Dr. Black To Hold Book Signings June 19, 26

By Purnell T. Cropper | June 17, 2011

Dr. Helen K. Black, a researcher in the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Department, will sign copies of her book From Zero to Eighty: Two African-American Men’s Narrative of Racism, Suffering, Survival and Transformation on June 19 at 12:30 p.m. at the Lombard Central Presbyterian Church (4201 Powelton Ave., Philadelphia) and on June 26 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Raymond’s Catholic Church (1350 East Vernon Road, Philadelphia).

 Through the lens of age, racism, struggle, and hope, From Zero to Eighty narrates a history of what has not been written about older African American men. It tells the life stories of John T.Groce and Charles E. Harmon against the backdrop of deep-seated cultural beliefs that engender racism. The book already has drawn great interest and praise. “This compelling dual narrative chronicles the transformational lives of two aging Black male griots in the often unexplored ‘Jim Crow’ to ‘Post-racial’ eras in Philadelphia. It provides a subliminal template of how Black men can uplift the race with love and intergenerational Sankofa wisdom,” says Dr. Richard M. Cooper, MSW, Widener University, Producer/Host of The Karamu Show on WURD 900.