TEANECK, N.J., April 8 /PRNewswire/ -- John W. Woods Jr. and Iva Eulalia Newman Woods began raising a family in the north during the unsettling times of the Great Depression, World War II, and up to the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement. Minorities in a small Ohio town, the Woods family was prosperous for a time, and guided by John Woods' vision that his children would each get a college education.

Despite the hardships they faced, daughter Marva Woods Stith relates the family's discipline, resilience, perseverance and above all, love, in "Black Star Girl: A Charter Beneficiary of the Civil Rights Movement Celebrates the Insightful Parenting of Her Father, It's His Story Too" (published by iUniverse). Charting her family history from her great-grandfather, a slave freed at age 19, to her own father, mother and siblings, to her own story, from Ohio to her college in Pine Bluff, Ark., to St. Louis to New York City, Woods Stith finds herself calling on all her father taught her about reacting to the effect of discrimination on a black person's life, and fighting for equal rights. "Black Star Girl's" up-and-down journey to and through adulthood captures the disparity and emotions of a nation and its people fighting through turbulent times and against injustice and discrimination. From vignette stories through her eyes as a child, an aspiring adult, loving wife, career woman and single parent, Woods Stith gives first-person and historic accounts of black history - inspiring, warming, and satisfying the heart and soul of the reader. What may need to continue to be addressed today for African Americans? How far have we come?

About the Author

Marva Woods Stith is a retired corporate personnel executive currently based in Teaneck, N.J. She was born in Zanesville, Ohio, and later moved to the northern Ohio dairy farming community of Williamsfield. After high school, she attended Arkansas State AM&N and obtained her bachelor's in Business Administration. She began her business career in St. Louis, Mo., where she married, had two children and later divorced. Affirmative Action legislation opened doors that enhanced her employment situation. She was promoted and relocated to work in New York City. She has served in volunteer leadership roles in Parent Teacher Associations, Scouting, the NAACP, her church and the United Methodist Women. She enjoys writing, researching, and reading non-fiction. She is forever poised to receive telephone calls, text messages, e-mails and visits from her busy children and grandchildren.

"Black Star Girl"

Available from: http://www.iUniverse.com, http://www.bn.com, and http://www.amazon.com

iUniverse offers a variety of publishing services to help individuals publish, market and sell fiction, poetry and nonfiction books. The company utilizes print-on-demand technology, and is one of the largest self-publishing companies in the U.S. iUniverse is based in Bloomington, Indiana.

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