Author and historian, Crystal Jackson, delivers an authentic and compelling account of one town's epic journey through American history. Since our nation's birth, Pacoima has been a microcosm of America's social development and evolution. Once called Pacoinga, this was sacred Indian land until Spain invaded in the 1700s. From the Mission era and genocide of the area's natives to the rise of a Black middle-class suburban community, the town's diverse racial history is unlike any other. Jackson's powerful book peels back the jaw-dropping layers of this historic town to expose the provocative racial threads that bind American history. As some in America strived to contain and diminish people of color, time after time, Pacoimabroke free and flew to unimaginable heights. The town blends a unique divergence of cultures, including Native, Latino, Black, Japanese, and White has defied all odds over that last 150 years. Their remarkable history reveals stories that redefine the development of America's minority culture. Jackson has spent five years researching the town and interviewed dozens of current and former residents. US Congressman Tony Cárdenas, US Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and Calif. Secretary of State, Alex Padilla, are among the many people raised in Pacoima, that Jackson interviewed for the book. She also interviewed 90-year-old residents, Indian chiefs, Mexican migrants, families of Japanese internment camp survivors and civil rights leaders who vividly described the town's growth and evolution. Despite the stolen Indian land, punishment for speaking Spanish, forced imprisonment, civil rights violations, and a tragic crack epidemic that nearly destroyed the town, Pacoima has defied all odds to make a significant impact on the country and even the world.

A brilliantly observed memoir of an unprecedented and remarkable spiritual journey. While religion has fuelled the often violent conflict plaguing the Holy Land, Yossi Klein Halevi wondered whether it could be a source of unity as well. To find the answer, this religious Israeli Jew began a two–year exploration to discover a common language with his Christian and Muslim neighbours. He followed their holiday cycles, befriended Christian monastics and Islamic mystics, and joined them in prayer in monasteries and mosques in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden traces that remarkable spiritual journey. Halevi candidly reveals how he fought to reconcile his own fears and anger as a Jew to relate to Christians and Muslims as fellow spiritual seekers. He chronicles the difficulty of overcoming multiple obstacles注eological, political, historical, and psychological注at separate believers of the three monotheistic faiths. And he introduces a diverse range of people attempting to reconcile the dichotomous heart of this sacred place柠struggle central to Israel, but which resonates for us all.

Brimming with rage, sorrow, and resilience, this collection traverses an expansive terrain: genocide; diaspora; the guilt of surviving; racism and Islamophobia; the burdens of girlhood; the solace of sisterhood; the innocence of a first kiss. Heart-wrenching and raw, defiant and empowering, Sisters’ Entrance explores how to speak the unspeakable.