“Powerful memoir. . .Ford’s thought-provoking narrative tells the story of African-American pride and perseverance.” 
–Publisher’s Weekly (Starred)
“A masterful storyteller, Ford interweaves his personal story with the backdrop of the social movements unfolding at that time, providing a revealing insider’s view of the tech industry. . . simultaneously informative and entertaining. . . A powerful, engrossing look at race and technology.”
–Kirkus Review (Starred)
In this thought-provoking and heartbreaking memoir, an award-winning writer tells the story of his father, John Stanley Ford, the first black software engineer at IBM, revealing how racism insidiously affected his father’s view of himself and their relationship.
In 1947, Thomas J. Watson set out to find the best and brightest minds for IBM. At City College he met young accounting student John Stanley Ford and hired him to become IBM’s first black software engineer. But not all of the company’s white employees refused to accept a black colleague and did everything in their power to humiliate, subvert, and undermine Ford.
Yet Ford would not quit. Viewing the job as the opportunity of a lifetime, he comported himself with dignity and professionalism, and relied on his community and his "street smarts" to succeed. He did not know that his hiring was meant to distract from IBM’s dubious business practices, including its involvement in the Holocaust, eugenics, and apartheid.
While Ford remained at IBM, it came at great emotional cost to himself and his family, especially his son Clyde. Overlooked for promotions he deserved, the embittered Ford began blaming his fate on his skin color and the notion that darker-skinned people like him were less intelligent and less capable—beliefs that painfully divided him and Clyde, who followed him to IBM two decades later.
From his first day of work—with his wide-lapelled suit, bright red turtleneck, and huge afro—Clyde made clear he was different. Only IBM hadn’t changed. As he, too, experienced the same institutional racism, Clyde began to better understand the subtle yet daring ways his father had fought back.

Think Black: A Memoir

Biographies & Memoirs

Ford, Clyde W.

Community & Culture

Amistad

Of Blood and Sweat: Black Lives and the Making of White Power and Wealth

"Ford's overlap of past and present, narrative and commentary is masterful, and makes this volume all the more valuable to those readers wise enough to allow the past to inform the future. Of Blood and Sweat is a myth-busting work of genius that will stand as the last word on this vital subject for a long time to come."--Elizabeth Dowling Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of A Slave in the White House and The Original Black Elite In this, provocative, timely, and painstakingly researched book, the award-winning author of Think Black tells the story of how Black labor helped to create and sustain the wealth of the white one percent throughout American history. Clyde W. Ford uses the lives of individual Black men and women as a lens to explore the role they have played in creating American institutions of power and wealth--in agriculture, politics, jurisprudence, law enforcement, culture, medicine, financial services, and many other fields--while not being allowed to fully participate or share in the rewards. Today, activists have taken the struggle for racial equity and justice to the streets. Of Blood and Sweat goes back through time to excavate the roots of this struggle, from pre-colonial Africa through post-Civil War America. As Ford reveals, in tracing the history of almost any major American institution of power and wealth you'll find it was created by Black Americans, or created to control them. Painstakingly researched and documented, Of Blood and Sweat is a compelling look at the past that holds broad implications for present-day calls for racial equity, racial justice, and the abolishment of systemic racism, and offers invaluable insight into our understanding of Black history and the story of America.

Business & Money

Business Culture

“Ford’s overlap of past and present, narrative and commentary is masterful, and makes this volume all the more valuable to those readers wise enough to allow the past to inform the future. Of Blood and Sweat is a myth-busting work of genius that will stand as the last word on this vital subject for a long time to come.”—Elizabeth Dowling Taylor, New York Times bestselling author of A Slave in the White House and The Original Black Elite 
In this, provocative, timely, and painstakingly researched book, the award-winning author of Think Black tells the story of how Black labor helped to create and sustain the wealth of the white one percent throughout American history. 
Clyde W. Ford uses the lives of individual Black men and women as a lens to explore the role they have played in creating American institutions of power and wealth—in agriculture, politics, jurisprudence, law enforcement, culture, medicine, financial services, and many other fields—while not being allowed to fully participate or share in the rewards. Today, activists have taken the struggle for racial equity and justice to the streets. Of Blood and Sweat goes back through time to excavate the roots of this struggle, from pre-colonial Africa through post-Civil War America. As Ford reveals, in tracing the history of almost any major American institution of power and wealth you’ll find it was created by Black Americans, or created to control them. 
Painstakingly researched and documented, Of Blood and Sweat is a compelling look at the past that holds broad implications for present-day calls for racial equity, racial justice, and the abolishment of systemic racism, and offers invaluable insight into our understanding of Black history and the story of America.

"Discovering a deeply meaningful African myth is like finding an old snapshot of myself in a place long forgotten.... These myths are more than just folk tales or fables.... Here are epics as grand as Gilgamesh, heroes as hardy as Hercules, heroines as vexing as Venus." And yet, as Clyde Ford discovered, the great myths of Africa were left out of the key works of modern mythology, missing from the sacred stories of world culture. Taking it as his mission to reclaim this lost treasure, he has written a fascinating and important book--one that both brings to life the ancient tales and shows why they matter so much to us today. African myths convey the perennial wisdom of humanity: the creation of the world, the hero's journey, our relationship with nature, death, and resurrection. From the Ashanti comes the moving account of the grief-stricken Kwasi Benefo's journey to the underworld to seek his beloved wives. From Uganda we learn of the legendary Kintu, who won the love of a goddess and created a nation from a handful of isolated clans. The Congo's epic hero Mwindo is the sacred warrior who shows us the path each person must travel to discover his true destiny. Many myths reveal the intimacy of human and animal spirits, and Ford also explores the archetypal forces of the orishas--the West African deities that were carried to the Americas in the African diaspora. Ultimately, as Clyde Ford points out, these great myths enable us to see the history of African Americans in a new light--as a hero's journey, a courageous passage to a hard-won victory. The Hero with an African Face enriches us all by restoring this vital tradition to the world.

The Hero with an African Face: Mythic Wisdom of Traditional Africa

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Bantam]

In this remarkable book, Clyde Ford restores to us the lost treasure of African mythology, bringing to life the ancient tales and showing why they matter so much to us today. African myths convey the perennial wisdom of humanity: the creation of the world, the hero's journey, our relationship with nature, death, and resurrection. From the Ashanti comes the moving account of the grief-stricken Kwasi Benefo's journey to the underworld to seek his beloved wives. From Uganda we learn of the legendary Kintu, who won the love of a goddess and created a nation from a handful of isolated clans. The Congo's epic hero Mwindo is the sacred warrior who shows us the path each person must travel to discover his true destiny. These and other important African myths show us the history of African Americans in a new light--as a hero's journey, a courageous passage to a hard-won victory. The Hero with an African Face enriches us all by restoring this vital tradition to the world.

History

Africa

Random House Publishing Group

A chiropractor and therapist reveals how touch can aid in recovery from addictions, dysfunctional relationships, and physical, sexual, or emotional abuse

Compassionate Touch: The Role of Human Touch in Healing and Recovery

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Psychology & Counseling

Fireside

John Shannon's son J. J. is a huge fan of hip-hop artist Yousef al-Salaam, formerly Deuce F., who recently converted to Sufism, a mystical order of Islam. The popular musician also happens to be on a terrorist watch list. When al-Salaam is shot outside a Manhattan nightclub, Shannon agrees to investigate the murder as a favor to J. J. Was al-Salaam entangled in a feud with East Coast gangsta rapper T-Mo? Or was he caught on the wrong side of Islam extremism? The NYPD has given up on the case and, after a close call with T-Mo's thugs, so has Shannon. But something--curiosity, ego, anger?--drives him to penetrate the murky mystery surrounding al-Salaam, whose search for enlightenment reminds Shannon of his own quest for personal growth.

Deuce's Wild (The Shango Mysteries)

Literature & Fiction

United States

Midnight Ink

Through his treatment of many men and women as a chiropractor and therapist, Dr. Clyde W. Ford discovered that the body can be the key to unlocking and opening the door to healing from physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. Dr. Ford has used touch to help his patients recover from a wide range of conditions, including chronic muscle strain, addictions, dysfunctional relationships, and abuse. In this revised edition of Compassionate Touch, new material on False Memory Syndrome (FMS) has been added. Dr. Ford discusses how reputable scientists noticed that under certain circumstances, patients recalled events that did not take place, forcing clinicians to be more cautious in diagnosing for sexual abuse treatment. Illustrated with numerous examples from this practice as well as his many workshops, Compassionate Touch also includes exercises that can be done individually or with a trusted partner.

Compassionate Touch: The Body's Role in Emotional Healing And Recovery

Self-Help

Abuse

Diane Pub Co.

Recreational boating is a pastime enjoyed by millions. Yet the waters and marine environment that boaters so love are in serious jeopardy from pollution, resource mismanagement, and misunderstanding. Boaters can help change that. Although a relatively small part of the problem of marine environmental degradation, recreational boaters can be a huge part of the solution, writes Clyde W. Ford, an avid boater of over twenty years, whose encounters with polluted waters galvanized him to explore workable solutions.
 Boat Green provides a host of environmentally sound boating practices, based on scientific research and practical boating experience. In this book, boaters will learn ways to: <ul>
<li>Reduce vessel operation and maintenance costs</li> <li>Improve vessels performance</li> <li>Increase safety and health of vessel operators and crew</li> <li>Increase awareness of marine issues </li> <li>Enhance enjoyment of the marine environment</li> </ul>
All of these steps will help lessen the impact of recreational boating on the marine environment. These are practical solutions that have been field-tested and refined on actual vessels cruising the Pacific Northwest waters.
 Boat Green is an essential guide for recreational boaters and for all those concerned about protecting the marine environment.
 Clyde W. Ford is the executive director of EcoMarine Institute and author of nine books, including the award-winning The Long Mile and the Charlie Noble series of contemporary nautical suspense novels. Ford enjoys cruising the waters of the Inside Passage aboard his single-engine biodiesel trawler.

Boat Green: 50 Steps Boaters Can Take to Save Our Waters

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

New Society Publishers

Shows how touch can be used to help heal emotional and psychological issues, and shares a variety of actual cases

Where Healing Waters Meet: Touching Mind and Emotion Through the Body

Station Hill Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ford, Clyde W.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Ford, Clyde W.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ford, Clyde W.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Think Black: A Memoir

Of Blood and Sweat: Black Lives and the Making of White Power and Wealth

Of Blood and Sweat: Black Lives and the Making of White Power and Wealth

The Hero with an African Face: Mythic Wisdom of Traditional Africa

The Hero with an African Face: Mythic Wisdom of Traditional Africa

Compassionate Touch: The Role of Human Touch in Healing and Recovery

Deuce's Wild (The Shango Mysteries)

Compassionate Touch: The Body's Role in Emotional Healing And Recovery

Boat Green: 50 Steps Boaters Can Take to Save Our Waters

Where Healing Waters Meet: Touching Mind and Emotion Through the Body