Cultural Literature

Winner of the 2023 Horowitz Prize by the Bard Graduate CenterShortlisted for the 2024 Charles C. Eldredge Prize by the Smithsonian American Art MuseumA meditation on suffering, resilience, creativity, and graceIn 1942 Missouri Pettway, newly suffering...

Illuminating two hundred years of lost Black History through the lens of an iconic abolitionist settlementIn the Light of Dawn shares the compelling story of how the iconic Dawn Settlement--now largely within the boundaries of Dresden, Ontario-- shaped...

"Part memoir, part history, and part political treatise, The South chronicles Reed's life under Jim Crow to correct what he sees as misleading representations of the past."-Elias Rodriques, Bookforum A memoir and historical account of growing up Black in...

Winner, Grand Prize, French Voices Award In Too Black to Be French, Isabelle Boni-Claverie navigates the complexities of identity, race, and family in a world that constantly questions her belonging. Boni-Claverie's singular account interweaves the...

A Hollywood history told from the perspective of those that fought for diversity, inclusion and acknowledgement Are the Oscars (still) so white? Is it even possible to decolonize the film industry? Why is Hollywood's race problem everyone's problem? ...

Juxtaposing the world-building of afrofuturism and the world-negating of afropessimism to show how both movements have offered us critical resources of hope. Science fiction imagines aliens and global crises as world-unifying events, both a threat and...

From the celebrated author of Freedom Dreams, a thought-provoking look at how the multicolored urban working class are the solution--not the problem--to the ills of American cities A limited Beacon Classics edition, with a gorgeous spot gloss cover and...

A world without prisons? Ridiculous. Schools that foster the genius of every child? Impossible. Work that doesn't strangle the life out of people? Naive. A society where everyone has food, shelter, love? In your dreams. Exactly. Ruha Benjamin, Princeton...

Ten beautifully illustrated essays tell the stories of handcrafted objects and their makers, providing inspiration and insight into Black history and craftsmanship.   Black artisans have long been central to American art and design, creating...

A blazingly honest essay collection from a refreshing new voice exploring the in-between moments for Black women and girls, and what it means to simply exist "At thirty-seven years old I can say Shenequa is a big name and I'm a big, bold woman." Shenequa...

From celebrated scholar Dr. Yolanda Pierce comes this indelible meditation on Black faith, suffering, hope, and the healing possibilities of justice, written in the venerable tradition of James Cone and Kelly Brown Douglas. What do we do with wounds--our...

A biography of Charles Chesnutt, one of the first American authors to write for both Black and white readers.In A Matter of Complexion, Tess Chakkalakal gives readers the first comprehensive biography of Charles W. Chesnutt. A complex and talented man,...

A timely, vulnerable, and cutting-edge exploration of the pressures and pitfalls of writing while Black in America in this urgently needed addition to the national conversation of race, money, and art. In the summer of 2020, when the nation was erupting...

For fans of Aftershocks and How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, a gripping and deeply honest memoir in essays, this debut collection sets out to answer the universal question of: Why am I like this? When Theresa Okokon was nine, her...

Offers Bioethics a bold approach to redress its failing of Black women Black people, and especially Black women, suffer and die from diseases at much higher rates than their white counterparts. The vast majority of these health disparities are not...