Cultural Literature

In 1992 Smithsonian anthropologist Michael Atwood Mason traveled to Cuba for initiation as a priest into the Santería religion. Since then he has created an active oricha "house" and has initiated five others as priests. He is a rare combination: a...

Tommy Davidson is widely recognized as part of the groundbreaking multi-racial sketch comedy show In Living Color. But before his rise to stardom as a TV and film star, his journey began when a woman rescued an infant out of a garbage bin in Mississippi...

In meditative and passionate prose, these provocative essays explore feminist, environmental, and political issues and shed new light on racial debates, including the controversy surrounding Walker's bestseller, The Color Purple.

An urgent picture of medical care in our cities, written by an emergency room physician (and co-author of the New York Times bestseller The Pact) who grew up in the very neighborhood he is now serving"A pull-no-punches look at health care from a...

Frederick Douglass's fluid, changeable sense of his own life story is reflected in the many conflicting accounts he gave of key events and relationships during his journey from slavery to freedom. Nevertheless, when these differing self-presentations are...

Books about history using real life memories recorded specifically for the purpose are rare, 'Live, Work & Play' is just such a book. Created from the hundreds of reminiscences of the residents of the town gathered by the WGC Heritage Trust and put into...

Live Life Colorfully is a quirky, illustrated mix of inspiring words, tips and tricks, and challenges from award-winning artist, designer, and creative director Jason Naylor. This colorful book is based on one of his strongest messages, Live Life...

They're Not Pets, Susan, says a stern father who has just shot a bumblebee, its wings sparkling in the evening sunlight. A lone office worker, less than an inch high, looks out over the river in his lunch break, Dreaming of Packing it All In. A tiny man...

Throughout the past two decades, Renita J. Weems has been noted and praised for her writing, galvanizing national speaking, and pioneering scholarship in the field of Old Testament studies. Yet in the midst of her celebrated work, she was experiencing a...

Listen To This If You Love Great Music is a must read for anyone with even a passing interest in music. Featuring 100 of the best albums from the last four decades, clashmusic.com​ editor Robin Murray shares his passion for exceptional music and...

Here is Nat Hentoff's deeply felt exploration of jazz, blues, country, and gospel -- and the musicians who bring the music to life. Hentoff has not only loved music all his life, he has lived it by being friends with many of the musicians he writes about...

Lincoln University was founded in 1866 for the education of freed blacks after the Civil War. This book focuses on the years between 1920 and 1970, a span of time during which many of the university'smost signifi cant developments occurred. During this...