{"product_id":"touch-me-im-for-real-jean-barrett-groves-9781644629376","title":"Touch Me! I'm for Real","description":"Like most kids, teachers asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. That question was hard to answer as a black girl growing up in Harlem in the 1950s. When I tried to look back beyond my grandmother to understand my family's past, there was an ugly stain on our history left by slavery and then just a dark blur. It was said we came from Africa. Where exactly? I didn't know. There was no connection. When I looked around me, I saw crime, violence, and drugs spreading malignity through the black community. Meanwhile, the old staples-faith and family values-were like walls slowly crumbling down. I glanced ahead, but it was hard to see past things modeled at home, wrong words said or negative messages telegraphed to me in books and media that poo-pooed my potential. They didn't bode well for my future. What was I to do? The only thing I could. I summoned whatever I had in me, used my ghetto beginnings to push against, and then propelled forward. I completed my education, developed a teaching career in the NYC public schools, and bought a house. I felt like I was finally \"somebody.\" A health issue came along and gave me a one-two punch. I became unable to walk and speak. My sense of worth was immediately placed in jeopardy when I joined a new group of disadvantaged-the disabled. I had to climb back up to acceptance and respectability and achieve normalcy. I asked myself, Could I find a voice and still make a difference? This book is how I answered that. It is a story about finding strength, hope, and a higher quality of life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jean Barrett Groves\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1644629372\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781644629376\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Page Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/06\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 500\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.97lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.36d","brand":"Jean Barrett Groves","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44126184603903,"sku":"9781644629376","price":41.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_fc40400c-74aa-4d58-8ec7-187ba7da32b4.jpg?v=1687446740","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/touch-me-im-for-real-jean-barrett-groves-9781644629376","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}