Cultural Literature

Shaped by centuries of migration, enslavement, freedom, colonization, and cultural mixture, Louisiana Creole identity is often simplified or misunderstood to fit into today's ideas about race and nationality. In Sunset Limited: An Autobiography of...

Kayode Ojo's sculptural installations made of ready-made items prompt reflections on class, consumption, and the fragility of luxury. "There is a sense of urgency in these fleeting collisions between fashion and art. It's the kind of tenuous exchange...

Honorable Mention, 2024 William Sanders Scarborough Prize, Modern Language Association One Sunday afternoon in February 1977, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange, and several other Black women writers met at June Jordan's Brooklyn apartment to...

A revelatory look at the tumultuous life of a jazz legend and American cultural icon "A book written as only one artist could view another, with insight and sincere compassion." --Sandra Cisneros, best-selling author of Woman Without Shame In the first...

A searing tribute of sisterhood and family, profound love and loss from the acclaimed author of The World According to Fannie Davis.In Love, Rita Bridgett M. Davis tells the story of her beloved older sister Rita, who knew Bridgett before she knew...

For fans of Kerry Washington and Bassey Ikpi, a gripping memoir about overcoming addiction and trauma--a powerful journey of healing and redemption. At age 30, Maya Golden was living a charmed life. She was an award-winning sports reporter, a loyal wife,...

Why don't our schools work? Eve L. Ewing tackles this question from a new angle: What if they're actually doing what they were built to do? She argues that instead of being the great equalizer, America's classrooms were designed to do the opposite: to...

With a Foreword by Simone BilesThe sensational two-time Olympian Jordan Chiles's heartfelt, inspiring memoir chronicling her unlikely path to the podium--including the unprecedented challenges, the joy of winning, the crushing pain of defeat, and the...

In 1959, Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel wrote and performed "Ne me quitte pas" (Don't leave me), a visceral and haunting plea for his lover to come back. As a teenager, Maya Angela Smith was so captivated by Nina Simone's powerful 1965 cover of...

A Black feminist take on exploitation and care in America's favorite game. Big-time college football promises prestige, drama, media attention, and money. Yet most athletes in this unpaid, amateur system encounter a different reality, facing dangerous...

From the deaf baseball legend and MLB Ambassador for Inclusion, a powerful anthem of ability diversity and overcoming the odds for readers of Nyle DiMarco's Deaf Utopia and sports memoirs such as Imperfect by Jim Abbott, Des Linden's Choosing to Run, and...

From hip-hop moguls and political candidates to talk radio and critically acclaimed films, society communicates that Black girls don't matter and their girlhood is not safe. Alarming statistics on physical and sexual abuse, for instance, reveal the harm...

A poignant, unflinching study of black grief as a form of elegy found in visual art, music, literature--everywhere, if you know how to see it. In Black Elegies, Kimberly Juanita Brown examines the form of the elegy and its unique capacity to convey the...

"I'm still getting the brakes fixed and when that's done I'm coming to see you, probably in a couple of weeks. As I keep fixing this and that the car will finally become reliable from bumper to bumper and I can visit any time and often. I'll call before...

Portraits of Valor The stories of the passions and personalities that placed Virginia in the forefront of the Revolutionary War were replete with grief and sacrifice. The breakup of families over political differences was common. Bereavement spared few,...

A powerful exploration of self-resilience, family, and community from activist and prison abolitionist Keeonna Harris.Keeonna and Jason met as young teens. Only fourteen, Keeonna had never had a boyfriend before, dreamed of attending Spelman to become an...