
Becoming Spectacular
The Rhythm of Resilience from the First African American Rockette
No se pudo agregar al carrito
Add to Cart failed.
Error al Agregar a Lista de Deseos.
Error al eliminar de la lista de deseos.
Error al añadir a tu biblioteca
Error al seguir el podcast
Error al dejar de seguir el podcast

Compra ahora por $19.79
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrado por:
-
Chanté McCormick
-
De:
-
Jennifer Jones
Acerca de esta escucha
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
Las personas que vieron esto también vieron...
-
In My Remaining Years
- De: Jean Grae
- Narrado por: Jean Grae
- Duración: 11 h y 41 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
In My Remaining Years, by creative juggernaut Jean Grae, debunks the myth that coming-of-age narratives should be reserved for the kids, providing a much-needed rallying cry for those of us still trying to figure it out in our forties. These laugh-out-loud essays cover everything from aging gracefully, what happens when you look for community and almost start a cult, befriending childhood demons, gender fluidity in middle age, the cost of being too fabulous, and the various gymnastics we do to avoid becoming our parents, taking us from her childhood in 1980s NYC to present-day Baltimore.
-
-
Her amazing voice and storytelling ability
- De Roxanne Shante en 03-20-25
De: Jean Grae
-
I Am Nobody's Slave
- How Uncovering My Family's History Set Me Free
- De: Lee Hawkins
- Narrado por: Lee Hawkins
- Duración: 14 h y 44 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
A 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist and former Wall Street Journal writer exhaustively examines his family’s legacy of post-enslavement trauma and resilience, in this riveting memoir. I Am Nobody’s Slave tells the story of one Black family's pursuit of the American Dream through the impacts of systemic racism and racial violence. This book examines how trauma from enslavement and Jim Crow shaped their outlook on thriving in America, influenced each generation, and how they succeeded despite these challenges.
-
-
Outstanding
- De Anonymous User en 03-05-25
De: Lee Hawkins
-
Mainline Mama
- A Memoir
- De: Keeonna Harris
- Narrado por: Bahni Turpin
- Duración: 7 h y 42 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
Keeonna and Jason met as young teens. Only fourteen, Keeonna had never had a boyfriend before, dreamed of attending Spelman to become an obstetrician, and thought she was “grown.” Within a year she was pregnant and Jason was in prison, convicted of a carjacking and sentenced to twenty-two years. Overnight Keeonna had become a “mainline mama,” a parent facing the task of raising a child—while still growing up herself—with an incarcerated partner.
De: Keeonna Harris
-
Pretty
- A Memoir
- De: KB Brookins
- Narrado por: KB Brookins
- Duración: 6 h y 10 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
By a prize-winning young Black trans writer of outsized talent, a fierce and disciplined memoir about queerness, masculinity, and race, Pretty is as much a powerful and tender love letter as it is a call for change.
-
-
Love
- De Brie en 02-11-25
De: KB Brookins
-
On the Line
- My Story of Becoming the First African American Rockette
- De: Jennifer Jones, Lissette Norman
- Narrado por: Robin Eller
- Duración: 13 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
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.
De: Jennifer Jones, y otros
-
Pulling the Chariot of the Sun
- A Memoir of a Kidnapping
- De: Shane McCrae
- Narrado por: Shane McCrae
- Duración: 5 h y 25 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
When Shane McCrae was three years old, his grandparents kidnapped him and took him to suburban Texas. His mom was white and his dad was Black, and to hide his Blackness from him, his maternal grandparents stole him from his father. In the years that followed, they manipulated and controlled him, refusing to acknowledge his heritage—all the while believing they were doing what was best for him.
-
-
A memoir of forgotten memories
- De lgsd en 08-25-23
De: Shane McCrae
-
In My Remaining Years
- De: Jean Grae
- Narrado por: Jean Grae
- Duración: 11 h y 41 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
In My Remaining Years, by creative juggernaut Jean Grae, debunks the myth that coming-of-age narratives should be reserved for the kids, providing a much-needed rallying cry for those of us still trying to figure it out in our forties. These laugh-out-loud essays cover everything from aging gracefully, what happens when you look for community and almost start a cult, befriending childhood demons, gender fluidity in middle age, the cost of being too fabulous, and the various gymnastics we do to avoid becoming our parents, taking us from her childhood in 1980s NYC to present-day Baltimore.
-
-
Her amazing voice and storytelling ability
- De Roxanne Shante en 03-20-25
De: Jean Grae
-
I Am Nobody's Slave
- How Uncovering My Family's History Set Me Free
- De: Lee Hawkins
- Narrado por: Lee Hawkins
- Duración: 14 h y 44 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
A 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist and former Wall Street Journal writer exhaustively examines his family’s legacy of post-enslavement trauma and resilience, in this riveting memoir. I Am Nobody’s Slave tells the story of one Black family's pursuit of the American Dream through the impacts of systemic racism and racial violence. This book examines how trauma from enslavement and Jim Crow shaped their outlook on thriving in America, influenced each generation, and how they succeeded despite these challenges.
-
-
Outstanding
- De Anonymous User en 03-05-25
De: Lee Hawkins
-
Mainline Mama
- A Memoir
- De: Keeonna Harris
- Narrado por: Bahni Turpin
- Duración: 7 h y 42 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
Keeonna and Jason met as young teens. Only fourteen, Keeonna had never had a boyfriend before, dreamed of attending Spelman to become an obstetrician, and thought she was “grown.” Within a year she was pregnant and Jason was in prison, convicted of a carjacking and sentenced to twenty-two years. Overnight Keeonna had become a “mainline mama,” a parent facing the task of raising a child—while still growing up herself—with an incarcerated partner.
De: Keeonna Harris
-
Pretty
- A Memoir
- De: KB Brookins
- Narrado por: KB Brookins
- Duración: 6 h y 10 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
By a prize-winning young Black trans writer of outsized talent, a fierce and disciplined memoir about queerness, masculinity, and race, Pretty is as much a powerful and tender love letter as it is a call for change.
-
-
Love
- De Brie en 02-11-25
De: KB Brookins
-
On the Line
- My Story of Becoming the First African American Rockette
- De: Jennifer Jones, Lissette Norman
- Narrado por: Robin Eller
- Duración: 13 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
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.
De: Jennifer Jones, y otros
-
Pulling the Chariot of the Sun
- A Memoir of a Kidnapping
- De: Shane McCrae
- Narrado por: Shane McCrae
- Duración: 5 h y 25 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
When Shane McCrae was three years old, his grandparents kidnapped him and took him to suburban Texas. His mom was white and his dad was Black, and to hide his Blackness from him, his maternal grandparents stole him from his father. In the years that followed, they manipulated and controlled him, refusing to acknowledge his heritage—all the while believing they were doing what was best for him.
-
-
A memoir of forgotten memories
- De lgsd en 08-25-23
De: Shane McCrae
-
Hello, Friends!
- Stories of Dating, Destiny & Day Jobs
- De: Dulcé Sloan
- Narrado por: Dulcé Sloan
- Duración: 5 h y 33 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
Welcome to a comedic trip through the life of one of the country’s most exciting comedians. Meet Dulcé Sloan, whose life has been an incredible journey filled with lessons and laughter. In addition to doing stand-up around the world, Dulcé is a trained actor, singer, and has been a correspondent on The Daily Show. Dulcé's first memoir is organized into essays from her life. From a childhood moving between cities, starting her own business selling toys at a Miami flea market, to being a Black kid in a predominately White school, she’s always used her masterful wit to challenge the status quo.
-
-
Indomitable, phenomenal woman … but loud.
- De 🔥 Phx17 🔥 en 06-14-24
De: Dulcé Sloan
-
Lovers Rock
- Seven Jamaican Love Stories
- De: Alexia Arthurs, Mateo Askaripour, Maisy Card, y otros
- Narrado por: Elle Cleviden, Roger Cross, Tamika Katon-Donegal, y otros
- Duración: 11 h y 25 m
- Grabación Original
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
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.
-
-
I love the concept
- De K. A. en 02-26-25
De: Alexia Arthurs, y otros
-
We Were All Rooting For You
- De: Franchesca Ramsey
- Narrado por: Franchesca Ramsey
- Duración: 4 h y 21 m
- Grabación Original
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
The resurgence of viral clips from the long-running hit reality television show America’s Next Top Model left fans and foes alike wondering–how did a show so outrageous and at times offensive ever get on the air? For years, Americans dutifully watched as contestants faced uncomfortable situations regarding their race and gender, body-shaming, stereotyping, and problematic photoshoots. The show, which first premiered in 2003 and ran for 24 cycles, was helmed by supermodel Tyra Banks–the first Black female host of a smash network reality show.
-
-
a trip down memory lane
- De Joni en 01-03-25
-
A More Perfect Party
- The Night Shirley Chisholm and Diahann Carroll Reshaped Politics
- De: Juanita Tolliver
- Narrado por: Juanita Tolliver
- Duración: 6 h y 2 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
In 1972, New York Representative Shirley Chisholm broke the ice in American politics when she became the first Black woman to run for president of the United States. Chisholm left behind a coalition-building model personified by a once-in-an-era Hollywood party hosted by legendary actress and singer Diahann Carroll, and attended by the likes of Huey P. Newton, Barbara Lee, Berry Gordy, David Frost, Flip Wilson, Goldie Hawn and others. In A More Perfect Party, MSNBC political analyst Juanita Tolliver presents a path to people-centered politics through the lens of this soiree.
-
-
Shirley Chisholm and Diahann Carroll
- De SAOT66 en 01-15-25
De: Juanita Tolliver
-
Firstborn Girls
- A Memoir
- De: Bernice L. McFadden
- Narrado por: Robin Miles, Bernice L. McFadden
- Duración: 12 h y 19 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
On her second birthday in 1967, Bernice McFadden died in a car crash near Detroit, only to be resuscitated after her mother pulled her from the flaming wreckage. Firstborn Girls traces her remarkable life from that moment up to the publication of her first novel, Sugar. Growing up in 1980s Brooklyn, Bernice finds solace in books, summer trips to Barbados, and boarding school to escape her alcoholic father. Discovering the works of Alice Walker and Toni Morrison, she finally sees herself and her loved ones reflected in their stories of “messy, beautiful, joyful Black people.”
-
-
Great Read
- De Mia CB en 05-15-25
-
Lorne
- The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live
- De: Susan Morrison
- Narrado por: Kristen DiMercurio, Susan Morrison
- Duración: 22 h y 50 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered and inimitable presence in the entertainment world. He’s a tastemaker, a mogul, a withholding father figure, a genius spotter of talent, a shrewd businessman, a name-dropper, a raconteur, the inspiration for Dr. Evil, the winner of more than a hundred Emmys—and, essentially, a mystery. Generations of writers and performers have spent their lives trying to figure him out, by turns demonizing and lionizing him.
-
-
Great read but several weird mispronunciations
- De Larry Carlat en 02-20-25
De: Susan Morrison
-
Abolition
- Politics, Practices, Promises, Vol. 1
- De: Angela Y. Davis
- Narrado por: Angela Y. Davis
- Duración: 12 h y 14 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
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.
-
-
Laying a Foundation, Missing the Future
- De Unsatisfied en 01-10-25
De: Angela Y. Davis
-
Integrated
- How American Schools Failed Black Children
- De: Noliwe Rooks
- Narrado por: Noliwe Rooks
- Duración: 7 h y 33 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
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.
-
-
The voice was great This book point of departure is the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown vs. Board of Education
- De Darrell Turner en 05-21-25
De: Noliwe Rooks
-
Waste Wars
- The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash
- De: Alexander Clapp
- Narrado por: Greg Lockett
- Duración: 12 h y 46 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
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.
-
-
Great writer of awful reality
- De Tracie B. en 04-15-25
De: Alexander Clapp
-
The Starter Ex
- De: Mia Sosa
- Narrado por: Noah B. Perez, Miranda Jay
- Duración: 7 h y 59 m
- Grabación Original
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
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.
-
-
Everything I needed
- De kayla en 01-31-24
De: Mia Sosa
-
Wild with Happy
- De: Colman Domingo
- Narrado por: Colman Domingo, Alex Newell, Sharon Washington, y otros
- Duración: 1 h y 32 m
- Grabación Original
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
Gil (Domingo) is a struggling NYC actor who heads home to Philadelphia after the passing of his mother, Adelaide (Winfrey). The plan is to tidy-up her affairs as quickly and efficiently as possible, until a few unpredictably hilarious detours ensue. With his Aunt Glo (Washington) insisting on a proper burial, but an urn of ashes already in his hand, Gil gets thrown into a car by his best friend (Newell).
-
-
All hollas and hallelujahs
- De 🔥 Phx17 🔥 en 06-14-24
De: Colman Domingo
-
Nesting
- A Novel
- De: Roisín O'Donnell
- Narrado por: Louisa Harland
- Duración: 10 h y 12 m
- Versión completa
-
General
-
Narración:
-
Historia
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.
-
-
Jarring narration at times
- De Anonymous User en 04-04-25
De: Roisín O'Donnell