Cultural Literature

The remarkable life of history's first foreign-born samurai, and his astonishing journey from Northeast Africa to the heights of Japanese society. When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped...

In Rock My Soul, world-renowned scholar and visionary bell hooks takes an in-depth look at one of the most critical issues facing African Americans: a collective wounded self-esteem that has prevailed from slavery to the present day.Why do so many...

Introducing Womanist Theology demonstrates how theology by women of color is firmly rooted in their varied life experiences. By participating fully in the construction of theology instead of simply learning theology from others, black women are able to...

A singular memoir highlighting "the outstanding humanity of black America" that tells the story of one unforgettable mother, her devoted daughter, and the life they lead in the Detroit numbers of the 1960s and 1970s (James McBride)   In 1958, the...

200 years ago, white people told black folks, “‘I suggest you pick the cotton if you don’t like getting whipped.” Today, it’s “comply with police orders if you don’t want to get shot.”  Now...

One of O: The Oprah Magazine's Top Books of Summer "Old in Art School is a glorious achievement--bighearted and critical, insightful and entertaining. This book is a cup of courage for everyone who wants to change their lives." --Tayari Jones, author of...

Shortly after a dismembered torso was discovered by a pond outside Philadelphia in 1887, investigators homed in on two suspects: Hannah Mary Tabbs, a married, working-class, black woman, and George Wilson, a former neighbor whom Tabbs implicated after...

With ancient chiefdoms tucked between terraced fields and volcanic mountains, Mount Cameroon Africa's highest peak, the impressive Waza National Park with its herds of elephants, and the coast's sleepy palm-fringed beaches, Cameroon has no shortage of...

Barack Obama's speech on the Edmund Pettus Bridge to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches should have represented the culmination of Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of racial unity. Yet, in Fracture, MSNBC national...

Gary Younge explains why "The Speech" maintains its powerful social relevance by sharing the dramatic story behind it.MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DELIVERED his powerful "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963. Fifty years later, the speech endures as a...

A Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Humanities fellow and a writer for the "Washington Post", Wil Haygood has been described as a cultural historian. He is the author of a trio of iconic biographies. His "King of the Cats: The Life and Times of...