Cultural Literature

"Duane would talk to me about breaking the cycle of violence in himself. As he turned the pages in the books he read, I saw him turn the pages in his life, ultimately changing the decisions he made and actions he took." -- Jesse Clyde Burleson,...

In her first-ever collection of essays, poet and novelist Lorna Goodison interweaves the personal and political to explore themes that have occupied her working life: her love of poetry and the arts, colonialism and its legacy, racism and social justice,...

In constellations of text and Xerox, Rasheed reconfigures and sabotages knowledge production and belief formationBrooklyn-based artist Kameelah Janan Rasheed (born 1985) grapples with the poetics-pleasures-politics of Black knowledge production,...

A must-have anthology of the leading Black women and femmes shaping today's food and hospitality landscape--from farm to table and beyond--chronicling their passions and motivations, lessons learned and hard-won wisdom, personal recipes, and more.Chef...

Featuring over 300 hours of new interviews with 100+ subjects, an oral history of the girl groups (such as The Ronettes, The Shirelles, The Supremes, and The Vandellas) that redefined the early 1960s The girl group sound, made famous and unforgettable...

The brainchild of Daniel Alexander Payne Murray, Banneker: The Afro-American Astronomer was first conceived after Murray discovered what he found to be a beautifully written letter to Thomas Jefferson by a then unknown writer of color. Aided in his...

A Black Minneapolis cop and inner-city football coach faces racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd inflames his city and forces him to explore the tensions in the neighborhood where he grew up. Charles Adams is a product of the Minneapolis's...

Beginning with his autobiographical sketch, Memoir and Theatrical Career of Ira Aldridge, The African Roscius follows Aldridge's journey as a Black man who, "obtained and maintains among Europeans...a reputation whose acquisition demands the highest...

For the first time, legendary singer and songwriter Aaron Neville tells his personal story of overcoming poverty, racism, addiction, and loss through faith, family, and music. Aaron Neville's first #1 hit, "Tell It Like it Is," was released in 1966. In...

Weaving together critical analysis and a filmic conversation, this book journeys through the multiple layers of Cameroonian filmmaker Jean-Marie Teno's thematically and aesthetically challenging body of work, framed here as a form of decolonial cinematic...

Leveling the Playing Field tells the story of the African American members of the 1969-70 Syracuse University football team who petitioned for racial equality on their team. The petition had four demands: access to the same academic tutoring made...

As seen on Humans of New York, Jonathan Conyers introduces us to the teachers, his debate coach, drug dealers, and a boy named Diego who changed his life. Everybody was rooting for Jonathan Conyers after seeing his profile on Humans of New York went...