Biography

A landmark anthology of full-length works by Black American women writers of the 19th century including Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Harriet Jacobs, and Mary Weston Fordham-edited and with an introduction by C.S.R. Calloway.Shadows Uplifted collects and...

From Pete Souza, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Obama: An Intimate Portrait, comes a potent commentary on the Presidency -- and our country. As Chief Official White House Photographer, Pete Souza spent more time alongside President Barack...

A reckoning with the way we choose to see and define ourselves, Self-Portrait in Black and White is the searching story of one American family's multigenerational transformation from what is called black to what is assumed to be white. Thomas Chatterton...

Now a Netflix series starring Octavia Spencer, Self Made (formerly titled On Her Own Ground) is the first full-scale biography of "one of the great success stories of American history" (The Philadelphia Inquirer), Madam C.J. Walker--the legendary African...

A riveting, revealing portrait of tennis champion and global icon Serena Williams that combines biography, cultural criticism, and sports writing to offer "a deep, satisfying meditation" (The New York Times) on the most consequential athlete of her time...

Driven by the love for storytelling, this autobiography was written in the form of short stories (based on true events). Each short story creatively and collectively describes the top ten most valuable life lessons or secrets that Tarick learned while...

Robert Johnson, while probably the most influential of all blues guitarists, is also one of the most obscure. Recognized as an influence on musicians like Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, Johnson was poisoned by a jealous husband in 1938--at the age...

Say I'm Dead is the true story of family secrets, separation, courage, and trans-formation through five generations of interracial relationships. Fearful of prison time--or lynching--for violating Indiana's antimiscegenation laws in the 1940s, E. Dolores...

When Marita Golden decided to write her personal account of the challenges of raising a black son in today's world, she didn't intend to write more than her own family's story. But through the story of raising her son against the backdrop of a racially...

Grace Vaughn was born in Georgia. Racism and discrimination, being a daily part of life, was something she was introduced to at an early age. It is also something she has dealt with throughout her life because she is also a lesbian.Follow Grace as she...

One of Booklist's Must Read Nonfiction picks of 2019The acclaimed author of A Replacement Life shifts between heartbreak and humor in this gorgeously told, recipe-filled memoir. A family story, an immigrant story, a love story, and an epic meal, Savage...

Gary Giddins has been called the best jazz writer in America today (Esquire). Louis Armstrong has been called the most influential jazz musician of the century. Together this auspicious pairing has resulted in Satchmo, one of the most vivid and...

In all my whole career the Brick House was one of the toughest joints I ever played in. It was the honky-tonk where levee workers would congregate every Saturday night and trade with the gals who'd stroll up and down the floor and the bar. Those guys...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The superbly researched, spellbindingly told story of athlete, showman, philosopher, and boundary breaker Leroy "Satchel" Paige "Among the rare biographies of an athlete that transcend sports . . . gives us the man as well as...

A deeply felt portrait of an artist whose influence on a generation of vocalists was profound. -- New York Times Book Review Sarah Vaughan possessed the most spectacular voice in jazz history. In Sassy, Leslie Gourse, the acclaimed biographer of Nat...

This book chronicles some of the most influential people who call San Francisco "Home" as told by Dr. John Kerner, a longtime champion of women's health and the war on cancer. Folks we call "heroes" are not just limited to the military. A former World...