General African American Studies

A "rich hybrid of memoir and history" (The New Yorker) of the literary art form that has transformed the cultural landscape, by one of its influential practitioners, an award-winning poet, professor, and slam champion "Bennett...transport[s] us back to...

Traveling throughout the South during the 1950s was hazardous for African Americans. There were precious few hotels and restaurants that opened their doors to minorities, and fewer still had accommodations above the bare minimum, to say nothing of the...

The New York Times bestselling author of Be the Bridge calls people of faith to confront the historical inequities that still exist in so many American institutions--from our legal system and media to our schools and churches--and offers a path toward a...

A short introduction to Black Humanism: its history, its present, and the rich cultural sensibilities that infuse it In the United States, to be a Black American is to be a Black Christian. And there's something to this assumption in that the vast...

A New York Times Editors' Pick"Magnificent.... A uniquely intimate history of Black liberation." - Los Angeles TimesThe long overdue story of the Shakurs, persistent fighters in the U.S. struggle for racial justice, and one of the most prominent,...

Twelve Years a Slave, a chronicle of the amazing ordeal of a free African-American kidnapped in the north, and impressed into slavery in Louisiana, is one of the most compelling and detailed slave narratives in existence. The text and story were...

From one of America's most admired sociologists and urban policy advisers, There Goes the Neighborhood is a long-awaited look at how race, class, and ethnicity influence one of Americans' most personal choices--where we choose to live. The result of a...

Larry Mungin spent his life preparing to succeed in the white world. He looked away from racial inequality and hostility, believing he'd make it if he worked hard and played by the rules. He rose from a Queens housing project to Harvard Law School, and...

BEST BOOKS OUT THIS WEEK, KIRKUS CRITIC'S PICKS"Using stories and examples, David Moinina Sengeh presents seven principles for radical inclusion that are AS ACTIONABLE AS THEY ARE POWERFUL." ―Brené Brown "This book is a master class in innovation...

Narrative of Sojourner Truth is one of the most important documents of slavery ever written, as well as being a partial autobiography of the woman who became a pioneer in the struggles for racial and sexual equality. With an eloquence that resonates more...

Finalist for the 1997 National Book Award for NonfictionJamaica Kincaid's brother Devon Drew died of AIDS on January 19, 1996, at the age of thirty-three. Kincaid's incantatory, poetic, and often shockingly frank recounting of her brother's life and...

"Don't play in the sun. You're going to have to get a light-skinned husband for the sake of your children as it is." In these words from her mother, novelist and memoirist Marita Golden learned as a girl that she was the wrong color. Her mother had...