MICHAEL CARTER

This is a collection of daily ramblings of a father thinking about his wedding toast.

This is a true, humorous accounting of my journey through stage 4 throat cancer.

The lives of the Royal Family of Bellagem are taken on a journey through a magical realm created by the least likely of things to bring it about. Something small and seemingly insignificant causes an enormous change within this little kingdom. A place where no one would expect such a thing to happen becomes the very place in which it does. Enter into a world of fantasy carried on the wings of a mysterious and intriguing bird, bringing to life a fascinating story that will provide a memorable and engaging experience that promises all the charms that any great secret holds.

"Africulture is a gift and inspiration."Michael W. Twitty, author of the James Beard Foundation Award-winning The Cooking GeneA bold, timely history illuminating the essential contributions to U.S. agriculture arising from the expertise and innovations of Black men and women.In Africulture, fifth-generation family farmer Michael Carter, Jr. has blended an eclectic brew of history, culture, African-centered perspectives, and African American farm realities. Throughout, he includes inspiring stories of innovators as well as sobering facts tracking the severe decline in the number of Black farmers in the United States over the last century. Descriptions of tropical crops that Carter grows, from jute to Nigerian spinach, enliven the text, as do anecdotes from his compelling family history and profiles of contemporary Black farmers and activists. Drawing on the lifecycle of a plant as a metaphor for both individual growth and the larger story of African American farming, Carter evokes the relationship between soil health (metaphorically, society and community) and plant health (i.e., the ability of Black farmers and families to thrive).Africulture also includes Carters heartfelt reflections on the cycles of progress and backslidingwhat he calls blacklashthat are an inescapable part of the history of Black people in the United States, in agriculture and beyond. In the present moment, when the civil rights gains and progress toward economic parity for Black Americans of the past fifty years may be slipping away, Carter offers the possibility of a better future through several foundational principles of Africulture.Destined to surprise, challenge, and enrich, Africulture lays bare the undeniable revelation that without African expertise and innovation, American agricultureand America itselfwould not exist.The ancestors are undoubtedly shaking their tambourines in celebration of Africulture...[it] provides a blueprint for the blossoming of an agriculture rooted in cultural memory, ecological care, and mutual thriving.Leah Penniman, cofounder, Soul Fire Farm; author of Farming While Black

Knock-out recipes for award-winning, Philadelphia-style pizzas, wings, shakes, and more, from Down North, the pizzeria owned and operated exclusively by formerly incarcerated people, featuring poignant stories from its employees.A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST COOKBOOK OF THE YEARCreated and launched by Philly born-and-bred entrepreneur Muhammad Abdul-Hadi, the mission of Down North Pizza is to reduce recidivism rates in North Philly and serve up the most insanely delicious food while doing it. We the Pizza tells the Down North story about how the restaurant fulfills its mission to educate and support the formerly incarcerated while serving dope food. A testament to survival and second chances, this cookbook offers recipes for the tender, crispy-edged, square-cut, sauce-on-top pies that are Down Norths signature dish; a whole chapter is devoted to vegetarian and vegan pizzas like No Better Love made with four cheeses and the arrabbiata-inspired Norf Sauce, while the meat and seafood pizza chapter features their most popular Roc the Mic pepperoni pie as well as the smoky berbere-brisket Tales of a Hustler and Say Yes, topped with jerk turkey sausage, roasted butternut squash, kale, ricotta, and lemon-honey drizzle. The 65 recipes for pizzas along with classic and creative wings, fries, lemonades, and shakes are paired with cinematic photography of the pizzas in their natural setting and out in the wilds of Philadelphia, with lots of journalistic-style photography of the Down North crew making dough and slinging pies. At the same time, We the Pizza provides detailed historical information about incarceration in the United States along with empowering stories from Down Norths formerly incarcerated staff. And with exclusive pizza recipes from renowned chef-supporters like Marc Vetri and Marcus Samuelsson, We the Pizza celebrates ingeniously delicious pizza, as well as the power people have to rise above their circumstancesif simply given the chance.

Sand. Sonoran desert saguaros scattered across the blended yellow, sometimes reddish landscape. An endless blue sky. In the blaze of sunlight, only the far off mountains shaped the blinding expanse. This begins an adventure to a small town that exists out of time or place. It leads to human powers both astonishing and forbidden. The characters must confront unsolvable problems that arise when addiction leads to crime and death across time, as well as place.