Biography

An autobiography of one of the towering figures of contemporary American music and a powerful meditation on history, race, capitalism, and art. Henry Threadgill has had a singular life in music. At 78, the jazz saxophonist, flautist, and celebrated...

In mid-life Afro-American journalist Raybon made a conscious decision to stop hating white people. Her journal/analysis provides discourse on hatred and forgiveness, the rise of her hatred, and her efforts to conquer her fears and forgive the past. An...

Winner of the 2022 Paris Book Award for General Nonfiction New York Public Library's Best Books for Adults Shelf Awareness 2022 Best Books of the Year Kirkus Review's 2022 Best Nonfiction Books and 2022 Best Books About Black Life in America Aspire...

This edition of The Autobiography of W. E. B. Du Bois is the first to be arranged and dedicated in accordance with Du Bois's manuscript notes. It begins with these words: "I was born by a golden river and in the shadow of two great hills, five years...

The Souls of Black Folk is a founding text of the US civil rights movement, an inspiring work of literature and advocacy by a young man who drew on his own experience as a child in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, a teacher in the hills of Tennessee, a...

From one of rap's most evocative writers comes a stirring memoir and "masterpiece of a book" (Snoop Dogg) about how Boosie Badazz, one of the industry's most controversial figures, was able to overcome insurmountable odds to make his music dreams a...

The Urgent Life shines a bright light on the intricacies of the shadows she’s been in, and illuminates the beauty of her urgent life.” —Serena WilliamsFrom iconic leader Bozoma Saint John, comes a memoir of grief, and one...

This extraordinary memoir of struggle and perseverance offers new ways of envisioning economic equality for everyone--from a leading activist and fashion pioneer. Aurora James's story is not a "success story." Or at least, it shouldn't be told that way...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Deval Patrick, "an inspirational figure guided by optimism and hope who presaged the rise of President Obama" (The Boston Globe), recounts his extraordinary journey from the South Side of...

When The Real Housewives of New York City hired its first black cast member after more than 13 years on the air, attorney, speaker, and journalist Eboni K. Williams knew that the public would consider her a diversity hire. But instead of accepting the...

MLK: A Celebration in Word and Image is an unprecedented collection of black-and-white photographs combined with stirring quotations by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This treasured collection includes images by legendary photographers such as Henri...

Founder of the Philadelphia Dance Company (PHILADANCO) and the Philadelphia School of Dance Arts, Joan Myers Brown's personal and professional histories reflect the hardships as well as the advances of African-Americans in the artistic and social...

This collection of historical essays on race develops lines of inquiry into race and social studies, such as geography, history, and vocational education. Contributors focus on the ways African Americans were excluded or included in the social education...

One of Oprah.com's "17 Must-Read Books for the New Year" and O Magazine's "10 Titles to Pick up Now.""Exquisite in its honesty and truth and resilience, and a necessary chronicle from one of the greatest writers of our time."--Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,...

Booker T. Washington's famous 1901 memoir, Up From Slavery, charts Washington's rise from an enslaved child with a passion for learning to the nation's most prominent Black educator and first president of Tuskegee University. A tireless advocate for...