
Becoming Spectacular
The Rhythm of Resilience from the First African American Rockette
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Narrated by:
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Chanté McCormick
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By:
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Jennifer Jones
About this listen
The first African American Rockette charts her journey to one of the world's most celebrated dance troupes in this gripping memoir that, for the first time, goes behind the velvet curtains at Radio City's legendary holiday show.
“Smashing through glass windows and paving the way for others requires a special blend of bravery and perseverance. Being a pioneer involves breaking down stubborn barriers, challenging closed-minded people and navigating through instances of racism and prejudice. This journey often included facing ongoing resistance from individuals who were unwilling to embrace change. It’s believing in your dream—that you can be and do whatever it is that you love.”—Jennifer Jones
The Radio City Rockettes are as American as baseball, hot dogs, and the Fourth of July. Their legendary synchronized leg kicks, precise lines, and megawatt smiles have charmed audiences for a century. But there is a hidden side to this illustrious national institution. When the Rockettes began in 1925, Black people were not allowed to dance on stage with white people. However, during the Civil Rights Movement, dance history changed significantly when Black and white dancers were permitted to perform together, marking a moment of progress and inclusivity in the world of dance and entertainment. Even so, as late as the early 1980s, Rockette director Violet Holmes said having “one or two Black girls in the line would definitely distract.”
In 1987 the 63-year color barrier at Radio City was finally broken by one brave and tenacious woman. When she arrived, Jennifer Jones was met with pushback—a fierce resistance she details in this intimate and inspiring memoir. After overcoming seemingly impossible odds to join the line of The Rockettes, a PR director summoned the Black dancer to her hotel room and announced, “You’re old news, nobody cares about you, your story or anything about you. You're just lucky to be here.”
Those words would haunt this shy, insecure biracial woman, who had always felt like an outsider.
Like Gelsey Kirkland’s iconic Dancing on My Grave, Becoming Spectacular allows us to walk in Jones’ tap shoes—beautiful and glittering, yet painful and binding. Bringing into focus the wounded life of a trailblazer, this searing memoir is also a triumphant celebration of a spirit who refused to be counted out.
©2024 Jennifer Jones (P)2025 HarperCollins PublishersEditorial Review
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Muhammad Ali, never afraid to express himself loudly and boldly, stays true to form in Ali in Me, an eight-part audio series that explores his life and legacy, guided by his own words through never-before-heard audio recordings. Hosted by Muhammad’s widow, Lonnie Ali, and his close friend, award-winning broadcaster John Ramsey, Ali in Me goes beyond the boxing ring to delve deeply into the extraordinary life and lasting contributions The Champ made to individuals around the world.
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He went hard on everything, especially love
- By 🔥 Phx17 🔥 on 01-31-25
By: Mercury Studios, and others
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Lovers Rock
- Seven Jamaican Love Stories
- By: Alexia Arthurs, Mateo Askaripour, Maisy Card, and others
- Narrated by: Elle Cleviden, Roger Cross, Tamika Katon-Donegal, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
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Lovers Rock stars Jamaica: its language, its landscape, its vibe, its humor, its edge and its persistent, dogged beauty. These seven stories imagine strange, quirky, familiar and delicious encounters between people in search of romantic love in the twenty-first century. Featuring characters from of all walks of life, each story is connected by the unique vibe of Jamaican desire.
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I love the concept
- By K. A. on 02-26-25
By: Alexia Arthurs, and others
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Waste Wars
- The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash
- By: Alexander Clapp
- Narrated by: Greg Lockett
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Dumps and landfills around the world are overflowing. Disputes about what to do with the millions of tons of garbage generated every day have given rise to waste wars waged almost everywhere you look. Some are border skirmishes. Others hustle trash across thousands of miles and multiple oceans. But no matter the scale, one thing is true about almost all of them: few people have any idea they're happening.
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Eye-opening studies of where our waste goes.
- By James Gerber on 03-27-25
By: Alexander Clapp
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On the Line
- My Story of Becoming the First African American Rockette
- By: Jennifer Jones, Lissette Norman
- Narrated by: Robin Eller
- Length: 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Dancing has always made her feel free, like she can do anything. But when Jennifer was a child, some people didn’t think that she had a future as a dancer because of the color of her skin. With the support of her family, especially her mother, she proved that anything is possible when you believe you belong. On the Line is a captivating true story about manifesting your dreams.
By: Jennifer Jones, and others
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You Didn't Hear This from Me
- (Mostly) True Notes on Gossip
- By: Kelsey McKinney
- Narrated by: Kelsey McKinney
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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As the pandemic forced us to socialize at a distance, Kelsey McKinney was mourning the juicy updates and jaw-dropping stories she’d typically collect over drinks with friends—and from her hunger, the blockbuster Normal Gossip podcast was born. With listenership in the millions, Kelsey found herself thinking more critically about gossip as a form, and wanting to better understand the role it plays in our culture. In You Didn't Hear This From Me, McKinney explores the murkiness of everyday storytelling.
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Deeply researched and well positioned!
- By Fred on 03-14-25
By: Kelsey McKinney
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The World of Nancy Kwan
- A Memoir by Hollywood's Asian Superstar
- By: Nancy Kwan, Deborah Davis, Kevin Kwan
- Narrated by: Nancy Kwan
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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When Nancy Kwan burst onto the scene in the early 1960s, Asian characters in film were portrayed by white actors in makeup playing “yellowface,” and those minor roles were the stuff of cliché: shopkeepers, maids, prostitutes, servants. When—against all odds—Nancy landed the lead role in the much-anticipated 1960 film The World of Suzie Wong, she became an international superstar and was celebrated for her beauty, grace, authenticity, and spunk: a “Chinese Garbo,” the “Asian Bardot.” From Hong Kong to London, Hollywood and beyond, The World of Nancy Kwan charts Nancy’s journey.
By: Nancy Kwan, and others
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The Starter Ex
- By: Mia Sosa
- Narrated by: Noah B. Perez, Miranda Jay
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
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Meet Vanessa Cordero. A cynic with a colorful past. You see, in college, Vanessa devised a profitable side gig: For a reasonable fee, she’d date your latest crush...and make his life miserable. Too clingy? Check. Jealous? Check. A mother's worst nightmare? Check, check, check. By the time Vanessa was done with him, your guy would be ready for...YOU.
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Everything I needed
- By kayla on 01-31-24
By: Mia Sosa
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Nesting
- A Novel
- By: Roisín O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Louisa Harland
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes off the clothesline, she straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe—and that this time, when she leaves, she must stay away. On the surface, she has a perfect life: her husband, Ryan, is a good provider, sometimes even kind and attentive, from a nice Irish family, and they have another baby on the way.
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Loved the book - very well written
- By Weezie on 03-26-25
By: Roisín O'Donnell
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Integrated
- How American Schools Failed Black Children
- By: Noliwe Rooks
- Narrated by: Noliwe Rooks
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 17, 1954 the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education determined that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. Heralded as a massive victory for civil rights, the decision's goal was to give Black children equitable access to educational opportunities and clear a path to a better future. Yet in the years following the ruling, schools in predominantly Black neighborhoods were shuttered or saw their funding dwindle, Black educators were fired en masse, and Black children faced discrimination and violence from their white peers.
By: Noliwe Rooks
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Cleavage
- Men, Women, and the Space Between Us
- By: Jennifer Finney Boylan
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Jennifer Finney Boylan
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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What is the difference between men and women? Jennifer Finney Boylan, bestselling author of She’s Not There and co-author of Mad Honey with Jodi Picoult, examines the divisions—as well as the common ground—between the genders, and reflects on her own experiences, both difficult and joyful, as a transgender American.
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Someday there may be no gender
- By stacey a shapiro on 03-26-25
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Abolition
- Politics, Practices, Promises, Vol. 1
- By: Angela Y. Davis
- Narrated by: Angela Y. Davis
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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For over fifty years, Angela Y. Davis has been at the forefront of collective movements for abolition and feminism and the fight against state violence and oppression. Abolition: Politics, Practices, Promises, the first of two important new volumes, brings together an essential collection of Davis’s essays, and speeches over the years, showing how her thinking has sharpened and evolved even as she has remained uncompromising in her commitment to collective liberation.
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Laying a Foundation, Missing the Future
- By Unsatisfied on 01-10-25
By: Angela Y. Davis
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American Negra
- A Memoir
- By: Natasha S. Alford
- Narrated by: Natasha S. Alford
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning journalist Natasha S. Alford grew up between two worlds as the daughter of an African American father and Puerto Rican mother. In American Negra, a narrative that is part memoir, part cultural analysis, Alford reflects on growing up in a working-class family from the city of Syracuse, NY. In smart, vivid prose, Alford illustrates the complexity of being multiethnic in Upstate New York and society’s flawed teachings about matters of identity.
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Relatable to those who grew up in America
- By Oronde Creal on 03-24-24