Cultural Literature

"Fascinating and instructive...King's philosophy, speaking to us through the written word, may turn out to constitute his most enduring legacy."--Annette Gordon-Reed, New York Review of Books Martin Luther King, Jr., is one of America's most revered...

Assembled from plays, essays, letters, drawings, and photographs, this memoir records the passionate engagement and spectacular accomplishment of the playwright of A Raisin in the Sun. It follows Lorraine Hansberry from her childhood in Chicago (where...

A "beautiful, tragic, and inspiring" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) memoir about three Black girls from the storied Bronzeville section of Chicago that offers a penetrating exploration of race, opportunity, friendship, sisterhood, and the powerful...

What is written without pain, said Doctor Johnson, is rarely read with pleasure. Rarely perhaps, but not, I hope, never: for the little essays in this book were written, I must confess, without much angst. In part this was because, in writing them, I had...

What are the right questions to ask when seeking out the spirit of a nation? In November, 2017, the people of Zimbabwe took to the streets in an unprecedented alliance with the military. Their goal, to restore the legacy of Chimurenga, the liberation...

The first monograph of Chicago-based Theaster Gates, one of the most exciting and highly regarded contemporary artists at work today.Theaster Gates has developed an expanded artistic practice that includes space development, object making, performance...

In this "sharp-eyed account of a nearly forgotten African-American sports legend" (Publishers Weekly)--the remarkable Major Taylor who became the world's fastest bicyclist at the height of the Jim Crow era--"Kranish has done historians and fans a service...

As seen on the Today Show: This true story of an unforgettable mother, her devoted daughter, and their life in the Detroit numbers of the 1960s and 1970s highlights the outstanding humanity of black America (James McBride).In 1958, the very same year...

"What does liberation mean when I have incarnated in a particular body, with a particular shape, color, and sex?" In The Way of Tenderness, Zen priest Zenju Earthlyn Manuel brings Buddhist philosophies of emptiness and appearance to bear on race,...

"On these pages, the Garden of Eden meets the world we live in." - Shane Claiborne, activist and author God once declared everything in the world "very good." Can you imagine it? Through careful exploration of the biblical text, particularly the...

A fresh and bold argument for revamping our standards of "merit" and a clear blueprint for creating collaborative education models that strengthen our democracy rather than privileging individual elitesStanding on the foundations of America's promise of...

Micahel Sokolove presents an unforgettable tale of families grasping for opportunities, of athletes praying for one chance to make it big, of all of us hoping that the will to succeed can triumph over the demons haunting our city streets. The year was...