Pimping the System is an ethnographic study of two welfare offices that empowered welfare-reliant women by providing dominant economic, social, and cultural capital in ways that acknowledged and respected the types of capital participants already possessed. It highlights ways ...

Based on ethnographic research in Contra Costa County, California (CCC), Pimping the Welfare System highlights a welfare program implemented after welfare reform that differed in significant ways from the predominant work first approach implemented by most welfare programs. The book argues that by imparting dominant economic, social, and cultural capital, CCC’s welfare program empowered participants and improved their quality of life and life chances. Successfully transmitting these types of capital, however, was dependent upon the discourses, practices, and pedagogy deployed by welfare workers—as well as the policies, practices, and resources of the welfare program. In particular, CCC’s welfare workers encouraged the acquisition and use of dominant capital (that which is desired by the labor market) by acknowledging and respecting the various types of capital welfare participants already had, and by encouraging participants to make strategic choices about deploying different types of capital. This book calls into question monolithic understandings of economic, social, and cultural capital and encourages a new conceptualization of capital that resists framing poor women as fundamentally “lacking.” In addition, it points to ways welfare administrators and welfare workers can develop more empowering programs even within the confines of federal, state, and local regulations.

“[In Pimp], Iceberg Slim breaks down some of the coldest, capitalist concepts I’ve ever heard in my life.” —Dave Chappelle, from his Nextflix special The Bird Revelation Pimp sent shockwaves throughout the literary world when it published in 1969. Iceberg Slim’s autobiographical novel offered readers a never-before-seen account of the sex trade, and an unforgettable look at the mores of Chicago’s street life during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. In the preface, Slim says it best, “In this book, I will take you, the reader, with me into the secret inner world of the pimp.” An immersive experience unlike anything before it, Pimp would go on to sell millions of copies, with translations throughout the world. And it would have a profound impact upon generations of writers, entertainers, and filmmakers, making it the classic hustler’s tale that never seems to go out of style.

This book examines one of the most contested issues facing feminists, human rights activists and governments around the globe – the international sex trade. For decades, the liberal left has been conflicted as to whether pro-prostitution activists or abolitionists hold the correct view, and debates are ongoing as to who holds the key to the solutions facing the women and girls involved. Over the course of two years, Bindel conducted 250 interviews in almost 40 countries, cities and states, traveling around Europe, Asia, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and East and South Africa. Visiting legal brothels all around the world, Bindel got to know pimps, pornographers, survivors of the sex trade, and the women being sold by men classed as ‘business entrepreneurs’. Whilst meeting feminist abolitionists, pro-prostitution campaigners, police and government officials, and the men who drive the demand, Bindel uncovered the lies, mythology and criminal activity that shroud this global trade, and suggests here a way forward for the women seeking to abolish the oldest oppression. Informed by the lived human experience of those interviewed, this book will be of great interest to feminists, students, criminal justice advocates, criminologists and human rights activists.

In the early 1970s, empowered by the civil rights and women's movements, a new group of women writers began speaking to the American public. Their topic, broadly defined, was the postmodern American West. By the mid-1980s, their combined works made for a bona fide literary groundswell in both critical and commercial terms. However, as Krista Comer notes, despite the attentions of publishers, the media, and millions of readers, literary scholars have rarely addressed this movement or its writers. Too many critics, Comer argues, still enamored of western images that are both masculine and antimodern, have been slow to reckon with the emergence of a new, far more "feminine," postmodern, multiracial, and urban west. Here, she calls for a redesign of the field of western cultural studies, one that engages issues of gender and race and is more self-conscious about space itself_especially that cherished symbol of western "authenticity," open landscape. Surveying works by Joan Didion, Wanda Coleman, Maxine Hong Kingston, Leslie Marmon Silko, Barbara Kingsolver, Pam Houston, Louise Erdrich, Sandra Cisneros, and Mary Clearman Blew, Comer shows how these and other contemporary women writers have mapped new geographical imaginations upon the cultural and social spaces of today's American West.

William A. James, Sr., has created a cogent book of essays that deals with a perplexing problem found among African-Americans. James calls it "The Skin Color Syndrome. His book is divided into four sections, consisting of seven chapters. Within those chapters he depicts five principles that define blacks' "intra racial hatred," a hatred based upon "Pigmentation Discrimination," as the first principle of the Skin Color Syndrome. James then discusses "Passing," and "Where Blacks Are And Where They Need To Go." He talks about "Where Blacks are headed," and then he gives " A Conclusion Of The Matter," and "The Problems We (African-Americans) Must Fix." Lastly, James offers "Kwanzaa 365 Days Per Year," as a restorative solution to the ravages of Jim Crow Law in America.

Sweden and the U.S. have each taken leading roles in the global fight against trafficking in persons. The American approach emphasizes strengthening legal codes and law enforcement tools while enhancing services to victims, and has led to a victim-centered approach. The Swedish model criminalizes demand for trafficking and handling the ¿supply¿ through more admin. means, and has led to an equality-centered approach. Both countries believe sex trafficking is an international issue that requires a mixture of law enforcement, social welfare and foreign policies to solve. This report compares the responses in the U.S. and Sweden to identify synergies and divergences that might impact practice in both countries. Illustrations.

In the intriguing novel The Pimp and the Preacher, former hustler Clyde Robinson learns the inner secrets of pimping the church and vows to expose its devious ministers. After spending more than twenty years behind bars, Clyde Robinson, otherwise known as Pretty Boy, is being released from prison. When asked what he is going to do when he gets out, Clyde informs his fellow inmates that his plan is to go back to the only game he knows, running women a.k.a. "pimping". After much laughter, several inmates tell Clyde to update his game and get with the latest hustle. Clyde questions what that is and is told by another inmate that it is those five magical words that no one can contest, "I've been called to preach." After reading The Pimp and the Preacher, one may ask if this is just a scandalous novel or if it is possibly true. The real question is "Who's pimping who?"

The Problem with Preachers: The Similitude of Preaching, Preying, and Pimping By: Dawud Aasiya-Bey Dawud Aasiya-Bey was born in Washington, D.C., and his parents relocated to Long Island, NY, when he was four years old. He grew up with three brothers in a town called Wyandanch in the town of Babylon. As a child, he attended a private, parochial middle school in Deer Park, NY, which had a church on the campus and this is where his first experience of attending mass occurred. He felt that the school was a strict environment because it seemed that minor infractions resulted in punishments that simply did not fit the wrongdoing. He envisioned church as a place where people would be friendly and kind, but such was not the case as sisters and fathers seemed to roam the school campus like their goal in life was to catch someone doing something wrong. Dawud now lives in Murrieta, California, with his wife and son, which is a small city about 60 miles north of San Diego. He is currently in the teaching vocation as a biology teacher and has been doing so for over sixteen years. Prior to teaching, he worked in the IT field, which was a volatile environment back in 2000 requiring “head-hunters” to find contractual B2B jobs, which were three to six months at best as outsourcing was the norm. Such instability introduced him to the teaching profession, as he was a substitute teacher between his IT contract jobs. His involvement in the church community as a musician (bassist) allows him to experience the church dynamic from a ‘musician for hire’ perspective while continuing his passion for playing music that centers on worship. Being behind the scenes and playing in ministries throughout the years has given him more insight as playing at churches, conferences, and gospel events allowed him to observe the networking, conversations, and sentiments that took place amongst ministries. He feels that the lifestyles and views of some preachers contradict what Jesus taught in the Bible.