A powerful tragedy distilled into a jewel of a masterpiece by the Nobel Prize-winning author of Beloved and, almost like a prelude to that story, set two centuries earlier.
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9780307264237
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Book
Another Brooklyn
By Woodson, Jacqueline
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling and National Book Award-winning author . Another Brooklyn heartbreakingly illuminates the formative time when childhood gives way to adulthood and exquisitely renders a powerful, indelible, and fleeting friendship that united four young lives.
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9780062359988
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Book
Daughters of a Nation
By Hart, Lena
The fight for suffrage was long, hard, and carried out on many fronts.In Daughters of a Nation, an African American suffragette historical romance anthology, Kianna Alexander, Alyssa Cole, Lena Hart, and Piper Huguley bring you four novellas full of spirit, hope, and love.
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9781941885345
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Book
An Extraordinary Union
By Cole, Alyssa
As the Civil War rages, a courageous pair of spies plunge fearlessly into a maelstrom of ignorance, deceit, and danger, combining their unique skills to alter the course of history and break the chains of the past.
Publisher: n/a
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9781496707444
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Paperback
The Gilded Years
By Tanabe, Karin
In 1897, one young woman risks everything to earn a college degree but the secret she hides could be her undoing. "Passing" meets "The House of Mirth" in this captivating reimagining of a remarkable true story.
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9781410492616
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Book
Glorious
By Mcfadden, Bernice L.
Glorious is set against the backdrops of the Jim Crow South, the Harlem Renaissance, and the civil rights era. Blending the truth of American history, this is the story of a fictional Harlem Renaissance writer whose tumultuous path to success, ruin, and revival offers a candid portrait of the American experience in all its beauty and cruelty.
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9781936070114
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Paperback
Passing
By Larsen, Nella
Married to a successful physician and prominently ensconced in Harlem's vibrant society of the 1920s, Irene Redfield leads a charmed existence-until she is shaken out of it by a chance encounter with a childhood friend who has been "passing for white."
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9780486437132
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Book
She Would Be King
By Moore, Waytu
A novel of exhilarating range, magical realism, and history -- a dazzling retelling of Liberia's formation. . She Would Be King is a novel of profound depth set against a vast canvas and a transcendent debut from a major new author.
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9781555978174
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Book
The Underground Railroad
By Whitehead, Colson
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, the #1 New York Times bestseller from Colson Whitehead, a magnificent tour de force chronicling an enslaved woman's journey as she makes a bid for freedom in the antebellum South.
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9780385542364
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Book
Washington Black
By Edugyan, Esi
* TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR: New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, Entertainment Weekly, Slate* ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Boston Globe, NPR, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Economist, Bustle* WINNER OF THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE* FINALIST FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE, THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE, THE ROGERS WRITERS' TRUST PRIZE"Enthralling" --Boston Globe "Extraordinary" --Seattle Times "A rip-roaring tale" --Washington PostA dazzling adventure story about a boy who rises from the ashes of slavery to become a free man of the world.George Washington Black, or "Wash," an eleven-year-old field slave on a Barbados sugar plantation, is terrified to be chosen by his master's brother as his manservant. To his surprise, the eccentric Christopher Wilde turns out to be a naturalist, explorer, inventor, and abolitionist. Soon Wash is initiated into a world where a flying machine can carry a man across the sky, where even a boy born in chains may embrace a life of dignity and meaning--and where two people, separated by an impossible divide, can begin to see each other as human. But when a man is killed and a bounty is placed on Wash's head, Christopher and Wash must abandon everything. What follows is their flight along the eastern coast of America, and, finally, to a remote outpost in the Arctic. What brings Christopher and Wash together will tear them apart, propelling Wash even further across the globe in search of his true self. From the blistering cane fields of the Caribbean to the frozen Far North, from the earliest aquariums of London to the eerie deserts of Morocco, Washington Black tells a story of self-invention and betrayal, of love and redemption, of a world destroyed and made whole again, and asks the question, What is true freedom?
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9780525521426
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Hardcover
Contemporary Fiction
An American Marriage
By Jones, Tayari
OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB 2018 SELECTION One of the most anticipated novels of 2018 according to Entertainment Weekly * Goodreads * Esquire * Elle * Cosmopolitan *BBC * Huffington Post * Bustle * Southern Living * Newsday * Bookish * Nylon * iBooks Store "Transcendent . . . Triumphant . . . Gorgeous."-Elle "A stunning epic love story . . . An exquisite, timely, and powerful novel that feels both urgent and indispensable."-Edwidge Danticat Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the
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9781616201340
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Hardcover
Five-Carat Soul
By Mcbride, James
One of The New York Times' 100 Notable Books of 2017"A pinball machine zinging with sharp dialogue, breathtaking plot twists and naughty humor... McBride at his brave and joyous best." - New York Times Book ReviewExciting new fiction from James McBride, the first since his National Book Award-winning novel The Good Lord Bird. The stories in Five-Carat Soul - none of them ever published before - spring from the place where identity, humanity, and history converge. They're funny and poignant, insightful and unpredictable, imaginative and authentic - all told with McBride's unrivaled storytelling skill and meticulous eye for character and detail. McBride explores the ways we learn from the world and the people around us. An antiques dealer discovers that a legendary toy commissioned by Civil War General Robert E. Lee now sits in the home of a black minister in Queens. Five strangers find themselves thrown together and face unexpected judgment. An American president draws inspiration from a conversation he overhears in a stable. And members of The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band recount stories from their own messy and hilarious lives. As McBride did in his National Book award-winning The Good Lord Bird and his bestselling The Color of Water, he writes with humor and insight about how we struggle to understand who we are in a world we don't fully comprehend. The result is a surprising, perceptive, and evocative collection of stories that is also a moving exploration of our human condition.
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9780735216693
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Hardcover
Head Games
By Morrison, Mary B
New York Times bestselling author Mary B. Morrison delivers a sizzling, twist-filled tale of four competitive friends, a dangerous bet, and high-stakes consequences no one can afford to win.
Publisher: n/a
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9781496710833
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Book
Homegoing
By Gyasi, Yaa
The unforgettable New York Times best seller begins with the story of two half-sisters, separated by forces beyond their control: one sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver.
Winner of the NBCC's John Leonard First Book Prize
A New York Times 2016 Notable Book
One of Oprah's 10 Favorite Books of 2016
NPR's Debut Novel of the Year
One of Buzzfeed's Best Fiction Books Of 2016
One of Time's Top 10 Novels of 2016, Winner of 2017 PEN Hemingway award for debut fiction.
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9781101947135
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Book
How to Love a Jamaican
By Arthurs, Alexia
Tenderness and cruelty, loyalty and betrayal, ambition and regret - Alexia Arthurs navigates these tensions to extraordinary effect in her debut collection about Jamaican immigrants and their families back home. Sweeping from close-knit island communities to the streets of New York City and midwestern university towns, these eleven stories form a portrait of a nation, a people, and a way of life.
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9781524799205
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Book
I Almost Forgot About You
By Mcmillan, Terry
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back is back with the inspiring story of a woman who shakes things up in her life to find greater meaning.
- Library Journal - Best Book of the Year, African American Fiction
Publisher: n/a
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1101902574
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Book
The Mothers
By Bennett, Brit
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A dazzling debut novel from an exciting new voice, The Mothers is a surprising story about young love, a big secret in a small community - and the things that ultimately haunt us most.
Publisher: n/a
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9780399184512
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Book
No One Is Coming to Save Us
By Watts, Stephanie Powell
*THE INAUGURAL SARAH JESSICA PARKER PICK FOR BOOK CLUB CENTRAL*NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2017 BY The Washington Post * Refinery29 * St. Louis Post-Dispatch * Bookpage NAMED ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2017 BY Entertainment Weekly * Nylon * Elle * Redbook * W Magazine * The Chicago Review of BooksJJ Ferguson has returned home to Pinewood, North Carolina, to build his dream house and to pursue his high school sweetheart, Ava. But as he reenters his former world, where factories are in decline and the legacy of Jim Crow is still felt, he's startled to find that the people he once knew and loved have changed just as much as he has. Ava is now married and desperate for a baby, though she can't seem to carry one to term. Her husband, Henry, has grown distant, frustrated by the demise of the furniture industry, which has outsourced to China and stripped the area of jobs. Ava's mother, Sylvia, caters to and meddles with the lives of those around her, trying to fill the void left by her absent son. And Don, Sylvia's unworthy but charming husband, just won't stop hanging around. JJ's return - and his plans to build a huge mansion overlooking Pinewood and woo Ava - not only unsettles their family, but stirs up the entire town. The ostentatious wealth that JJ has attained forces everyone to consider the cards they've been dealt, what more they want and deserve, and how they might go about getting it. Can they reorient their lives to align with their wishes rather than their current realities? Or are they all already resigned to the rhythms of the particular lives they lead? No One Is Coming to Save Us is a revelatory debut from an insightful voice: with echoes of The Great Gatsby it is an arresting and powerful novel about an extended African American family and their colliding visions of the American Dream. In evocative prose, Stephanie Powell Watts has crafted a full and stunning portrait that combines a universally resonant story with an intimate glimpse into the hearts of one family.
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9780062472984
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Hardcover
Queen Sugar
By Baszile, Natalie
A mother-daughter story of reinvention - about an African American woman who unexpectedly inherits a sugarcane farm in Louisiana.
Baszile's novel has been adapted to a television series directed by Ava DuVernay. Although the tv series differs dramatically from the book, both titles should be added to your "must read" and "must watch" lists.
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9780670026135
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Book
Sing, Unburied, Sing
By Ward, Jesmyn
*WINNER of the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD for FICTION *A TIME MAGAZINE BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR and A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 OF 2017 *Finalist for the Kirkus Prize *Finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal *Finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize *Publishers Weekly Top 10 of 2017 *Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award "The heart of Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing is story - the yearning for a narrative to help us understand ourselves, the pain of the gaps we'll never fill, the truths that are failed by words and must be translated through ritual and song...Ward's writing throbs with life, grief, and love, and this book is the kind that makes you ache to return to it." - BuzzfeedIn Jesmyn Ward's first novel since her National Book Award-winning Salvage the Bones, this singular American writer brings the archetypal road novel into rural twenty-first-century America. An intimate portrait of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle, Sing, Unburied, Sing journeys through Mississippi's past and present, examining the ugly truths at the heart of the American story and the power - and limitations - of family bonds. Jojo is thirteen years old and trying to understand what it means to be a man. He doesn't lack in fathers to study, chief among them his Black grandfather, Pop. But there are other men who complicate his understanding: his absent White father, Michael, who is being released from prison; his absent White grandfather, Big Joseph, who won't acknowledge his existence; and the memories of his dead uncle, Given, who died as a teenager. His mother, Leonie, is an inconsistent presence in his and his toddler sister's lives. She is an imperfect mother in constant conflict with herself and those around her. She is Black and her children's father is White. She wants to be a better mother but can't put her children above her own needs, especially her drug use. Simultaneously tormented and comforted by visions of her dead brother, which only come to her when she's high, Leonie is embattled in ways that reflect the brutal reality of her circumstances. When the children's father is released from prison, Leonie packs her kids and a friend into her car and drives north to the heart of Mississippi and Parchman Farm, the State Penitentiary. At Parchman, there is another thirteen-year-old boy, the ghost of a dead inmate who carries all of the ugly history of the South with him in his wandering. He too has something to teach Jojo about fathers and sons, about legacies, about violence, about love. Rich with Ward's distinctive, lyrical language, Sing, Unburied, Sing is a majestic new work and an unforgettable family story.
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9781501126062
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Hardcover
Biography and Memoir
Aretha
By Ochs, Meredith
This beautifully illustrated unofficial retrospective celebrates the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, and reflects on her life, music, and legacy. Aretha Franklin's voice was legendary, unforgettable: deeply rooted in gospel, yet versatile enough to brilliantly interpret R&B, rock, soul, pop, and jazz standards, it fueled a six-decade career. Her vocal wallop was a mix of preaching, rebuke, and elation. From the languorous "I Never Loved a Man (the Way That I Love You) ," to the funky "Chain of Fools," to the fiercely feminist "Think," to the definitive, demanding version of Otis Redding's "Respect," Franklin's songs played out against the tumultuous sociopolitical backdrop of the late '60s like a soundtrack meant to set things right. Her accolades were many: she received the Kennedy Center honor in 1994, won 18 Grammys, was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and performed for presidents and the Pope. Illustrated with 85 photos, and with insightful text from noted radio personality and author Meredith Ochs, Aretha explores the diva's life, from her formative years growing up in Detroit, to her singing and recording career from the 1950s until her untimely death in 2018, to her numerous honors, awards, and causes, including her advocacy for civil rights and the arts.
Publisher: n/a
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9781454934585
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Hardcover
Becoming
By Obama, Michelle
An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America - the first African American to serve in that role - she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare. In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world's most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations - and whose story inspires us to do the same.
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9781524763138
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Hardcover
Hughie Lee Smith
By Kin, Lee-smith
Born in Eustis, Florida, Painter Hughie Lee-Smith (1915-1999) sought to transform his experiences growing up as an African American during the Great Depression into meditations on the human condition.
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9780764953514
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Book
Invisible
By Carter, Stephen
The bestselling author delves into his past and discovers the inspiring story of his grandmother's extraordinary life She was black and a woman and a prosecutor, a graduate of Smith College and the granddaughter of slaves, as dazzlingly unlikely a combination as one could imagine in New York of the 1930s -- and without the strategy she devised, Lucky Luciano, the most powerful Mafia boss in history, would never have been convicted. When special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey selected twenty lawyers to help him clean up the city's underworld, she was the only member of his team who was not a white male.Eunice Hunton Carter, Stephen Carter's grandmother, was raised in a world of stultifying expectations about race and gender, yet by the 1940s, her professional and political successes had made her one of the most famous black women in America. But her triumphs were shadowed by prejudice and tragedy. Greatly complicating her rise was her difficult relationship with her younger brother, Alphaeus, an avowed Communist who -- together with his friend Dashiell Hammett -- would go to prison during the McCarthy era. Yet she remained unbowed.Moving, haunting, and as fast-paced as a novel, Invisible tells the true story of a woman who often found her path blocked by the social and political expectations of her time. But Eunice Carter never accepted defeat, and thanks to her grandson's remarkable book, her long forgotten story is once again visible.
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9781250121974
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Hardcover
Looking for Lorraine
By Perry, Imani
A revealing portrait of one of the most gifted and charismatic African American artists and intellectuals of the twentieth century.
Publisher: n/a
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9780807064498
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Book
Minority Leader
By Abrams, Stacey
A personal and empowering blueprint from one of America’s rising Democratic stars.
Publisher: n/a
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9781250191298
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Book
My Love Story
By Turner, Tina
Tina Turner - the long-reigning queen of rock & roll and living legend - sets the record straight about her illustrious career and complicated personal life in this eye-opening and compelling memoir.
Publisher: n/a
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9781501198243
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Book
Reflections by Rosa Parks
By Parks, Rosa
Reflections by Rosa Parks celebrates the principles and convictions that guided her through a remarkable life.
Publisher: n/a
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9780310351566
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Book
Sing for Your Life
By Bergner, Daniel
The New York Times bestseller about a young man's journey from despair to stardom.
Publisher: n/a
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9780316300674
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Book
A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun
By Jackson, Angela
A retrospective on the cultural and political force of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks, in celebration of her one hundredth birthday.
Publisher: n/a
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9780807025048
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Book
When They Call You a Terrorist
By Kahn-cullors, Patrisse
The emotional and powerful story of one of the co-founders of Black Lives Matter and how the movement was born.
Publisher: n/a
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9781250171085
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Book
NonFiction
Barracoon
By Hurston, Zora Neale
"A profound impact on Hurston's literary legacy." - New York Times
In 1927 Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, Alabama to interview Cudjo Lewis, then the only person alive who could speak about his experiences as a captured slave.
Publisher: n/a
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62748203
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Book
Be Free or Die
By Lineberry, Cate
Be Free or Die is a compelling narrative that illuminates Robert Smalls' amazing journey from slave to Union hero and ultimately United States Congressman.
Publisher: n/a
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9781250101860
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Book
Before the Mayflower
By Jr., Lerone Bennett
Traces black history from its origins in western Africa, through the transatlantic journey and slavery, the Reconstruction period, the Jim Crow era, and the civil rights movement, to life in the 1990s.
Publisher: n/a
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874850916
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Book
The Black Bruins
By Johnson, James W
The Black Bruins chronicles the inspirational lives of five African American athletes who faced racial discrimination as teammates at UCLA in the late 1930s.
Publisher: n/a
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9781496201836
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Book
Black Fortunes
By Wills, Shomari
A fresh, little-known chapter in the nation's story - A blend of Hidden Figures, Titan, and The Tycoons - Black Fortunes illuminates the birth of the African American marketplace in America.
Publisher: n/a
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9780062437594
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Book
The Blood of Emmett Till
By Tyson, Timothy B
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction
This extraordinary New York Times bestseller reexamines a pivotal event of the civil rights movement - the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till - "and demands that we do the one vital thing we aren't often enough asked to do with history: learn from it" (The Atlantic) .
I
Publisher: n/a
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9781476714844
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Book
Bound to the fire
By Deetz, Kelley Fanto
Kelley Fanto Deetz draws upon archaeological evidence, cookbooks, plantation records, and folklore to present a nuanced study of the lives of enslaved plantation cooks from colonial times through emancipation and beyond.
Publisher: n/a
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9780813174747
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Book
The cooking gene
By Twitty, Michael
A memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces the paths of the author's ancestors through the crucible of slavery to show its effects on our food today.
Publisher: n/a
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9780062379276
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Book
Dawn of Detroit
By Miles, Tiya
Most Americans believe that slavery was a creature of the South, and that Northern states and territories provided stops on the Underground Railroad for fugitive slaves on their way to Canada. In this paradigm-shifting book, celebrated historian Tiya Miles reveals that slavery was at the heart of the Midwest's iconic city: Detroit.
Publisher: n/a
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9781620972311
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Book
Defining moments in black history
By Gregory, Dick
A reflection on 100 key events as told through the wit and humor of one of the foremost comedians.
Publisher: n/a
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9780062742254
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Book
Hidden Figures
By Shetterly, Margot Lee
The #1 New York Times bestseller-WINNER OF ANISFIELD-WOLF AWARD FOR NONFICTION-WINNER BLACK CAUCUS OF AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BEST NONFICTION BOOK-WINNER NAACP IMAGE AWARD BEST NONFICTION BOOK-WINNER NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE COMMUNICATION AWARDThe phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA at the leading edge of the feminist and civil rights movement, whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space - a powerful, revelatory contribution that is as essential to our understanding of race, discrimination, and achievement in modern America as Between the World and Me and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The basis for the smash Academy Award-nominated film starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner.Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. Among these problem-solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in the South's segregated public schools, they were called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, when America's aeronautics industry was in dire need of anyone who had the right stuff. Suddenly, these overlooked math whizzes had a shot at jobs worthy of their skills, and they answered Uncle Sam's call, moving to Hampton, Virginia and the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. Even as Virginia's Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of Langley's all-black "West Computing" group helped America achieve one of the things it desired most: a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and complete domination of the heavens. Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden, four African American women who participated in some of NASA's greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades they faced challenges, forged alliances and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country's future.
Publisher: n/a
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9780062363596
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Hardcover
Never Caught
By Dunbar, Erica Armstrong
A startling and eye-opening look into America's First Family, Never Caught is the powerful narrative of Ona Judge, George and Martha Washington's runaway slave who risked everything to escape the nation's capital and reach freedom.
Publisher: n/a
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9781501126390
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Book
The President's Kitchen Cabinet
By Miller, Adrian
A treasury of information about cooking techniques and equipment, The President's Kitchen includes twenty recipes for which African American chefs were celebrated.
Publisher: n/a
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9781469632537
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Book
Smoketown
By Whitaker, Mark
A brilliant, lively account of the Black Renaissance that burst forth in Pittsburgh from the 1920s through the 1950s—“Smoketown will appeal to anybody interested in black history and anybody who loves a good story…terrific, eminently readable…fascinating” (The Washington Post).
Publisher: n/a
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9781501122392
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Book
The Source of Self-Regard
By Morrison, Toni
Arguably the most celebrated and revered writer of our time now gives us a new nonfiction collection--a rich gathering of her essays, speeches, and meditations on society, culture, and art, spanning four decades.The Source of Self-Regard is brimming with all the elegance of mind and style, the literary prowess and moral compass that are Toni Morrison's inimitable hallmark. It is divided into three parts: the first is introduced by a powerful prayer for the dead of 9/11; the second by a searching meditation on Martin Luther King Jr., and the last by a heart-wrenching eulogy for James Baldwin. In the writings and speeches included here, Morrison takes on contested social issues: the foreigner, female empowerment, the press, money, "black matter(s) ," and human rights. She looks at enduring matters of culture: the role of the artist in society, the literary imagination, the Afro-American presence in American literature, and in her Nobel lecture, the power of language itself. And here too is piercing commentary on her own work (including The Bluest Eye, Sula, Tar Baby, Jazz, Beloved, and Paradise) and that of others, among them, painter and collagist Romare Bearden, author Toni Cade Bambara, and theater director Peter Sellars. In all, The Source of Self-Regard is a luminous and essential addition to Toni Morrison's oeuvre.
Publisher: n/a
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9780525521037
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Hardcover
Sweet Home Caf Cookbook
By Lukas, Albert
A celebration of African American cooking with 109 recipes from the National Museum of African American History and Culture's Sweet Home CafSince the 2016 opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, its Sweet Home Caf has become a destination in its own right. Showcasing African American contributions to American cuisine, the caf offers favorite dishes made with locally sourced ingredients, adding modern flavors and contemporary twists on classics. Now both readers and home cooks can partake of the caf's bounty: drawing upon traditions of family and fellowship strengthened by shared meals, Sweet Home Caf Cookbook celebrates African American cooking through recipes served by the caf itself and dishes inspired by foods from African American culture.With 109 recipes, the sumptuous Sweet Home Caf Cookbook takes readers on a deliciously unique journey. Presented here are the salads, sides, soups, snacks, sauces, main dishes, breads, and sweets that emerged in America as African, Caribbean, and European influences blended together. Featured recipes include Pea Tendril Salad, Fried Green Tomatoes, Hoppin' John, Sngalaise Peanut Soup, Maryland Crab Cakes, Jamaican Grilled Jerk Chicken, Shrimp & Grits, Fried Chicken and Waffles, Pan Roasted Rainbow Trout, Hickory Smoked Pork Shoulder, Chow Chow, Banana Pudding, Chocolate Chess Pie, and many others. More than a collection of inviting recipes, this book illustrates the pivotal--and often overlooked--role that African Americans have played in creating and re-creating American foodways. Offering a deliciously new perspective on African American food and culinary culture, Sweet Home Caf Cookbook is an absolute must-have.
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9781588346407
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Hardcover
The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology
By Haulman, Daniel
The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology: A Detailed Timeline of the Red Tails and Other African American Pilots of World War II provides a unique year-by-year overview of the fascinating story of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Publisher: n/a
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9781588383419
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Paperback
Unseen
By Canedy, Dana
Hundreds of stunning images from black history have long been buried in The New York Times archives. Unseen uncovers these never-before published photographs and tells the stories behind each image.
Publisher: n/a
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9780316552967
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Book
The Warmth of Other Suns
By Wilkerson, Isabel
In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of African American citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities.
Publisher: n/a
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9780679444329
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Book
Well-Read Black Girl
By Edim, Glory
An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl, on the importance of recognizing ourselves in literature.Remember that moment when you first encountered a character in a book who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging remains with readers the rest of their lives - but not everyone regularly sees themselves on the pages of a book. In this timely anthology, "well-read black girl" Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black female writers to shine a light on how important it is that everyone - regardless of gender, race, religion, or ability - can find herself in literature. Contributors include Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing) , Lynn Nottage (Sweat) , Jacqueline Woodson (Another Brooklyn) , Gabourey Sidibe (This Is Just My Face) , Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing) , Tayari Jones (An American Marriage) , Rebecca Walker (Black, White and Jewish) , and Barbara Smith (Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology) Whether it's to learn about the complexities of femalehood from Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, to find a new type of love in The Color Purple, or to use mythology to craft an alternative black future, each essay reminds us why we turn to books in times of both struggle and relaxation. As she has done with her book club-turned-online community Well-Read Black Girl, Glory Edim has created a space in which black women's writing and knowledge and life experiences are lifted up, to be shared with all readers who value the power of a story to help us understand the world and ourselves.
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9780525619772
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Hardcover
Poetry
A Good Cry
By Giovanni, Nikki
One of America's most celebrated poets looks inward in this powerful collection, a rumination on her life and the people who have shaped her.The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred movements, turned hearts and informed generations. She's been hailed as a firebrand, a radical, a healer, and a sage; a wise and courageous voice who has spoken out on the sensitive issues, including race and gender, that touch our national consciousness. As energetic and relevant as ever, Nikki now offers us an intimate, affecting, and illuminating look at her personal history and the mysteries of her own heart. In A Good Cry, she takes us into her confidence, describing the joy and peril of aging and recalling the violence that permeated her parents' marriage and her early life. She pays homage to the people who have given her life meaning and joy: her grandparents, who took her in and saved her life; the poets and thinkers who have influenced her; and the students who have surrounded her. Nikki also celebrates her good friend, Maya Angelou, and the many years of friendship, poetry, and kitchen-table laughter they shared before Angelou's death in 2014.
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9780062399458
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Hardcover
Spoken Word
April 4, 1968
By Dyson, Michael Eric
At the fortieth anniversary of King's assassination, acclaimed public intellectual Michael Eric Dyson gives a comprehensive reevaluation of the fate of America.
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9781433246166
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Audiobook
Its All Love
By Golden, Marita
[Edited and introduced by Marita Golden][Read by Marita Golden and Other Readers]
In It's All Love, African Aserican writers celebrate the complexity, power, danger, and glory of love in all its many forms: romantic, familial, communal, and sacred.
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9781504742962
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Audiobook
Great African American speeches
By Speechworks,
In this collection, African American leaders change history with the power of the spoken word. Included here are speeches that have helped to shape our modern world.
A Mercy
By Morrison, Toni
A powerful tragedy distilled into a jewel of a masterpiece by the Nobel Prize-winning author of Beloved and, almost like a prelude to that story, set two centuries earlier.
Another Brooklyn
By Woodson, Jacqueline
The acclaimed New York Times bestselling and National Book Award-winning author . Another Brooklyn heartbreakingly illuminates the formative time when childhood gives way to adulthood and exquisitely renders a powerful, indelible, and fleeting friendship that united four young lives.
Daughters of a Nation
By Hart, Lena
The fight for suffrage was long, hard, and carried out on many fronts.In Daughters of a Nation, an African American suffragette historical romance anthology, Kianna Alexander, Alyssa Cole, Lena Hart, and Piper Huguley bring you four novellas full of spirit, hope, and love.
An Extraordinary Union
By Cole, Alyssa
As the Civil War rages, a courageous pair of spies plunge fearlessly into a maelstrom of ignorance, deceit, and danger, combining their unique skills to alter the course of history and break the chains of the past.
The Gilded Years
By Tanabe, Karin
In 1897, one young woman risks everything to earn a college degree but the secret she hides could be her undoing. "Passing" meets "The House of Mirth" in this captivating reimagining of a remarkable true story.
Glorious
By Mcfadden, Bernice L.
Glorious is set against the backdrops of the Jim Crow South, the Harlem Renaissance, and the civil rights era. Blending the truth of American history, this is the story of a fictional Harlem Renaissance writer whose tumultuous path to success, ruin, and revival offers a candid portrait of the American experience in all its beauty and cruelty.
Passing
By Larsen, Nella
Married to a successful physician and prominently ensconced in Harlem's vibrant society of the 1920s, Irene Redfield leads a charmed existence-until she is shaken out of it by a chance encounter with a childhood friend who has been "passing for white."
She Would Be King
By Moore, Waytu
A novel of exhilarating range, magical realism, and history -- a dazzling retelling of Liberia's formation. . She Would Be King is a novel of profound depth set against a vast canvas and a transcendent debut from a major new author.
The Underground Railroad
By Whitehead, Colson
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, the #1 New York Times bestseller from Colson Whitehead, a magnificent tour de force chronicling an enslaved woman's journey as she makes a bid for freedom in the antebellum South.
Washington Black
By Edugyan, Esi
* TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR: New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, Entertainment Weekly, Slate* ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Boston Globe, NPR, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Economist, Bustle* WINNER OF THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE* FINALIST FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE, THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE, THE ROGERS WRITERS' TRUST PRIZE"Enthralling" --Boston Globe "Extraordinary" --Seattle Times "A rip-roaring tale" --Washington PostA dazzling adventure story about a boy who rises from the ashes of slavery to become a free man of the world.George Washington Black, or "Wash," an eleven-year-old field slave on a Barbados sugar plantation, is terrified to be chosen by his master's brother as his manservant. To his surprise, the eccentric Christopher Wilde turns out to be a naturalist, explorer, inventor, and abolitionist. Soon Wash is initiated into a world where a flying machine can carry a man across the sky, where even a boy born in chains may embrace a life of dignity and meaning--and where two people, separated by an impossible divide, can begin to see each other as human. But when a man is killed and a bounty is placed on Wash's head, Christopher and Wash must abandon everything. What follows is their flight along the eastern coast of America, and, finally, to a remote outpost in the Arctic. What brings Christopher and Wash together will tear them apart, propelling Wash even further across the globe in search of his true self. From the blistering cane fields of the Caribbean to the frozen Far North, from the earliest aquariums of London to the eerie deserts of Morocco, Washington Black tells a story of self-invention and betrayal, of love and redemption, of a world destroyed and made whole again, and asks the question, What is true freedom?
An American Marriage
By Jones, Tayari
OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB 2018 SELECTION One of the most anticipated novels of 2018 according to Entertainment Weekly * Goodreads * Esquire * Elle * Cosmopolitan *BBC * Huffington Post * Bustle * Southern Living * Newsday * Bookish * Nylon * iBooks Store "Transcendent . . . Triumphant . . . Gorgeous."-Elle "A stunning epic love story . . . An exquisite, timely, and powerful novel that feels both urgent and indispensable."-Edwidge Danticat Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the
Five-Carat Soul
By Mcbride, James
One of The New York Times' 100 Notable Books of 2017"A pinball machine zinging with sharp dialogue, breathtaking plot twists and naughty humor... McBride at his brave and joyous best." - New York Times Book ReviewExciting new fiction from James McBride, the first since his National Book Award-winning novel The Good Lord Bird. The stories in Five-Carat Soul - none of them ever published before - spring from the place where identity, humanity, and history converge. They're funny and poignant, insightful and unpredictable, imaginative and authentic - all told with McBride's unrivaled storytelling skill and meticulous eye for character and detail. McBride explores the ways we learn from the world and the people around us. An antiques dealer discovers that a legendary toy commissioned by Civil War General Robert E. Lee now sits in the home of a black minister in Queens. Five strangers find themselves thrown together and face unexpected judgment. An American president draws inspiration from a conversation he overhears in a stable. And members of The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band recount stories from their own messy and hilarious lives. As McBride did in his National Book award-winning The Good Lord Bird and his bestselling The Color of Water, he writes with humor and insight about how we struggle to understand who we are in a world we don't fully comprehend. The result is a surprising, perceptive, and evocative collection of stories that is also a moving exploration of our human condition.
Head Games
By Morrison, Mary B
New York Times bestselling author Mary B. Morrison delivers a sizzling, twist-filled tale of four competitive friends, a dangerous bet, and high-stakes consequences no one can afford to win.
Homegoing
By Gyasi, Yaa
The unforgettable New York Times best seller begins with the story of two half-sisters, separated by forces beyond their control: one sold into slavery, the other married to a British slaver. Winner of the NBCC's John Leonard First Book Prize
A New York Times 2016 Notable Book
One of Oprah's 10 Favorite Books of 2016
NPR's Debut Novel of the Year
One of Buzzfeed's Best Fiction Books Of 2016
One of Time's Top 10 Novels of 2016, Winner of 2017 PEN Hemingway award for debut fiction.
How to Love a Jamaican
By Arthurs, Alexia
Tenderness and cruelty, loyalty and betrayal, ambition and regret - Alexia Arthurs navigates these tensions to extraordinary effect in her debut collection about Jamaican immigrants and their families back home. Sweeping from close-knit island communities to the streets of New York City and midwestern university towns, these eleven stories form a portrait of a nation, a people, and a way of life.
I Almost Forgot About You
By Mcmillan, Terry
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back is back with the inspiring story of a woman who shakes things up in her life to find greater meaning.
- Library Journal - Best Book of the Year, African American Fiction
The Mothers
By Bennett, Brit
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A dazzling debut novel from an exciting new voice, The Mothers is a surprising story about young love, a big secret in a small community - and the things that ultimately haunt us most.
No One Is Coming to Save Us
By Watts, Stephanie Powell
*THE INAUGURAL SARAH JESSICA PARKER PICK FOR BOOK CLUB CENTRAL*NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2017 BY The Washington Post * Refinery29 * St. Louis Post-Dispatch * Bookpage NAMED ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2017 BY Entertainment Weekly * Nylon * Elle * Redbook * W Magazine * The Chicago Review of BooksJJ Ferguson has returned home to Pinewood, North Carolina, to build his dream house and to pursue his high school sweetheart, Ava. But as he reenters his former world, where factories are in decline and the legacy of Jim Crow is still felt, he's startled to find that the people he once knew and loved have changed just as much as he has. Ava is now married and desperate for a baby, though she can't seem to carry one to term. Her husband, Henry, has grown distant, frustrated by the demise of the furniture industry, which has outsourced to China and stripped the area of jobs. Ava's mother, Sylvia, caters to and meddles with the lives of those around her, trying to fill the void left by her absent son. And Don, Sylvia's unworthy but charming husband, just won't stop hanging around. JJ's return - and his plans to build a huge mansion overlooking Pinewood and woo Ava - not only unsettles their family, but stirs up the entire town. The ostentatious wealth that JJ has attained forces everyone to consider the cards they've been dealt, what more they want and deserve, and how they might go about getting it. Can they reorient their lives to align with their wishes rather than their current realities? Or are they all already resigned to the rhythms of the particular lives they lead? No One Is Coming to Save Us is a revelatory debut from an insightful voice: with echoes of The Great Gatsby it is an arresting and powerful novel about an extended African American family and their colliding visions of the American Dream. In evocative prose, Stephanie Powell Watts has crafted a full and stunning portrait that combines a universally resonant story with an intimate glimpse into the hearts of one family.
Queen Sugar
By Baszile, Natalie
A mother-daughter story of reinvention - about an African American woman who unexpectedly inherits a sugarcane farm in Louisiana. Baszile's novel has been adapted to a television series directed by Ava DuVernay. Although the tv series differs dramatically from the book, both titles should be added to your "must read" and "must watch" lists.
Sing, Unburied, Sing
By Ward, Jesmyn
*WINNER of the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD for FICTION *A TIME MAGAZINE BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR and A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 OF 2017 *Finalist for the Kirkus Prize *Finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal *Finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize *Publishers Weekly Top 10 of 2017 *Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award "The heart of Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Unburied, Sing is story - the yearning for a narrative to help us understand ourselves, the pain of the gaps we'll never fill, the truths that are failed by words and must be translated through ritual and song...Ward's writing throbs with life, grief, and love, and this book is the kind that makes you ache to return to it." - BuzzfeedIn Jesmyn Ward's first novel since her National Book Award-winning Salvage the Bones, this singular American writer brings the archetypal road novel into rural twenty-first-century America. An intimate portrait of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle, Sing, Unburied, Sing journeys through Mississippi's past and present, examining the ugly truths at the heart of the American story and the power - and limitations - of family bonds. Jojo is thirteen years old and trying to understand what it means to be a man. He doesn't lack in fathers to study, chief among them his Black grandfather, Pop. But there are other men who complicate his understanding: his absent White father, Michael, who is being released from prison; his absent White grandfather, Big Joseph, who won't acknowledge his existence; and the memories of his dead uncle, Given, who died as a teenager. His mother, Leonie, is an inconsistent presence in his and his toddler sister's lives. She is an imperfect mother in constant conflict with herself and those around her. She is Black and her children's father is White. She wants to be a better mother but can't put her children above her own needs, especially her drug use. Simultaneously tormented and comforted by visions of her dead brother, which only come to her when she's high, Leonie is embattled in ways that reflect the brutal reality of her circumstances. When the children's father is released from prison, Leonie packs her kids and a friend into her car and drives north to the heart of Mississippi and Parchman Farm, the State Penitentiary. At Parchman, there is another thirteen-year-old boy, the ghost of a dead inmate who carries all of the ugly history of the South with him in his wandering. He too has something to teach Jojo about fathers and sons, about legacies, about violence, about love. Rich with Ward's distinctive, lyrical language, Sing, Unburied, Sing is a majestic new work and an unforgettable family story.
Aretha
By Ochs, Meredith
This beautifully illustrated unofficial retrospective celebrates the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, and reflects on her life, music, and legacy. Aretha Franklin's voice was legendary, unforgettable: deeply rooted in gospel, yet versatile enough to brilliantly interpret R&B, rock, soul, pop, and jazz standards, it fueled a six-decade career. Her vocal wallop was a mix of preaching, rebuke, and elation. From the languorous "I Never Loved a Man (the Way That I Love You) ," to the funky "Chain of Fools," to the fiercely feminist "Think," to the definitive, demanding version of Otis Redding's "Respect," Franklin's songs played out against the tumultuous sociopolitical backdrop of the late '60s like a soundtrack meant to set things right. Her accolades were many: she received the Kennedy Center honor in 1994, won 18 Grammys, was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and performed for presidents and the Pope. Illustrated with 85 photos, and with insightful text from noted radio personality and author Meredith Ochs, Aretha explores the diva's life, from her formative years growing up in Detroit, to her singing and recording career from the 1950s until her untimely death in 2018, to her numerous honors, awards, and causes, including her advocacy for civil rights and the arts.
Becoming
By Obama, Michelle
An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America - the first African American to serve in that role - she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments. Along the way, she showed us a few dance moves, crushed Carpool Karaoke, and raised two down-to-earth daughters under an unforgiving media glare. In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world's most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations - and whose story inspires us to do the same.
Hughie Lee Smith
By Kin, Lee-smith
Born in Eustis, Florida, Painter Hughie Lee-Smith (1915-1999) sought to transform his experiences growing up as an African American during the Great Depression into meditations on the human condition.
Invisible
By Carter, Stephen
The bestselling author delves into his past and discovers the inspiring story of his grandmother's extraordinary life She was black and a woman and a prosecutor, a graduate of Smith College and the granddaughter of slaves, as dazzlingly unlikely a combination as one could imagine in New York of the 1930s -- and without the strategy she devised, Lucky Luciano, the most powerful Mafia boss in history, would never have been convicted. When special prosecutor Thomas E. Dewey selected twenty lawyers to help him clean up the city's underworld, she was the only member of his team who was not a white male.Eunice Hunton Carter, Stephen Carter's grandmother, was raised in a world of stultifying expectations about race and gender, yet by the 1940s, her professional and political successes had made her one of the most famous black women in America. But her triumphs were shadowed by prejudice and tragedy. Greatly complicating her rise was her difficult relationship with her younger brother, Alphaeus, an avowed Communist who -- together with his friend Dashiell Hammett -- would go to prison during the McCarthy era. Yet she remained unbowed.Moving, haunting, and as fast-paced as a novel, Invisible tells the true story of a woman who often found her path blocked by the social and political expectations of her time. But Eunice Carter never accepted defeat, and thanks to her grandson's remarkable book, her long forgotten story is once again visible.
Looking for Lorraine
By Perry, Imani
A revealing portrait of one of the most gifted and charismatic African American artists and intellectuals of the twentieth century.
Minority Leader
By Abrams, Stacey
A personal and empowering blueprint from one of America’s rising Democratic stars.
My Love Story
By Turner, Tina
Tina Turner - the long-reigning queen of rock & roll and living legend - sets the record straight about her illustrious career and complicated personal life in this eye-opening and compelling memoir.
Reflections by Rosa Parks
By Parks, Rosa
Reflections by Rosa Parks celebrates the principles and convictions that guided her through a remarkable life.
Sing for Your Life
By Bergner, Daniel
The New York Times bestseller about a young man's journey from despair to stardom.
A Surprised Queenhood in the New Black Sun
By Jackson, Angela
A retrospective on the cultural and political force of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks, in celebration of her one hundredth birthday.
When They Call You a Terrorist
By Kahn-cullors, Patrisse
The emotional and powerful story of one of the co-founders of Black Lives Matter and how the movement was born.
Barracoon
By Hurston, Zora Neale
"A profound impact on Hurston's literary legacy." - New York Times In 1927 Zora Neale Hurston went to Plateau, Alabama to interview Cudjo Lewis, then the only person alive who could speak about his experiences as a captured slave.
Be Free or Die
By Lineberry, Cate
Be Free or Die is a compelling narrative that illuminates Robert Smalls' amazing journey from slave to Union hero and ultimately United States Congressman.
Before the Mayflower
By Jr., Lerone Bennett
Traces black history from its origins in western Africa, through the transatlantic journey and slavery, the Reconstruction period, the Jim Crow era, and the civil rights movement, to life in the 1990s.
The Black Bruins
By Johnson, James W
The Black Bruins chronicles the inspirational lives of five African American athletes who faced racial discrimination as teammates at UCLA in the late 1930s.
Black Fortunes
By Wills, Shomari
A fresh, little-known chapter in the nation's story - A blend of Hidden Figures, Titan, and The Tycoons - Black Fortunes illuminates the birth of the African American marketplace in America.
The Blood of Emmett Till
By Tyson, Timothy B
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction
This extraordinary New York Times bestseller reexamines a pivotal event of the civil rights movement - the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till - "and demands that we do the one vital thing we aren't often enough asked to do with history: learn from it" (The Atlantic) .
I
Bound to the fire
By Deetz, Kelley Fanto
Kelley Fanto Deetz draws upon archaeological evidence, cookbooks, plantation records, and folklore to present a nuanced study of the lives of enslaved plantation cooks from colonial times through emancipation and beyond.
The cooking gene
By Twitty, Michael
A memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces the paths of the author's ancestors through the crucible of slavery to show its effects on our food today.
Dawn of Detroit
By Miles, Tiya
Most Americans believe that slavery was a creature of the South, and that Northern states and territories provided stops on the Underground Railroad for fugitive slaves on their way to Canada. In this paradigm-shifting book, celebrated historian Tiya Miles reveals that slavery was at the heart of the Midwest's iconic city: Detroit.
Defining moments in black history
By Gregory, Dick
A reflection on 100 key events as told through the wit and humor of one of the foremost comedians.
Hidden Figures
By Shetterly, Margot Lee
The #1 New York Times bestseller-WINNER OF ANISFIELD-WOLF AWARD FOR NONFICTION-WINNER BLACK CAUCUS OF AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BEST NONFICTION BOOK-WINNER NAACP IMAGE AWARD BEST NONFICTION BOOK-WINNER NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE COMMUNICATION AWARDThe phenomenal true story of the black female mathematicians at NASA at the leading edge of the feminist and civil rights movement, whose calculations helped fuel some of America's greatest achievements in space - a powerful, revelatory contribution that is as essential to our understanding of race, discrimination, and achievement in modern America as Between the World and Me and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The basis for the smash Academy Award-nominated film starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner.Before John Glenn orbited the earth, or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. Among these problem-solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in the South's segregated public schools, they were called into service during the labor shortages of World War II, when America's aeronautics industry was in dire need of anyone who had the right stuff. Suddenly, these overlooked math whizzes had a shot at jobs worthy of their skills, and they answered Uncle Sam's call, moving to Hampton, Virginia and the fascinating, high-energy world of the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. Even as Virginia's Jim Crow laws required them to be segregated from their white counterparts, the women of Langley's all-black "West Computing" group helped America achieve one of the things it desired most: a decisive victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and complete domination of the heavens. Starting in World War II and moving through to the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race, Hidden Figures follows the interwoven accounts of Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden, four African American women who participated in some of NASA's greatest successes. It chronicles their careers over nearly three decades they faced challenges, forged alliances and used their intellect to change their own lives, and their country's future.
Never Caught
By Dunbar, Erica Armstrong
A startling and eye-opening look into America's First Family, Never Caught is the powerful narrative of Ona Judge, George and Martha Washington's runaway slave who risked everything to escape the nation's capital and reach freedom.
The President's Kitchen Cabinet
By Miller, Adrian
A treasury of information about cooking techniques and equipment, The President's Kitchen includes twenty recipes for which African American chefs were celebrated.
Smoketown
By Whitaker, Mark
A brilliant, lively account of the Black Renaissance that burst forth in Pittsburgh from the 1920s through the 1950s—“Smoketown will appeal to anybody interested in black history and anybody who loves a good story…terrific, eminently readable…fascinating” (The Washington Post).
The Source of Self-Regard
By Morrison, Toni
Arguably the most celebrated and revered writer of our time now gives us a new nonfiction collection--a rich gathering of her essays, speeches, and meditations on society, culture, and art, spanning four decades.The Source of Self-Regard is brimming with all the elegance of mind and style, the literary prowess and moral compass that are Toni Morrison's inimitable hallmark. It is divided into three parts: the first is introduced by a powerful prayer for the dead of 9/11; the second by a searching meditation on Martin Luther King Jr., and the last by a heart-wrenching eulogy for James Baldwin. In the writings and speeches included here, Morrison takes on contested social issues: the foreigner, female empowerment, the press, money, "black matter(s) ," and human rights. She looks at enduring matters of culture: the role of the artist in society, the literary imagination, the Afro-American presence in American literature, and in her Nobel lecture, the power of language itself. And here too is piercing commentary on her own work (including The Bluest Eye, Sula, Tar Baby, Jazz, Beloved, and Paradise) and that of others, among them, painter and collagist Romare Bearden, author Toni Cade Bambara, and theater director Peter Sellars. In all, The Source of Self-Regard is a luminous and essential addition to Toni Morrison's oeuvre.
Sweet Home Caf Cookbook
By Lukas, Albert
A celebration of African American cooking with 109 recipes from the National Museum of African American History and Culture's Sweet Home CafSince the 2016 opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, its Sweet Home Caf has become a destination in its own right. Showcasing African American contributions to American cuisine, the caf offers favorite dishes made with locally sourced ingredients, adding modern flavors and contemporary twists on classics. Now both readers and home cooks can partake of the caf's bounty: drawing upon traditions of family and fellowship strengthened by shared meals, Sweet Home Caf Cookbook celebrates African American cooking through recipes served by the caf itself and dishes inspired by foods from African American culture.With 109 recipes, the sumptuous Sweet Home Caf Cookbook takes readers on a deliciously unique journey. Presented here are the salads, sides, soups, snacks, sauces, main dishes, breads, and sweets that emerged in America as African, Caribbean, and European influences blended together. Featured recipes include Pea Tendril Salad, Fried Green Tomatoes, Hoppin' John, Sngalaise Peanut Soup, Maryland Crab Cakes, Jamaican Grilled Jerk Chicken, Shrimp & Grits, Fried Chicken and Waffles, Pan Roasted Rainbow Trout, Hickory Smoked Pork Shoulder, Chow Chow, Banana Pudding, Chocolate Chess Pie, and many others. More than a collection of inviting recipes, this book illustrates the pivotal--and often overlooked--role that African Americans have played in creating and re-creating American foodways. Offering a deliciously new perspective on African American food and culinary culture, Sweet Home Caf Cookbook is an absolute must-have.
The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology
By Haulman, Daniel
The Tuskegee Airmen Chronology: A Detailed Timeline of the Red Tails and Other African American Pilots of World War II provides a unique year-by-year overview of the fascinating story of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Unseen
By Canedy, Dana
Hundreds of stunning images from black history have long been buried in The New York Times archives. Unseen uncovers these never-before published photographs and tells the stories behind each image.
The Warmth of Other Suns
By Wilkerson, Isabel
In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of African American citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities.
Well-Read Black Girl
By Edim, Glory
An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl, on the importance of recognizing ourselves in literature.Remember that moment when you first encountered a character in a book who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging remains with readers the rest of their lives - but not everyone regularly sees themselves on the pages of a book. In this timely anthology, "well-read black girl" Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black female writers to shine a light on how important it is that everyone - regardless of gender, race, religion, or ability - can find herself in literature. Contributors include Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing) , Lynn Nottage (Sweat) , Jacqueline Woodson (Another Brooklyn) , Gabourey Sidibe (This Is Just My Face) , Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing) , Tayari Jones (An American Marriage) , Rebecca Walker (Black, White and Jewish) , and Barbara Smith (Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology) Whether it's to learn about the complexities of femalehood from Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, to find a new type of love in The Color Purple, or to use mythology to craft an alternative black future, each essay reminds us why we turn to books in times of both struggle and relaxation. As she has done with her book club-turned-online community Well-Read Black Girl, Glory Edim has created a space in which black women's writing and knowledge and life experiences are lifted up, to be shared with all readers who value the power of a story to help us understand the world and ourselves.
A Good Cry
By Giovanni, Nikki
One of America's most celebrated poets looks inward in this powerful collection, a rumination on her life and the people who have shaped her.The poetry of Nikki Giovanni has spurred movements, turned hearts and informed generations. She's been hailed as a firebrand, a radical, a healer, and a sage; a wise and courageous voice who has spoken out on the sensitive issues, including race and gender, that touch our national consciousness. As energetic and relevant as ever, Nikki now offers us an intimate, affecting, and illuminating look at her personal history and the mysteries of her own heart. In A Good Cry, she takes us into her confidence, describing the joy and peril of aging and recalling the violence that permeated her parents' marriage and her early life. She pays homage to the people who have given her life meaning and joy: her grandparents, who took her in and saved her life; the poets and thinkers who have influenced her; and the students who have surrounded her. Nikki also celebrates her good friend, Maya Angelou, and the many years of friendship, poetry, and kitchen-table laughter they shared before Angelou's death in 2014.
April 4, 1968
By Dyson, Michael Eric
At the fortieth anniversary of King's assassination, acclaimed public intellectual Michael Eric Dyson gives a comprehensive reevaluation of the fate of America.
Its All Love
By Golden, Marita
[Edited and introduced by Marita Golden][Read by Marita Golden and Other Readers] In It's All Love, African Aserican writers celebrate the complexity, power, danger, and glory of love in all its many forms: romantic, familial, communal, and sacred.
Great African American speeches
By Speechworks,
In this collection, African American leaders change history with the power of the spoken word. Included here are speeches that have helped to shape our modern world.