Kirjahaku

Fieldwork deals with the practical, mechanical, ethical, and theoretical aspects of collecting data. Jackson discusses how fieldworkers define their role, how they relate to others in the field, and how they go about recording for later use what occurred in their presence. This treatment offers an abundance of useful information to those who do folklore fieldwork as well as those who work in any of the other social sciences or humanities. An appendix relates the author's own experiences while documenting Texas's death row.

This gathering of essays by the maverick social observer Bruce Jackson will stir memories, give insights, and provoke strong reactions. Selections range freely over a wide spectrum of American social conditions, public policy, and crime and punishment issues from the mid-1960s to the present. The essays remain remarkably fresh and crucially central to issues in contemporary American society. They will appeal to the general reader as well as to readers with more specialized interests in the criminal justice system and social policy.

As recently as the 1970s, many inmates in southern prisons lived and worked on prison farms that were not only modeled after the American slave plantation, but even occupied lands that literally were slave plantations before the Civil War, and on which working and living conditions had not changed much a century after the war. Bruce Jackson began visiting some of these prison farms in the 1960s to study black convict worksongs and folk culture. He took a camera along as means of visual note taking, but soon realized that he had an extraordinary opportunity to document a world whose harshness was so extreme that at least one prison had been declared unconstitutional. Allowed unsupervised access to prison farms in Texas and Arkansas, Jackson created an astonishing photographic record, most of which has never before been published in book form.Inside the Wire presents a complete, irreplaceable portrait of the southern prison farm. With freedom to wander the fields and facilities and hang out with inmates for extended periods, Jackson captured everything from the hot, backbreaking work of hand-picking cotton, to the cacophony and lack of all privacy in the cell blocks, to the grim solitude of death row. He also includes some early twentieth-century prisoner identification shots, taken by anonymous convict photographers for the prison files, that survive as profoundly evocative human portraits. These images and Jackson’s photographs document, as no previous work has, the humanity of the people and the inhumanity of the institutions in which they labor and languish. As Jackson says, “sometimes kindness happens with prison, but prison itself is a cruel world outsiders can scarcely imagine. I hope nothing in this book suggests otherwise.”

Bruce Jackson speaks out about the stories that lie hidden within the inner city streets of urban America. Enter into a world unknown to many... the Underground.

A visual and narrative memoir of a lifetime's encounters with 112 trendsetters, musicians, politicians, writers, and ordinary people by a noted folklorist-photographer.Honorable Mention, for the 2022 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in the Photography Category Rocker Rod Stewart, Jackson says, had it wrong when he titled his breakthrough album Every Picture Tells a Story. Pictures don't tell stories-but many of them call to mind stories or have stories about their making.Throughout his sixty-year career as folklorist, ethnographer, criminologist, filmmaker, and journalist, Bruce Jackson has taken photographs of family, friends, people he worked with, people he studied, and people he encountered. Ways of the Hand includes 112 of his favorite portraits, portraits in which the hands are often as expressive as the faces. In six sections, Jackson shares photographs of notable musicians, political figures, activists, actors, artists, and writers. These portraits are accompanied by stories of how and where they were taken and the stories they invoke or reflect. The result is a stunning visual and narrative memoir of a lifetime of encounters.

Delves into the meaning of stories, their tellers, and those who experience them.In The Story Is True, folklorist, filmmaker, and professor of English Bruce Jackson explores the ways we use the stories that become a central part of our public and private lives. Describing and explaining how stories are made and used, Jackson examines how stories narrate and bring meaning to our lives. Jackson writes about his family and friends, acquaintances, and experiences, focusing on more than a dozen personal stories. From oral histories to public stories-such as what happened when Bob Dylan "went electric" at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival-Jackson gets at how the "truth" is constantly shifting depending on the perspective, memory, and social meaning that is ascribed to various events-both real and imaginary. The book is ideal for students and writers of oral history and storytelling but goes beyond those topics to encompass how we interpret and understand the real-life "stories" that we encounter in our daily experience.This edition includes new sections on how stories are related to historical facts and new chapters on contemporary films (expanding the discussion of visual storytelling) and on conspiracy narratives and Trump's Big Lie. Fresh examples tie together new material with the existing stories.

Delves into the meaning of stories, their tellers, and those who experience them.In The Story Is True, folklorist, filmmaker, and professor of English Bruce Jackson explores the ways we use the stories that become a central part of our public and private lives. Describing and explaining how stories are made and used, Jackson examines how stories narrate and bring meaning to our lives. Jackson writes about his family and friends, acquaintances, and experiences, focusing on more than a dozen personal stories. From oral histories to public stories-such as what happened when Bob Dylan "went electric" at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival-Jackson gets at how the "truth" is constantly shifting depending on the perspective, memory, and social meaning that is ascribed to various events-both real and imaginary. The book is ideal for students and writers of oral history and storytelling but goes beyond those topics to encompass how we interpret and understand the real-life "stories" that we encounter in our daily experience.This edition includes new sections on how stories are related to historical facts and new chapters on contemporary films (expanding the discussion of visual storytelling) and on conspiracy narratives and Trump's Big Lie. Fresh examples tie together new material with the existing stories.

Celebrates over a half-century of the work of one of America's greatest folklorists.Folklore Matters gathers over a half-century of articles, memoirs, field studies, and more by master folklorist Bruce Jackson. Jackson's wide-ranging view of what makes up folklore, his affection for his subjects, and his keen-eyed ability to observe and record without prejudice stories, songs, and lore from everyone from death-row inmates to numbers runners, hustlers, and legendary blues musicians shines through. In his own words, Jackson's essays "bear witness" to worlds that others have too easily ignored. This book includes Jackson's landmark work on prison lore and toasts (the predecessor of rap); labor and criminology; his wide-ranging interest in African American lore and legend; his encounters with legendary figures including Alan Lomax and Pete Seeger; and articles that challenge the many traps and pitfalls that plague much of academic study. Folklore Matters will delight, inform, and inspire all those who value America's deepest traditions and the endless creativity of the unrecognized masters of our national culture.

Celebrates over a half-century of the work of one of America's greatest folklorists.Folklore Matters gathers over a half-century of articles, memoirs, field studies, and more by master folklorist Bruce Jackson. Jackson's wide-ranging view of what makes up folklore, his affection for his subjects, and his keen-eyed ability to observe and record without prejudice stories, songs, and lore from everyone from death-row inmates to numbers runners, hustlers, and legendary blues musicians shines through. In his own words, Jackson's essays "bear witness" to worlds that others have too easily ignored. This book includes Jackson's landmark work on prison lore and toasts (the predecessor of rap); labor and criminology; his wide-ranging interest in African American lore and legend; his encounters with legendary figures including Alan Lomax and Pete Seeger; and articles that challenge the many traps and pitfalls that plague much of academic study. Folklore Matters will delight, inform, and inspire all those who value America's deepest traditions and the endless creativity of the unrecognized masters of our national culture.

The classic work on African American toasts, the predecessor of rap.Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me celebrates the African American oral tradition of toasting, one of the key roots of contemporary rap. Jackson was among the few to appreciate the profane energy and beauty of this rhymed form, collecting such classic toasts as "Stackolee," "The Titanic," "Signifying Monkey," "Dance of the Freaks," and dozens more. This unexpurgated edition offers the raw, vibrant, and still startling imagery of these toasts shaped by decades of oral transmission through the voices of countless rhymers. Just like rap, the toasting tradition enabled previously unheard or stifled topics, including racism, sexual exploitation, economic deprivation, and social oppression, to be expressed in a form that embodied multiple layers of meaning. Jackson helped preserve a rapidly dying art form to ensure that it would be available for many generations to come. In the words of Robin D.G. Kelley, "All you Hip Hop heads need to know this book if you want to know your roots."

The classic work on African American toasts, the predecessor of rap.Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me celebrates the African American oral tradition of toasting, one of the key roots of contemporary rap. Jackson was among the few to appreciate the profane energy and beauty of this rhymed form, collecting such classic toasts as "Stackolee," "The Titanic," "Signifying Monkey," "Dance of the Freaks," and dozens more. This unexpurgated edition offers the raw, vibrant, and still startling imagery of these toasts shaped by decades of oral transmission through the voices of countless rhymers. Just like rap, the toasting tradition enabled previously unheard or stifled topics, including racism, sexual exploitation, economic deprivation, and social oppression, to be expressed in a form that embodied multiple layers of meaning. Jackson helped preserve a rapidly dying art form to ensure that it would be available for many generations to come. In the words of Robin D.G. Kelley, "All you Hip Hop heads need to know this book if you want to know your roots."

A stunning visual memorial to Buffalo's architectural and industrial history.Archer Daniels Midland got lucky the night of December 11, 2021: a fierce winter wind took out a third of the brick wall of Buffalo's Great Northern Grain Elevator. ADM had wanted to demolish the building since 1993, but each of its demolition requests to the city had been blocked. Six days after the storm, with no public hearings, the building was condemned. A unique piece of Buffalo's economic and global architectural history was gone.Grain elevators are part of Buffalo's-and the nation's-architectural heritage. Unlike earlier wooden structures, the Great Northern was made of steel; it was fireproof. The steel bins kept the grain dry and the rats out. The entire steel structure was riveted and bolted into a single entity. The Great Northern couldn't burn down or blow up; it couldn't be knocked down, and it was incapable of falling down. When the Great Northern was completed seven months after the shovels broke ground, it was the largest grain elevator in the world. It was built to last, and last it did until the eight-month task of tearing it apart began on September 16, 2022.Photographer and activist Bruce Jackson documents the story of this key architectural landmark through text, documents, and his own photographs taken over a period of several decades to tell this tragic story that will appeal to anyone interested in the history and preservation of America's industrial culture.

How true stories, almost-true stories, urban legends, myths and even outright lies captivate us and bind us together

A remarkable collection of prison "portraiture" photos

A remarkable collection of prison "portraiture" photos

What is universal reality? Is this world interested in a realistic vision of what life is like beyond death?Is our world curious about how an understanding of a realistic presentation of heaven might impact our lives in this age of alternative truth, unreality, entrenched self-interest, and systemic racism?Would individuals be interested in a narrative about our universe that is neither a Star Wars fantasy nor a fiction perpetrated by religionists with a social/religious agenda? Would anyone have an interest in discovering what universal teachers or resurrected beings might say to us beyond the veil of death?Is racism, evil, hate, cheating, greed, lying, murder, rape, selfishness, and etcetera something that is okay with our universe? If it is, then the very concept of eternal life has no meaning and is utterly inviable. We humans of the Planet of the Cross have known this for well over two thousand years. So why are these issues such a problem on our planet today? Are our universal leaders pleased with our progress?We live in an age where our greatest human handicap is our lack of understanding of our ascendant future and the reality of our universal lives. On earth, we are embryonic souls locked within the limits of the womb. From earth, we pass into universal infancy. What happens when our eyes open?Premise: "There are as many paths to the Portals of Paradise as there are Ascending Pilgrims going there. Each ascenders path is utterly unique. Any religious practice that believes that it has the 'one and only truth' speaks more in arrogance than in the knowledge of universal truth." This fictional work reflects on our mortal lives from the perspective of unseen universal beings and from the experiences of ascenders who have passed through the veil of human death. As all beings are the children of our Mother/Father God, all are truly equal siblings; "there is no racial supremacy because there are no racists in heaven." This novel calls for the cultivation of genuine human equality through the end of systemic racism. It suggests a new perspective on ascendant living for mortal beings.Plot: The narrative covers the progression of life in a Southern American town during the first three decades of the twentieth century. The characters experience social divisions, poverty, World War I, pandemic, prohibition, suffrage, clerical rape, lynching, gay marriage, economic collapse, and systemic racism. The story is presented from the perspective of a diverse cast of characters ranging from judges, politicians, hoodlums, teachers, businessmen, soldiers, wealthy whites, lower-class whites, and folks from a colored community. Their lives are reflected upon by their guardian angels and unseen universal teachers. Part 1 covers the lives of folks around Thom Jons, a war hero and entrepreneur who gradually descends into rejecting life by demanding death. Part 2 begins after the dispensational resurrection of the souls onto Mansion One. All the resurrected characters protest that Thom Jons had failed to be resurrected. They demand and win a tribunal before Melchizedek to convince Thom to be born into the reality of ascendant eternal life. After introductions by Melchizedek, the tribunal consists of the reflections of each ascender on their earthly lives, Thom's positive mortal legacy, and their experiences, lessons, and new perspectives learned after their resurrection. They invite Thom to join them in the adventure of universal progress, spiritual development, and an ever-evolving living faith. For they have understood the experience of the Ascendant Will of God in the fulfillment of their personal spiritual assignments by God the Father and their communal service experience with the Eternal Mother.

Microsoft's associate general counsel shares the inspirational story of his rise from childhood poverty in pre-gentrified New York City to a stellar career at the top of the technology and music industries in this stirring true story of grit and perseverance. For fans of Indra Nooyi's My Life in Full and Viola Davis's Finding Me.As an accomplished Microsoft executive, Bruce Jackson handles billions of dollars of commerce as its associate general counsel while he plays a crucial role in the company's corporate diversity efforts. But few of his colleagues can understand the weight he carries with him to the office each day. He kept his past hidden from sight as he ascended the corporate ladder but shares it in full for the first time here. Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Jackson moved to Manhattan's Amsterdam housing projects as a child, where he had already been falsely accused and arrested for robbery by the age of ten. Taken in by the criminal justice system, seduced by a burgeoning drug trade, and burdened by a fractured, impoverished home life, Jackson stood on the edge of failure. But he was saved by a concerned aunt's offer: stay out of trouble, and she'll make sure he gets the help he needs to get out of the projects. The open hand woke Jackson up and set him on a better path, off the streets and eventually on the way to Georgetown Law. With tenacity, and after a stint in corporate law that makes him all too aware of his rare status as a Black attorney in upscale Washington, DC, Jackson set out on his own. He cut his teeth representing hip hop artists in an effort to lift up talented young Black people he had seen exploited for profit by unscrupulous advisors one too many times. Jackson came to realize that the traumas of his past lend power. He related to the artists he represented and the music they created in ways his peers could never understand, and rose in his career alongside iconic figures in the early 90s hip-hop scene: LL Cool J; Pete Rock & CL Smooth; Heavy D; and a young entrepreneur named Puff Daddy among them. But even as he racked up professional accomplishments, Jackson was haunted by the unchanged world outside his office. The public housing where so many of his loved ones remained was still in chaos. People of color still chewed up by the criminal justice system, like he had been decades before. Even as a successful adult, Jackson was targeted for driving in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and in too nice of a car. In a vivid replay of his childhood, he was once again thrown in jail on trumped-up charges. But his employer Microsoft showed more compassionate than most. They looked beyond the flawed record and instead to the heart of the talented colleague. It is a gift Jackson pays forward as he goes on to push for greater inclusion and equity in the tech industry. From public housing, to working for Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, and its founder, Bill Gates, to advising some of the biggest stars in music, Bruce Jackson's Never Far from Home reveals the ups and downs of an incredible journey and the valuable lessons learned along the way.