Biography

"[An] erudite, enlightening new biography . . . [Waldstreicher's] interpretations equal Wheatley's own intentional verse, making it a joy to follow along as he unpacks her words and their arrangement." --Tiya Miles, The Atlantic"Thoroughly researched,...

It's often said that Black women are magic, but what if they really are mythological? Growing up as a Black girl in America, Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton yearned for stories she could connect to--true ones, of course, but also fables and mythologies that...

The definitive biography of the most legendary basketball player of all timeWhen most people think of Michael Jordan, they think of the beautiful shots, his body totally in sync with the ball, hitting nothing but net. He is responsible for incredible...

When Jorja Leap began studying Los Angeles gang violence in 2002, she encountered a myriad of proposed solutions to the seemingly intractable "gang problem" and set out to discover what was really going on. The stakes--then and now--could not be higher:...

For the first time, legendary singer and songwriter and Grammy Hall-of-Famer Aaron Neville tells his personal story of overcoming poverty, racism, addiction, and loss through faith, family, and music. Aaron Neville's first #1 hit, "Tell It Like it Is,"...

A thrilling account of life with Sun Ra's Arkestra and New York's avant-garde jazz scenes of the 1970s-90sIn this memoir, Harlem-born trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah recounts decades of national and international touring with the Sun Ra Arkestra and charts the...

'A scrupulous biography' - Publishers Weekly'Fresh, incisive, and uplifting' - Kirkus Bill V. Mullen celebrates the life of the great African-American writer who created some of his most important literary works, including the novels Go Tell it on the...

A powerful and inspiring biography of Merze Tate, a trailblazing Black woman scholar and intrepid world traveler Born in rural Michigan during the Jim Crow era, the bold and irrepressible Merze Tate (1905-1996) refused to limit her intellectual...

A wrenching, redemptive, and "brilliant coming-of-age story" (New York Times) about the difficulty of growing up in a hazardous home and the glory of finding salvation in geek culture, now in paperback. Stranded within an ever-shifting family's...

Does racial discrimination harm Black children's sense of self? The Doll Test illuminated its devastating toll. Dr. Kenneth Clark visited rundown and under-resourced segregated schools across America, presenting Black children with two dolls: a white one...

Kendrick "Perk" Perkins is known for his blunt commentary on ESPN's most popular shows. As a fourteen year NBA player, Perk earned a reputation as a fierce defender and great teammate. In this powerful memoir, he goes beyond basketball to discuss the...

The compelling, little-known story of golfer Charlie Sifford and attorney Stanley Mosk who together made history by taking on the PGA and their Caucasians Only by-law. It began with a chance meeting at a Los Angeles country club in 1959. That was the day...

A film legend recalls his remarkable life of nearly eight decades--a heralded actor who's played the roles he wanted, from Brian's Song to Lando in the Star Wars universe--unchecked by the racism and typecasting so rife in the mostly all-white industry...

"This book is brutal and brutally honest, but still perversely addictive because Brontez Purnell is a performer in the truest sense. Reading Ten Bridges I've Burnt, I felt tucked-in with him, along for the intimate ride, and paused only once to write...

A revelatory look at the tumultuous life of a jazz legend and American cultural icon. In the first biography of Billie Holiday in more than two decades, Paul Alexander--author of heralded lives of Sylvia Plath and J.D. Salinger--gives us an...