Rebecca Kennedy’s childhood and teenage experiences could have socialized her to become an extreme far-right Christian, a racist, a self-hating homophobe, and a bitter child abuse victim. The trauma her mentally ill father perpetrated upon her, along with her having little support for her eventual career, did not deter her from standing out as the “different one,” who determined to be Christ’s love for marginalized people. Her 1950 through 1964 accounts of a Southern cotton mill culture depict an oppressive and violent Jim Crow era, ultra-fundamentalist Christianity’s complicity in maintaining an Old South social order. Her community’s White people lamented the Civil War’s Lost Cause and longed for the rise of the Old South’s Glorious Confederacy. Her memoir relates her eye-witness stories of Poor White Trash families contrasted with her Lint Head family’s poverty existence. Her parents’ dilemma of her being a smart kid in a poor family highlights Rebecca’s zeal and determination for an education she perceived as her hope to freedom. She not only received education through formal schooling but also through her relationship with Aunt Maddie and encounters with African American individuals, a gay man and two lesbians, and several therapists. Her memoir includes a profound one-day soul-to-soul meeting with Mr. Beau LeMonde, a former slave, during her family’s visit to an Old South themed museum. Rebecca reveals the night her father’s mental illness exploded into physical, spiritual, and psychological destruction. Rebecca’s unique observations of events, that others deemed “that’s the way God intends it to be,” compelled her to look around and ask, “Why? Why is it that way? That’s not Christ’s way.” Rebecca approaches her youth with poignant descriptions infused with her humor.

Rebecca Kennedy's childhood and teenage experiences could have socialized her to become an extreme far-right Christian, a racist, a self-hating homophobe, and a bitter child abuse victim. The trauma her mentally ill father perpetrated upon her, along with her having little support for her eventual career, did not deter her from standing out as the "different one," who determined to be Christ's love for marginalized people. Her 1950 through 1964 accounts of a Southern cotton mill culture depict an oppressive and violent Jim Crow era, ultra-fundamentalist Christianity's complicity in maintaining an Old South social order. Her community's White people lamented the Civil War's Lost Cause and longed for the rise of the Old South's Glorious Confederacy. Her memoir relates her eye-witness stories of Poor White Trash families contrasted with her Lint Head family's poverty existence. Her parents' dilemma of her being a smart kid in a poor family highlights Rebecca's zeal and determination for an education she perceived as her hope to freedom. She not only received education through formal schooling but also through her relationship with Aunt Maddie and encounters with African American individuals, a gay man and two lesbians, and several therapists. Her memoir includes a profound one-day soul-to-soul meeting with Mr. Beau LeMonde, a former slave, during her family's visit to an Old South themed museum. Rebecca reveals the night her father's mental illness exploded into physical, spiritual, and psychological destruction. Rebecca's unique observations of events, that others deemed "that's the way God intends it to be," compelled her to look around and ask, "Why? Why is it that way? That's not Christ's way." Rebecca approaches her youth with poignant descriptions infused with her humor.

No one would have guessed that Donald Neesewho grew up poor in Alabama in the 1940s and 1950swould become an Air Force pilot, a CIA agent, and a senior executive with Lockheed Martin. But Neese always had a way of surprising folks. No one ever saw him coming, which may be why he made a great spy. He looks back at his adventure-filled life, from growing up with an abusive father and an overly religious mother to trying to live up to his valedictorian brother and then flying missions over the battlegrounds of Vietnam and beyond. Not everything turned out as planned, for instance, there was a painful divorce, but his love of country and family got him through the toughest of times. Hed also discover love again. In Poor White Trash No More, Neese looks back at an incredible life filled with surprising turns. His story will inspire you to keep chasing your dreams even during the darkest of times.

Discussing questions of race and class in America, we often skip those who are white but are treated as a different kind of "other." A professor of English and literature, Dr. William Matthew McCarter explores the realities of being "Not Qwhite in America" from a historical and literary perspective. He interweaves colloquial storytelling with advanced critical strategies in a unique and entertaining fashion. This in-depth analysis is perfect for scholars and laypersons interested in the questions of race and class in the American experience. Starting with his own experience of prejudice and discrimination, and tracing that experience through his own family history, the author provides a framework for others who want to understand the experience of being "othered." The breadth of knowledge he relies on reflects his education in cultural studies, literature, and theory. This book is perfect as a text in college courses, supplementary reading for scholars, or people wanting to dip their toes into a topic that has thus far not gotten much attention. Dr. McCarter welcomes readers to learn more about the cultural studies perspective on race and see how it can be applied to examining their own experiences

The textile era was born of a perfect storm. When North Georgia's red clay failed farmers and prices fell during Reconstruction, opportunities arose. Beginning in the 1880s, textile industries moved south. Mill owners enticed an entire workforce to leave their farms and move their families into modern mill villages, encased communities with stores, theaters, baseball teams, bands and schools. To some workers, mill village life was idyllic. They had work, recreation, education, shopping and a home with the modern conveniences of running water and electricity. Most importantly, they got a paycheck. But after the New Deal, workers started to see the raw deal they were getting from mill owners and rebelled. Strikes and economic changes began to erode the era of mill villages, and by the 1960s, mill village life was all but gone. Author Lisa Russell brings these once-vibrant communities back to life.

Journalist and publisher Brandt Ayers's journey takes him from the segregated Old South to covering the central scenes of the civil rights struggle, and finally to editorship of his family’s hometown newspaper, The Anniston Star. The journey was one of controversy, danger, a racist nightrider murder, taut moments when the community teetered on the edge of mob violence that ended well because of courageous civic leadership and wise hearts of black and white leaders. The narrative has outsized figures from U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy to George Wallace and includes probing insights into the Alabama governor as he evolved over time. High points of the story involve the birth of a New South movement, the election of a Southern President, and the strange undoing of his presidency. An Afterword, made imperative by the cultural and political exclamation point of a black President, bridges the years from the disappearance of the New South in the 1980s to Barack Obama’s first term.