Micro Trends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes by Mark J. Penn

This is a quick read - the chapters are short and formatted in a predictable pattern - but it is a big paradigm changer. Mark Penn is a sociologist/statistician/analyst whose ability to spot very small trends helped formulate campaign strategies for victorious candidates as in Bill Clinton in 1996. That was when he identified a group of under-recognized young mothers and labeled them "soccer moms" to recruit them to vote Democratic. The label served well enough for Republican vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, to adopt the moniker for herself in the 2008 campaign. Politics aside, Penn's book explains how the inter-connectivity of the world wide web makes it possible and profitable to market to a niche group of individuals once 100,000 of them can be located. Then he explores a plethora of micro trends spanning all aspects of our culture: religion, education, life style, family, work, fashion, leisure, and technology to name a few biggies. When relevant he also comments on the same micro trends in their global contexts. So, I recommend reading this book to take the pulse of American culture and to discover a different way of thinking about what our fellow citizens are doing and deciding.

Penn, Mark J. with E. Kinney Zalesne. Micro Trends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes. 2007. Twelve. New York

Cherokee Dragon by Robert J. Conley

Dragging Canoe, a Cherokee chief, grew up in the eighteenth century as more and more whites entered their ancestral lands forcing more and more concessions in return for less and less remuneration. His father, also a tribal elder, believed in negotiating with the white man- at least until he met Pontiac and learned of the animosity between the various American and European factions. Dragging Canoe watched as one agreement after another was violated and as more and more of his people were killed. He advocated an inter-tribal alliance and inspired Tecumseh. Neither approach ended up being successful and the Cherokee nation moved west in the Trail of Tears. Robert Conley has written an important piece of historical fiction that presents the native point of view well, adding the emotional dilemmas that come when traditional wisdom fails its people and when one generation's solutions clash with those preferred by the next.

Conley, Robert J., Cherokee Dragon. 2000. St. Martin's Press. New York.

Queen by Alex Haley and David Stevens

"A child of the plantation," Queen looked as white as her father but was "nigra." This piece of narrative historical not really fiction covers the period between around 1820 to the late nineteenth century while the fabric of Southern plantation society and its dependency on slavery unraveled. In the epic style of a Michener book, the authors assume various perspectives over the course of the book to demonstrate that at our core we need to be loved for who we are and not for what we might represent or possess or accomplish. Poignant in its ability to express the deepest emotions, the authors force us American readers to own our own prejudices. As the characters develop many of the white people lose touch with their original values becoming more entrenched by the drive to maintain and expand the land and the privileges they received by enslaving one population at the same time that they were expelling another. Like Pres. Obama, Queen was forced to struggle with her double heritage and found both groups unwilling to fully accept her. The book is a fascinating window on the socio-cultural history of race relations in our nation. It is difficult to read from an emotional point of view and compelling from beginning to end.

Haley, Alex, and David Stevens. Queen. 1993. William Morrow & Co. New York.