on the air, attorney, speaker, and journalist Eboni K. Williams knew that the public would consider her a diversity hire. But instead of accepting the label, Williams re-envisioned her role as a “Diversity Higher,” an opportunity to prove the significance of Black excellence in the workspace and in society at-large. In this book, she shares all the benefits and advantages that have helped her and many others historically reach great heights in their careers and beyond.
-
-
Insightful and Inspiring
- By Pamela on 11-24-24
-
The Great Spiritual Migration
- How the World's Largest Religion Is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian
- By: Brian McLaren
- Narrated by: Brian McLaren
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With his trademark brilliance, generosity of spirit, and clear pastoral calling, Brian McLaren synthesizes an accessible and inviting understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.
-
-
A must-read for Christian thinkers
- By Amazon Customer on 10-26-16
By: Brian McLaren
-
The Myth of the American Dream
- Reflections on Affluence, Autonomy, Safety and Power
- By: D.L. Mayfield
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Affluence, autonomy, safety, and power. These are the central values of the American dream. But are they actually compatible with Jesus' command to love our neighbor as ourselves? In essays grouped around these four values, D. L. Mayfield asks us to pay attention to the ways they shape our own choices, and the ways those choices affect our neighbors. Where did these values come from? How have they failed those on the edges of our society? And how can we disentangle ourselves from our culture's headlong pursuit of these values and live faithful lives of service to God and our neighbors?
-
-
Sooooo good. Powerful
- By D. Frazier on 08-19-21
By: D.L. Mayfield
-
A Place to Belong
- Celebrating Diversity and Kinship in the Home and Beyond
- By: Amber O'Neal Johnston, Julie Bogart - foreword
- Narrated by: Amber O'Neal Johnston
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gone are the days when socially conscious parents felt comfortable teaching their children to merely tolerate others. Instead, they are looking for a way to authentically embrace the fullness of their diverse communities. A Place to Belong offers a path forward for families to honor their cultural heritage and champion diversity in the context of daily family life.
-
-
must read for everyone
- By Travis H. on 06-12-24
By: Amber O'Neal Johnston, and others
-
Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody
- The Making of a Black Theologian
- By: James H. Cone
- Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this powerful and passionate memoir - his final work - Cone describes the obstacles he overcame to find his voice, to respond to the signs of the times, and to offer a voice for those - like the parents who raised him in Bearden, Arkansas, in the era of lynching and Jim Crow - who had no voice. Recounting lessons learned both from critics and students, and the ongoing challenge of his models King, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin, he describes his efforts to use theology as a tool in the struggle against oppression and for a better world.
-
-
You need to understand Cone to get his Theology
- By Adam Shields on 02-11-20
By: James H. Cone
-
The Second Mountain
- How People Move from the Prison of Self to the Joy of Commitment
- By: David Brooks
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Author David Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith, and to a community. Our personal fulfillment depends on how well we choose and execute these commitments. Brooks looks at a range of people who have lived joyous, committed lives, and who have embraced the necessity and beauty of dependence. He gathers their wisdom on how to choose a partner, how to pick a vocation, how to live out a philosophy, and how we can begin to integrate our commitments into one overriding purpose.
-
-
Pursue meaning, reject hyper-individualism
- By Adam Shields on 05-07-19
By: David Brooks
-
Bet on Black
- The Good News About Being Black in America Today
- By: Eboni K. Williams
- Narrated by: Eboni K. Williams
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When The Real Housewives of New York City hired its first black cast member after more than 13 years on the air, attorney, speaker, and journalist Eboni K. Williams knew that the public would consider her a diversity hire. But instead of accepting the label, Williams re-envisioned her role as a “Diversity Higher,” an opportunity to prove the significance of Black excellence in the workspace and in society at-large. In this book, she shares all the benefits and advantages that have helped her and many others historically reach great heights in their careers and beyond.
-
-
Insightful and Inspiring
- By Pamela on 11-24-24
-
The Great Spiritual Migration
- How the World's Largest Religion Is Seeking a Better Way to Be Christian
- By: Brian McLaren
- Narrated by: Brian McLaren
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With his trademark brilliance, generosity of spirit, and clear pastoral calling, Brian McLaren synthesizes an accessible and inviting understanding of what it means to follow Jesus.
-
-
A must-read for Christian thinkers
- By Amazon Customer on 10-26-16
By: Brian McLaren
-
The Myth of the American Dream
- Reflections on Affluence, Autonomy, Safety and Power
- By: D.L. Mayfield
- Narrated by: Nan McNamara
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Affluence, autonomy, safety, and power. These are the central values of the American dream. But are they actually compatible with Jesus' command to love our neighbor as ourselves? In essays grouped around these four values, D. L. Mayfield asks us to pay attention to the ways they shape our own choices, and the ways those choices affect our neighbors. Where did these values come from? How have they failed those on the edges of our society? And how can we disentangle ourselves from our culture's headlong pursuit of these values and live faithful lives of service to God and our neighbors?
-
-
Sooooo good. Powerful
- By D. Frazier on 08-19-21
By: D.L. Mayfield
-
A Place to Belong
- Celebrating Diversity and Kinship in the Home and Beyond
- By: Amber O'Neal Johnston, Julie Bogart - foreword
- Narrated by: Amber O'Neal Johnston
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gone are the days when socially conscious parents felt comfortable teaching their children to merely tolerate others. Instead, they are looking for a way to authentically embrace the fullness of their diverse communities. A Place to Belong offers a path forward for families to honor their cultural heritage and champion diversity in the context of daily family life.
-
-
must read for everyone
- By Travis H. on 06-12-24
By: Amber O'Neal Johnston, and others
-
Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody
- The Making of a Black Theologian
- By: James H. Cone
- Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this powerful and passionate memoir - his final work - Cone describes the obstacles he overcame to find his voice, to respond to the signs of the times, and to offer a voice for those - like the parents who raised him in Bearden, Arkansas, in the era of lynching and Jim Crow - who had no voice. Recounting lessons learned both from critics and students, and the ongoing challenge of his models King, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin, he describes his efforts to use theology as a tool in the struggle against oppression and for a better world.
-
-
You need to understand Cone to get his Theology
- By Adam Shields on 02-11-20
By: James H. Cone
-
Social Justice Parenting
- How to Raise Compassionate, Anti-Racist, Justice-Minded Kids in an Unjust World
- By: Traci Baxley
- Narrated by: Traci Baxley
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a global pandemic shuttered schools across the country in 2020, parents found themselves thrust into the role of teacher — in more ways than one. Not only did they take on remote school supervision, but after the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests, many also grappled with the responsibility to teach their kids about social justice — with few resources to guide them.
-
-
Inspiring, motivating, practical
- By Heather Janetzko on 03-18-24
By: Traci Baxley
-
Life, I Swear
- Intimate Stories from Black Women on Identity, Healing, and Self-Trust
- By: Chloe Dulce Louvouezo
- Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this stunningly illustrated essay collection inspired by the popular podcast Life, I Swear, prominent Black women reflect on self-love and healing, sharing stories of the trials and tribulations they’ve faced and what has helped them confront pain, heal wounds, and find connection.
-
-
This felt like home
- By nm on 11-16-21
-
To Be Told
- God Invites You to Coauthor Your Future
- By: Dan B. Allender PhD
- Narrated by: William Sarris
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
God wants to reveal himself through your story. Discover how he has written your life so far and how he is leading you into the rest of your story. Everyone wants clearer guidance from God on what to do with their future. In this insightful book, therapist and Professor Dan Allender shows you how to listen to the stories of your life and identify the themes that God has written there.
-
-
Thought Provoking and Inspiring
- By michelle deuz on 04-10-21
-
We Have Overcome
- An Immigrant's Letter to the American People
- By: Jason D. Hill
- Narrated by: Jared Wright
- Length: 4 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The dominant narrative, repeated in the media and from the angry mouths of politicians and activists, is the exact opposite of the reality. They paint a portrait of an America rife with racial and ethnic division, where minorities are mired in a poverty worse than slavery, and white people stand at the top of an unfairly stacked pyramid of privilege. Jason D. Hill corrects the narrative in this powerfully eloquent book. Dr. Hill came to America at the age of twenty from Jamaica and, rather than being faced with intractable racial bigotry, Hill found a land of bountiful opportunity.
-
-
A message of hope for all Americans
- By No Regrets on 06-25-20
By: Jason D. Hill
-
Rescuing Socrates
- How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation
- By: Roosevelt Montás
- Narrated by: Roosevelt Montás
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many academics attack the very idea of a Western canon as chauvinistic, while the general public increasingly doubts the value of the humanities. In Rescuing Socrates, Dominican-born American academic Roosevelt Montás tells the story of how a liberal education transformed his life, and offers an intimate account of the relevance of the Great Books today, especially to members of historically marginalized communities.
-
-
Excellent defense of a crucial part of education
- By Nom de Guerre on 01-24-22
By: Roosevelt Montás
-
Finding Soul on the Path of Orisa
- A West African Spiritual Tradition
- By: Tobe Melora Correal
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the realm of African spiritual pathways, no tradition is so widely embraced and practiced as the West African religion Orisa. Awakened by her own spiritual journey, Tobe Melora Correal, an initiated priestess in the Yoruba-Lukumi branch of Orisa, guides us along this blessed road. Finding Soul on the Path of Orisa provides a fresh look at these ancient teachings and emphasizes introspection and inner work over the outward manifestations of Orisa's practices.
-
-
very informative, it was a great listen.
- By Tamara on 06-11-19
-
Speaking of Faith
- By: Krista Tippett
- Narrated by: Krista Tippett
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this illuminating story of her life and conversations, the host of public radio's Speaking of Faith describes her journey of spiritual exploration - a journey shared by countless others.
-
-
Clarity of Faith
- By Charles on 06-01-07
By: Krista Tippett
-
Good Without God
- What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe
- By: Greg Epstein
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A provocative and positive response to Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and other New Atheists, Good Without God makes a bold claim for what nonbelievers do share and believe. Epstein's Good Without God provides a constructive, challenging response to these manifestos by getting to the heart of Humanism and its positive belief in tolerance, community, morality, and good without having to rely on the guidance of a higher being.
-
-
Speaker sounds too robotic
- By Lisa S. on 08-27-21
By: Greg Epstein
-
Raising White Kids
- Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America
- By: Jennifer Harvey
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Talking about race means naming the reality of white privilege and hierarchy. How do we talk about race honestly, then, without making our children feel bad about being white? Most importantly, how do we do any of this in age-appropriate ways? While a great deal of public discussion exists in regard to the impact of race and racism on children of color, meaningful dialogue about and resources for understanding the impact of race on white children are woefully absent. Raising White Kids steps into that void.
-
-
Distracting performance
- By Amazon Customer on 07-24-20
By: Jennifer Harvey
-
I'm Not Yelling
- A Black Woman’s Guide to Navigating the Workplace
- By: Elizabeth Leiba
- Narrated by: Zoleka Vundla
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
I'm Not Yelling is part strategy for savvy black business women navigating a predominantly white corporate America and part vessel empowering black women to find their voices in toxic work environments and be successful business women. Statistical and anecdotal evidence guide the way. Explore the data and hear the accounts of Black women in business who face, work through, and rise above workplace discrimination. Finding your voice as women entrepreneurs. Successful business women use their voice to become strong Black leaders who instill positive change in the workplace culture.
-
-
SPEAK UP!!!!
- By Anonymous User on 04-03-23
By: Elizabeth Leiba
-
Everyday Ubuntu
- Living Better Together, the African Way
- By: Mungi Ngomane
- Narrated by: Nontombi Naomi Tutu
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ubuntu is a Xhosa word originating from a South African philosophy that encapsulates all our aspirations about how to live life well, together. It is the belief in a universal human bond: I am only because you are. And it means that if you are able to see everyone as fully human, connected to you by their humanity, you will never be able to treat others as disposable or without worth. By embracing the philosophy of ubuntu and living it out in daily life it’s possible to overcome division and be stronger together in a world where the wise build bridges, not walls.
-
-
Inspiring
- By Jack on 02-22-23
By: Mungi Ngomane
-
The Eternal Current
- By: Aaron Niequist
- Narrated by: Aaron Niequist
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a myriad of tense conversations about ideological differences in the Church left him feeling spiritually empty, Niequist determined God must have a different vision for worship and community. In his search, Aaron discovered that there was historical Christian precedent for enacting faith in a different way, an ancient and now future way of believing. He calls this third way "practice-based faith". This book is about loving one's faith tradition and, at the same time, following the call to something deeper and richer.
-
-
Exactly what I need right now
- By Julianna on 05-26-19
By: Aaron Niequist
What listeners say about The Spirit of Our Work
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kimberly
- 06-29-22
Absolutely Amazing!
The information, the experiences, the testimonials, and the assertions that (re)minds us that we must be well and be whole has truly been affirming and a blessing to my life and my dedication to my dissertation.
Praise God for the Ghana experiences, the people, the cloths, the community, and the voices of our ancestors from the dungeon! “Sit with us” I will in my created SANCTUARY as I (re)member who we are while rejecting the narratives of the Colonizers steeped in whiteness.
Future Dr.KOP
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- v
- 04-05-22
Best audio book ever
this is by far my favorite audiobook that I have ever read, and that includes both fiction and nonfiction. this book should be required reading for all black features. It looks to be required reading for all my teachers. This book should be required reading for all black people. all of them to be quiet and listen to the audio and feel the reader while they are read it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nana Becoat
- 10-05-22
A beacon of light and hope!
I truly enjoyed listening to this book. As a Black woman educator, I am always in search of work that highlights the Black women who have been trailblazers in the field of education. I will listen to this again to glean even more from Dr. Dillard and the GSAE program. After hearing about the life changing experiences these women had while in Ghana, I understand why I have had such a strong desire to visit. I also see that it is 100% possible! Thank you for this gem! I am sharing this book with all of my Black women colleagues and my non-black ones as well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- The Alchemist
- 01-20-22
Create Dangerously…..
Superb!!!!!! If you lead a classroom with African American students or a school with African American teachers…. this is your February book study!!!! If you need understanding convincing affirming or simple rejoicing this right here….
Turn the Enslaved Ships around and remember us!!!!!
Pull out the Chapter 3 - omg!!!
Chapter 7: Remembering is Not Optional!!! A love letter to those who teach!!!!
She said…
… Create dangerously…. ED
…. My prayer is that these pages help you not just understand who you are but who we are…. lessons about the power of relationships and love…
….in order for any teacher to teach all children well they must know who Black people are - the length and breadth of our complexities cultures and spiritual conditions….
Ask yourself - who has more of the story to tell?????? 🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!