1. Border Policing: A History of Enforcement and Evasion in North America
By Edited by Holly M. Karibo and George T. Díaz.
Compiles a collection of essays that examines the history of North American nations’ attempts and failures to police their changing international borders from the War of 1812 to the 21st Century. Examines case studies of various state and federal policies used to regulate borders and the response of local border residents and regions to them. Includes discussion of Native Americans, state-sponsored vigilantism, policing through Prohibition, Border Patrol, and current day immigration enforcement.
University of Texas Press, 2024, 288 pages
363.28 K18 2024

 

2. Getting Education Right: A Conservative Vision for Improving Early Childhood, K-12, and College
By Frederick M. Hess and Michael Q. McShane.
Presents an ideologically conservative perspective on education reform. Explores conservative views and values and how those values could be applied to education. Provides an overview of the historical foundations of American education. Emphasizes family-first educational policies and offers recommendations for how to approach educational reform for early childhood, K-12, and higher education.
Teachers College Press, 2024, 166 pages
370.11 H586 2024

 

3. Liquid Asset: How Business and Government Can Partner to Solve the Freshwater Crisis
By Barton H. Thompson, Jr.
Addresses the growing freshwater supply challenges throughout the world with a focus on the United States. Discusses the traditional role of government in providing and maintaining public water infrastructure. Highlights the increased role of the private sector, including the privatization of municipal water systems and markets, and the unique ways private involvement can improve water management. Considers the benefits and issues with technological innovations like reclamation and desalination. Argues that water is neither fully a public nor a private commodity.
Stanford University Press, 2024, 302 pages
333.9100973 T468 2024

 

4. Power: How the Electric Co-op Movement Energized the Lone Star State
By Joe Holley
Chronicles the birth and development of the electric cooperative movement and the electrification of rural Texas. Highlights the Texas Legislature’s involvement along with relevant state legislation, including HB 819, 64th Legislature, R.S., known as the Public Utility Regulatory Act, which created the Public Utility Commission in 1975. Concludes with discussion of the effect of Winter Storm Uri, climate resilience, and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on rural electric cooperatives.
Texas A&M University Press, 2024, 290 pages
333.793 H738 2024

 

5. Who Rules the Texas House?: How Constituent Sovereignty Has Been Usurped Over Time
By Kent Grusendorf
Studies the changes to the parliamentary rules for the Texas House of Representatives and the effect these changes had on representative government in Texas. Profiles recent Speakers of the House and comments on the increase in political power of the speakership has gained over the last half-century. Includes House Rules from the 1st R.S. and 15th R.S. Legislatures and a legislative timeline of changes made to the House Rules. Written by former Representative Kent Grusendorf, who served in the Texas House of Representatives from 1987 to 2007.
Includes former Speakers Bill Wayne 'Billy' Clayton, Gibson Donald 'Gib' Lewis, James E. 'Pete' Laney, Thomas R. 'Tom' Craddick, Joe Straus, III, Dennis H. Bonnen, and Speaker Dade Phelan.
The Justice Foundation, 2024, 159 pages
328.1 G892 2024

 

6. Why Does Everything Have to Be About Race?: 25 Arguments That Won't Go Away
By Keith Boykin
Discusses 25 common arguments used to distort racial history and racism in the United States. Explains and debunks each argument using the author's extensive research and reporting, as well as personal experience. Examines race-related topics, including the Civil War, Critical Race Theory, and affirmative action, along with the most common flawed reasoning associated with each. Offers strategies that can be used to counter the myths and disinformation regarding racism and Black history.
Bold Type Books, 2024, 270 pages
305.800973 B791 2024

 

7. Migrating to Prison: America's Obsession with Locking Up Immigrants
By César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández
Examines the immigration prison system and the developments from the origins to recent operations, from the mid-1980s to 2023, of using incarceration in immigration law enforcement. Discusses various state and federal rules, legislation, and lobbying efforts on both sides of the issue. Documents the presence of private prisons in immigration imprisonment. Argues for abolishing immigration imprisonment.
The New Press, 2023, 201 pages
325.73 H557 2023

 

8. Lane Denton & "The Dirty Thirty:" The Real Texas Revolution: An Inspiring Story of Thirty Courageous Texas Legislators
By Lane Denton and Frederick Williams
Explores the life and work of former Representative Lane Denton. Written by Denton, he discusses his inspiration for and movement into the political arena. Chronicles Denton’s tenure in the Texas House, detailing his efforts with the “Dirty Thirty” who voted not to table a measure calling for a House investigation of then Speaker Gus Mutscher over the Sharpstown scandal. Includes historical documents and photographs related to Denton’s life and political career.
Pairee Publications, 2022, 266 pages
328.764092 D415L 2022

 

1. I'll Learn to Love Again
By Christian Manuel
Traces a fictional multicultural, multigenerational love story whose characters navigate through the challenges of cultural norms and are eventually empowered to learn the true meaning of love, loss, grief, and family ties. Written by Representative Christian Manuel, who was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in November 2022, named Freshman of the Year by the Texas Legislative Black Caucus in 2023, and served as former Representative Joseph Deshotel’s Chief of Staff for a decade.
Xlibris, 2020, 199 pages
813 M294 2020

 

2. A Historic Bombshell All Wrapped Into One, "The Cinderella Kid," My Life and Times: A History of Blacks in Fort Worth
By Reby Cary
Details former Representative Reby Cary's rise to the Texas House of Representatives as a prominent Black community member from Fort Worth, Texas. Written by Cary, he discusses his work in the Legislature from 1979-1985, his various successful and challenged legislation like the anti-discrimination bill HB 1052, 66th Legislature, R.S., and the struggles he faced fighting for equal rights in Texas. Includes brief accounts of important people, places, and organizations in Fort Worth, focusing on their contributions to improving the Black community.
Includes former Representatives Leonard Edward Briscoe, Glenn Lewis, Garfield Thompson, Marc Veasey, and Bobby Webber.
Library Use Only. Call us or place an online order through the New & Noteworthy website to make arrangements to view this book in the library.
R. Cary, 2008, 277 pages
976.4531 C333H 2008

 

3. Barbara Jordan: Speaking the Truth with Eloquent Thunder
By Max Sherman, editor
Compiles a collection of speeches by Barbara Jordan, a former State Senator, U.S. Representative, and distinguished professor at The University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Focuses on speeches that articulate her values concerning democracy, civil liberties, government ethics, immigration reform, the military, and the U.S. Constitution. Includes a brief biography and context-setting introductions for each speech by editor and former State Senator Max Sherman, her colleague and friend.
University of Texas Press, 2007, 96 pages
923.2764 J761S

 

4. Barbara Jordan: American Hero
By Mary Beth Rogers
Explores the life of former U.S. Representative Barbara Jordan, from her Southern Baptist roots to her final months. Details Jordan’s journey to the Texas Senate and her rise to the U.S. House of Representatives as the first Black Texas congresswoman, including how her personal experiences influenced her political career. Follows Jordan’s life after political retirement, from her dedicated teaching to her battle with leukemia. Highlights the lasting impact that Jordan’s political advocacy had for both women and Black Americans.
Bantam Books, 1998, 414 pages
923.2764 J761R 1998

 

5. Time of Hope, Time of Despair: Black Texans During Reconstruction
By James Smallwood
Examines the first decade of Black freedom during Reconstruction in Texas through the use of primary materials including correspondence. Outlines efforts by Blacks to improve the status of their communities in economic, educational, social, and political spheres despite the significant barriers and racial opposition. Focuses on the effect racism and the rejection of Black equality had on the emancipated slaves’ endeavors. Highlights Black members of the Texas Legislature and their attempts to protect Black Texans from repressive laws and harm.
Includes former Senators Walter Moses Burton, Matthew Washington Gaines, and George Thompson Ruby.
Includes former Representatives Richard Allen, Giles Cotton, Jeremiah J. Hamilton, William H. Holland, Robert A. Kerr, Robert James Moore, Sheppard 'Shep' Mullens, Meshack R. 'Shack' Roberts, and Benjamin Franklin Williams.
National University Publications, 1981, 202 pages
325.26 SM19

 

6. Negro Legislators of Texas and Their Descendants
By John Mason Brewer
Chronicles the Black experience in Texas from the emancipation to Reconstruction and the enfranchisement and registration of Black voters. Presents a roster, biographical information, genealogy, and legislative activities of Black members from the 12th to 24th Texas Legislatures (1871-1895) and the Constitutional Conventions of 1868-1869 and 1875. Highlights a brief personal testimony given by former Representative Robert Lloyd Smith on what it was like to serve in the 24th Legislature as a Black man. This publication is a reprint of the original 1935 edition with the addition of a new foreword and an addenda that describes major events affecting Black Texans since 1935, notably the election of three Black members to the Texas Legislature in 1966.
Includes former Senators Walter Moses Burton, Matthew Washington Gaines, Barbara Jordan, and George Thompson Ruby.
Includes former Representatives David Abner, Sr., Richard Allen, Alexander 'Alex' Asberry, Thomas Beck, Edward 'Ed' Brown, Giles Cotton, J. Goldsteen Dupree, Robert J. Evans, Jacob Esan Freeman, Harriel G. 'Hal' Geiger, Curtis M. Graves, Bedford Green Guy, Nathan H. Haller, Jeremiah J. Hamilton, William H. Holland, Zan W. Holmes, Jr., Mitchell Kendall, Robert A. Kerr, Joseph E. Lockridge, Elias Mayes, John Mitchell, Henry Moore, Robert James Moore, Sheppard 'Shep' Mullens, Edward A. 'Ed' Patton, Henry Phelps, Meshack R. 'Shack' Roberts, Alonzo L. 'Andrew' Sledge, Robert Lloyd Smith, Henry S. Sneed, James H. Stewart, James H. Washington, Allen W. Wilder, Benjamin Franklin Williams, Richard Williams, and George W. Wyatt.
Jenkins Pub. Co., 1970, 154 pages
325.26 B758N 1970