September Quote of the Month: Africa is at once the most romantic and the most tragic of continents - W.E.B. Du Bois

A new month means a new inspirational quote! This September's comes from our Classic of the Month author:

"Africa is at once the most romantic and the most tragic of continents"

- W.E.B. Du Bois, 1915

Originally published in 1899, The Philadelphia Negro is a sociological study of the blacks living in Philadelphia in 1896-7. DuBois was hired by the University of Pennsylvania to conduct the study, under what some believe to be false pretenses. Some suspect that the study was meant, by those funding it, to show how the black community was responsible for a number of problems within the city. The report they received, however, was of quite a different nature.

The Philadelphia Negro was the first sociological study of black urban Americans ever conducted. It detailed their lives, their social structures, their education, their marriages, and their jobs. The study sought to illuminate ways in which philanthropy could help the people living in Philadelphia's Seventh Ward. It did not presume, as many people did at the time, that blacks lived in poor conditions due to an innate weakness in their race. This scholarly work serves as an excellent reference for students of history and sociology.


About the Author

American writer, civil rights activist, and scholar William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (1868-1963) was the first black man to receive a PhD from Harvard University. A cofounder of the NAACP, he wrote a number of important books, including The Negro (1915) and Black Folk, Then and Now (1899).

August Quote of the Month: The Mueller investigation is complete and this is a simple fact that will never go away: not one single American was charged, indicted or convicted for conspiring with Russia to influence the 2016 election.”

"The Mueller investigation is complete and this is a simple fact that will never go away: not one single American was charged, indicted or convicted for conspiring with Russia to influence the 2016 election.” 

—Glenn Greenwald, journalist, 2019

Our August quote of the month comes from our August Book of the Month, The Mueller Report: The Investigation into Collusion between Donald Trump's Presidential Campaign and Russia by Robert Mueller. 

One of the most important political investigations in American history is Robert Mueller's inquiry into President Donald Trump's possible collusion with Russia. This investigation has engulfed US politics and US–Russia relations for the last two years, reaching levels of hysteria among political pundits and the media. Was it a “witch hunt,” as Trump supporters believed, or a necessary look into impeachable offenses?

In May 2017, Mueller was appointed to head the Special Counsel's Office investigation of the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including possible coordination between Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government, as well as “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”  In addition, Mueller also took over several other existing FBI investigations, including those into former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former national security advisor Michael Flynn.

Although this investigation resulted in dozens of indictments for federal crimes, and at least eight guilty pleas or convictions, no American was charged, indicted, or convicted for conspiring with Russia to influence the 2016 election. Mueller submitted his report to attorney general William Barr on March 22, 2019, the findings of which are now available for everyone to read. This publication also includes two separate letters from Barr to the Senate Judiciary Committee detailing the findings of the report before its release. Students of politics, historians, journalists, and anyone interested in US politics will find this report vital reading.

About the AuthorRobert S. Mueller III (born 1944) is an American attorney, who spent the bulk of his career in government service, serving as a US attorney, homicide prosecutor, and director of the FBI (2001-2013). A life-long Republican, he has served Democratic and Republican presidents, enjoying broad bi-partisan support.

August Book of the Month: The Mueller Report

As August comes to a close, we are getting closer and closer to the election, debates, and learning more about all those who are running for President in 2020. Our Book of the Month, The Mueller Report: The Investigation into Collusion between Donald Trump's Presidential Campaign and Russia by Robert Mueller, cannot be coming at a more timely moment in the history of American politics and democracy. 

One of the most important political investigations in American history is Robert Mueller's inquiry into President Donald Trump's possible collusion with Russia. This investigation has engulfed US politics and US–Russia relations for the last two years, reaching levels of hysteria among political pundits and the media. Was it a “witch hunt,” as Trump supporters believed, or a necessary look into impeachable offenses?

In May 2017, Mueller was appointed to head the Special Counsel's Office investigation of the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, including possible coordination between Donald Trump's campaign and the Russian government, as well as “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”  In addition, Mueller also took over several other existing FBI investigations, including those into former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former national security advisor Michael Flynn.

Although this investigation resulted in dozens of indictments for federal crimes, and at least eight guilty pleas or convictions, no American was charged, indicted, or convicted for conspiring with Russia to influence the 2016 election. Mueller submitted his report to attorney general William Barr on March 22, 2019, the findings of which are now available for everyone to read. This publication also includes two separate letters from Barr to the Senate Judiciary Committee detailing the findings of the report before its release. Students of politics, historians, journalists, and anyone interested in US politics will find this report vital reading.

About the Author
Robert S. Mueller III (born 1944) is an American attorney, who spent the bulk of his career in government service, serving as a US attorney, homicide prosecutor, and director of the FBI (2001-2013). A life-long Republican, he has served Democratic and Republican presidents, enjoying broad bi-partisan support.

July Series of the Month: An Essay on the Principle of Population

In honor of the 117th anniversary of the founding of US Census Bureau, we are showcasing An Essay on the Principle of Population as our Series of the Month.

Around 1796, Mr. Malthus, an English gentleman, had finished reading a book that confidently predicted human life would continue to grow richer, more comfortable and more secure, and that nothing could stop the march of progress. He discussed this theme with his son, Thomas, and Thomas ardently disagreed with both his father and the book he had been reading, along with the entire idea of unending human progress. Mr. Malthus suggested that he write down his objections so that they could discuss them point-by-point. Not long after, Thomas returned with a rather long essay. His father was so impressed that he urged his son to have it published. And so, in 1798, appeared An Essay on Population. Though it was attacked at the time and ridiculed for many years afterward, it has remained one of the most influential works in the English language on the general checks and balances of the world's population and its necessary control. Originally two volumes, it is presented here in an omnibus edition.

Though it was attacked at the time and ridiculed for many years afterward, it has remained one of the most influential works in the English language on the general checks and balances of the world's population and its necessary control. This is a replica of the 1826 sixth edition. 

About the Author

Thomas Robert Mamthus (1766-1834) was educated at Jesus College in Cambridge. In 1798, he was curate at Albury in Surrey, and became a Professor of History and Political Economy at Haileybury College, 1805. 

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November Series of the Month: The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll

We are shining the spotlight on this controversial election month, midterms, and America politics, by reading The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll as our Series of the Month.

Ingersoll was a notorious radical whose uncompromising views on religion and slavery (they were bad, in his opinion), women's suffrage (a good idea, he believed), and other contentious matters of his era made him a wildly popular orator and critic of 19th-century American culture and public life. 

Legendary as a speaker—he memorized his speeches and could talk for hours without notes—and as a proponent of freethought, Ingersoll is an American original whose words still ring with truth and power today. His most important works are gathered in this 12-volume collected edition, first published posthumously in 1901.

Go out and vote! Not sure where you stand? Check out this handy tool here.

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September Classic of the Month: Becoming an American

"We are a nation of immigrants, dedicated to the rule of law. That is our history - and it is our challenge to ourselves....It is literally a matter of who we are as a nation and who we become as a people. E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. One people. The American people..."

— Barbara Jordan, Chairwoman of the U.S. Commission of Immigration Reform, 1995

During this time of upheaval, migrant children separation, and the unknown governing surrounding ICE and the border patrol, we thought it was a good time to showcase Becoming an American: Immigration and Immigrant Policy, Including Executive Summary of U.S. Immigration Policy: Restoring Credibility as our Classic of the Month this September. 

Since President Ronald Reagan's 1986 amnesty of millions of illegal immigrants, immigration has been on the political agenda without any meaningful progress. The United State's illegal immigrant population increased to over 11 million. Economic inequality worsened, and crime and terrorism have entered the immigration conversation. In this contentious environment, President Trump proposed a wall at the Mexican border and decided a review of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program that offers protection to those brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

Politicians who again are speaking of "comprehensive immigration reform" should read Becoming an American: Immigration and Immigrant Policy from the U.S. Commission Of Immigration Reform (a.k.a. the Barbara Jordan Commission), headed by the late Barbara Jordan. This 1997 report contains many guiding principles that are still relevant:

- The rule of law is paramount, therefore illegal immigration is unacceptable and must be deterred;
- Lawful immigrant admission needs to be reduced;
- Call for the Americanization of new immigrants, i.e. the cultivation of a shared commitment to the American values of liberty, democracy, and equal opportunity.

Students of immigration, politicians, journalists, and anyone interested in the history of U.S. immigration and solutions for 21st century America will find this vital background reading.

About the Author

Barbara Jordan (1936-1996), a national icon of the Democratic party, the first African-American woman in the Texas Senate (1966), and the first woman to represent Texas in Congress (1972), was the driving force behind this report. Unfortunately, she died just before the release of this report and few of her Commission's recommendations were implemented. Now twenty years later, it is time is to honor her legacy and learn from this report.

Other Jordan Commission's reports are: U.S. Immigration Policy: Restoring Credibility (1994) and Legal Immigration: Setting Priorities (1995)--executive summaries are included in this publication--and U.S. Refugee Policy: Taking Leadership (1997).

September Book of the Month: The Moynihan Report - 50 years later

With the upcoming midterm elections, supreme court nominations, and immigration issues on everyone's mind, Cosimo would like to present The Moynihan Report: The Negro Family - The Case for National Action by Office of Policy Planning and Research of U.S. Department of Labor Daniel Moynihan as our Book of the Month for September.

Against the backdrop of President Johnson's War on Poverty and the Watts riots in Los Angeles, a young civil servant with the Office of Planning and Research O at the Department of Labor, Daniel P. Moynihan, wrote in 1965 his most controversial study The Moynihan Report - The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.

This report drew widespread attention from critics and supporters alike. It concluded that the conditions under which black children were being raised, generally in single-mother households, were the leading cause of black poverty.

As Moynihan wrote decades later: "The work began in the most orthodox setting, to establish at some level of statistical conciseness what 'everyone knew': that economic conditions determine social conditions. Whereupon, it turned out that what everyone knew was evidently not so."

Although Moynihan was a liberal politician and the report called for jobs programs and vocational training for blacks, many black and civil rights leaders found his report patronizing and that it relied on stereotypes of the black family and black men. 

The 1965 statistics, when approximately 25 percent of black babies were born out of wedlock, have not improved 50 years later, when this percentage has grown to 75 percent; with 50 percent for Hispanic babies and 29 percent for white babies. Also in other areas, such as income, employment, and incarceration, the statistics have deteriorated for blacks. The legacy of The Moynihan Report is that the debate it launched around cultural causes of black poverty is still not settled in modern day America.

August Book of the Month: Astrology and the Art of Healing

This month has been full of meteorites, space exploration, and touching the sun, leading many to look wonder about our great solar system. No need to jump to "infinity and beyond" just yet, learn more about the stars and its affects on all living beings with our Book of the Month: Astrology and the Art of Healing by A. T. Mann.

Conventional medicine treats symptoms with surgery and drugs rather than healing the root causes of illness. Complementary therapies attempt to address the whole self, which can raise awareness of and even counteract the imbalances that create disease. 

This book attempts to relate inner causes with our "four bodies" in order to affect healing. Astrology and the Art of Healing approaches healing and astrology in a new and revolutionary way. Physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual therapies relate to stages of your life process, from conception through birth, and from childhood to old age and death. Many horoscopes show how to understand the origins of health imbalances in your life. Correlations to appropriate therapies can support the expertise of your doctors. A free astro-chart is included.


About the Author
A.T. Mann (B. Arch. Cornell) is an architect and worked in New York City and Rome, Italy. He designed a New York City housing project that won a Progressive Architecture magazine Design Award Citation in 1970. He lectured at the Manchester Metropolitan University Architecture School in England, the Danish Design School, and SEDA (Scottish Ecological Design Association). He has taught at the Netherlands Design Institute, the University of Cincinnati Architecture School, the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, and the National Arts Club in New York. Mann is a member of the Author's Guild, the Forum for Architecture, Culture and Spirituality, and the National Council for Geocosmic Research, where he was a board member. He writes for the very popular tarot.com website.He worked with Mystic Fire Video on the film Kalachakra Tantra Teachings with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is a co-founder of Universal Quest, and worked on Spirituality in the Modern World with Ken Wilber and Traleg Rinpoche, and is working on The Quest for Happiness, featuring The Dalai Lama. He is also developing documentary films on his books on the sacred.

Fans of A. T. Mann take note: is curating six summer night dialogues on Astrology, Prophecy and Divination at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan in July & August. To buy tickets or find out more about the event, please visit The Rubin.

August Series of the Month: Abraham Lincoln: A History by John M. Hay

We are showcasing Abraham Lincoln: A History by John M. Hay as our Series of the Month this August in honor of the late President being in the news for his leadership skills, his use of the telegraph (instead of Twitter), and his lost loves.

Considered one of the best treatments of the presidency of Abraham Lincoln of its time, this 10-volume portrait of the man and his administration of the United States at the moment of its greatest upheaval is both intimate and scholarly.

Written by two private secretaries to the president and first published in 1890, this astonishingly in-depth work is still praised today for its clear, easy-to-read style and vitality. This new replica edition features all the original illustrations.


About the Authors 
American journalist and statesman John Milton Hay (1838-1905) was only 22 when he became a private secretary to Lincoln. A former member of the Providence literary circle when he attended Brown University in the late 1850s, he may have been the real author of Lincoln's famous "Letter to Mrs. Bixby." After Lincoln's death, Hay later served as editor of the New York Tribune and as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom under President William McKinley.

American author John George Nicolay (1832-1901) was born in Germany and emigrated to the U.S. as a child. Before serving as Lincoln's private secretary, he worked as a newspaper editor and later as assistant to the secretary of state of Illinois.


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JFK Files Released and Trauma Room One

This week, President Trump approved the release of 2,800 documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Historians, conspiracy theorists, and citizens who are just downright curious, now have access to papers previously sealed to the public. For those who can't get enough of JFK and want to get the real background, Cosimo is thrilled to highlight Trauma Room One by Charles A. Crenshaw with a foreword by Oliver Stone. In this gripping account, Dr. Charles Crenshaw, one of the Dallas surgeons who worked on JFK in Trauma Room One just after he was brought into the hospital, shares what really happened within those walls. 

In November of 1963, the doctors who tried to save President John F. Kennedy at Parkland Hospital agreed---either out of respect or fear---not to publish what they have seen, heard, or felt. But in 1990, Charles Crenshaw stepped forward and decided that the American people ought to know the truth.

In 1992, when the first edition of this book was published under JFK: Conspiracy of Silence, Crenshaw revealed what he never had the opportunity to tell the Warren Commission. Crenshaw states, "The wounds to Kennedy's head and throat that I examined were caused by bullets that struck him from the front, not the back, as the public has been led to believe."

Shortly after publication, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) called Crenshaw's book a fabrication. But in court, the claim did not hold up, and Crenshaw subsequently prevailed in a defamation suit against JAMA. In the process, a number of new medical disclosures have emerged on the startling medical cover-up of the JFK assassination. 

If you read the just released documents, read especially the last paragraph of this link, which indicates what has been kept secret till now but that was already described in Crenshaw's book: President Kennedy was not killed by one bullet, as stated by the Warren Commission,  but by two bullets shot from two different positions.

This coming November when we remember President Kennedy's death, now already fifty-one years ago, Trauma Room One will be seen as a classic book that tells current readers the true story of how President Kennedy was killed.

Cosimo offers this title as an eBook, hardcover and paperback at leading online bookstores including Barnes & Noble and Amazon.