Biography

By the time Chloé Hilliard was 12, she wore a size 12--both shoe and dress--and stood over six feet tall. Fitting in was never an option. That didn't stop her from trying. Cursed with a "slow metabolism," "baby weight," and "big bones,"--the fat...

Never Stop is the wrenching memoir of Simba Sana, the cofounder and former leader of Karibu Books, a major indie-bookselling phenomenon and perhaps the most successful black-owned company in the history of the book industry. In this memoir, Sana...

With his no-holds-barred delivery and unique worldview, Paul Mooney continues to stir anger, generate laughter, and provoke thought while attempting to tear down racial and social barriers through his juicy memoir about his years writing comedy with the...

Mary McLeod Bethune was often called the "First Lady of Negro America," but she made significant contributions to the political climate of Florida as well. From the founding of the Daytona Literary and Industrial School for Training Negro Girls in 1904, B

A heartfelt, and riveting biography of the short life of a talented young African-American man who escapes the slums of Newark for Yale University only to succumb to the dangers of the streets--and of one's own nature--when he returns home.  When...

Strait-laced, pre-civil rights America wasn't ready for Eartha Kitt. Waiting for others to be ready was never her style. in America's Mistress John L. Williams captures the person behind the myth in this engaging biography but also race relations in...

A decade in the making, Emily Raboteau's" Searching for Zion" takes readers around the world on an unexpected adventure of faith. Both one woman's quest for a place to call "home" and an investigation into a people's search for the Promised Land, this...

Kidnapped into slavery in 1841, Solomon Northup spent 12 years in captivity. This autobiographical memoir represents an exceptionally detailed and accurate description of slave life and plantation society.The story that inspired the major motion picture,...

A punch-drunk memoir in which everyone's favorite Questlove, member of The Roots and the "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" band leader, tells his own story while tackling some of the lates, the greats, the fakes, the philosophers, the heavyweights, and the...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - A moving memoir about the legendary author's relationship with her own mother. Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf Book Club Pick!The story of Maya Angelou's extraordinary life has been chronicled in her multiple bestselling...

Discover the reigns of twelve African queens and warriors from across the continent in this immersive and pioneering history. Njinga Mbande. Nana Yaa Asantewaa. Makobo Modjadji VI. Ranavalona the First. These queens and warriors ruled vast swathes of...

From award-winning author and creative writing professor at Tulane University comes an intimate and powerful memoir exploring inherited trauma, family secrets, and the enduring bonds of love between mothers and daughters. On her second birthday in 1967,...