Cultural Literature

A surprising and beautiful meditation on the color blue--and its fascinating role in Black history and culture--from National Book Award winner Imani Perry Throughout history, the concept of Blackness has been remarkably intertwined with another color:...

The inspiring chronicle of a Black community in Virginia fighting for civil rights over the course of a pivotal century Roses in December is a story of strength, courage, and beauty found in difficult times and the most challenging of circumstances...

How psychedelics can heal historical, intergenerational, and racialized trauma--an Afrofuturistic take on Black psychedelia toward joy and liberation The mainstream has long viewed psychedelic medicine as the purview of people with privilege: money to...

In this joyous essay collection edited by NPR's Ayesha Rascoe, celebrities and other alumni provide testimonials about their experience attending historically Black college universities-which shaped their lives and made them who they are today. With a...

Pass down the powerful teachings of African oral tradition by adding this luxe illustrated volume of over 50 cultural folktales to your home library. In this captivating collection of folklore from African culture, discover the stories that have been...

One of The New York Times's 100 Notable Books of 2024One of the Washington Post's 50 Best Nonfiction Books of 2024 Longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography Named a best book of 2024 by The New Yorker Vulture Foreign Affairs ...

Recounting a life--and language--by an esteemed scholar of African American rhetoric. In this powerful coming-of-age memoir, author, scholar, and language scholar Keith Gilyard presents a testament to the transformative power of language. From his...

Three groundbreaking texts on Black rhetoric by a renowned and award-winning scholar. Explore the influential prose of Keith Gilyard in this impressive collection, bringing together three seminal works that challenge and expand our understanding of...

Notable Quotations from Frederick DouglassThis pocket-sized hardcover book contains dozens of quotations from abolitionist, orator, social reformer and statesman Frederick Douglass. "No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at...

Stories of a PeopleThroughout history, African Americans passed along folk tales to ease burdens and make sense of experiences. Tracing back to West Africa, this storytelling tradition provided laughter, instruction and resilience. Animal stories often...

The first collection of essays published on trailblazing nineteenth-century Black feminist, activist, journal, and educator, Mary Ann Shadd Cary Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893) was a trailblazing Black feminist, activist, journalist, and educator whose...

A "tour de force" (Harry Belafonte) now finally in paperback An electrifying and traumatic encounter in the sixties crystallized the fraught conflict between conscience and politics - between morality and power - in addressing race. In 1963 Attorney...

This groundbreaking resource moves us from theory to action with a practical plan for reparations. A surge in interest in black reparations is taking place in America on a scale not seen since the Reconstruction Era. The Black Reparations Project...

The remarkable legacy of Carl Murphy, the acclaimed publisher of the AFRO-American newspaper, will remind you to always find your solace and strength in God. Fifty of Murphy's prayers, along with other proverbs and words of wisdom, have been lovingly...

Contemporary Black artist Trenton Doyle Hancock responds to the provocative images of twentieth-century Jewish painter Philip Guston A defining figure of the New York School, Philip Guston (1913-1980) frequently alluded to racism, antisemitism, and...

2014 NAACP Image Award Winner: Outstanding Literary Work - Biography / Auto Biography 2013 Letitia Woods Brown Award from the Association of Black Women Historians Choice Top 25 Academic Titles for 2013 The definitive political biography of Rosa Parks...