Cultural Literature

Synopsis: The nature of complex relations between Africans and African Americans is the focus of this study. The author looks at the factors which are responsible for this complex nature and which collectively constitute a major obstacle to the...

From the acclaimed bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers and Blood and Thunder, a taut, intense narrative about the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the largest manhunt in American history. On April 23, 1967, Prisoner #416J, an inmate at the...

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A remarkable story about the power of friendship. Chosen by Essence to be among the forty most influential African Americans, the three doctors grew up in the streets of Newark, facing city life's temptations, pitfalls, even...

These high-interest/low-readability biographies cover influential contemporary and historical figures. Each inspiring example of success and overcoming challenges includes background notes, vocabulary lists, answers, and a bibliography. Biographies...

Available 11-21-2009Between 1914 and 1951, Black Bottom's black community emerged out of the need for black migrants to find a place for themselves. Because of the stringent racism and discrimination in housing, blacks migrating from the South seeking...

From the iconic and charismatic star of "Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam" comes this brave and fiercely candid memoir about growing up in Jamaica by performer, activist, and writer Chin.

In the tradition of "Dreams of My Father" and "The Color of Water" comes a powerful, beautifully written memoir about coming of age as a black girl in an exclusive white suburb in integrated, post-civil rights-era California in the 1970s and 1980s...

This is an account of Africans and Americans of African descent before, during, and after slavery by one of the most important figures in the campaign for racial equality in the United States. Beginning with a description of the African heritage of black...

The defining work of the Black Arts Movement, "Black Fire" is at once a rich anthology and an extraordinary source document. Nearly 200 selections, including poetry, essays, short stories, and plays, from over 75 cultural critics, writers, and political...

"Celebrate Kwanzaa" continues the spectacular Holidays Around the World series by focusing on this African-American holiday, which falls during the festive, gift-giving season and is celebrated by families, communities, and schools throughout America...

Haki R. Madhubuti is a poet, publisher, editor, and educator who has authored and edited twenty-three books, including the best-selling Black Men: Obsolete, Single, Dangerous? He is the founder of Third World Press, and cofounder of the Institute of...

"I believe in an America in which opportunity and justice truly are for all. That was the essence of the life an poetry of Langston Hughes."--Senator John Kerry, from the Preface A beautifully designed collection of some of the greatest poems by a...

Easy finally believes he can lead a simple life and leave his haunted past behind him--until he meets a woman who changes everything. November 1963: Easy's settled into a steady gig as a school custodian. It's a quiet, simple existence--but a few moments...

Even before the civil rights movement, African-American religion and progressive politics were assumed to be inextricably intertwined. In her revelatory book, Savage counters this assumption with the story of a highly diversified religious community...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "Maya Angelou writes like a song, and like the truth."--The New York Times Book Review "Everything about Maya Angelou is transcendental. She has something to tell you now. Listen."--Robert Fulghum, The Washington Post Book...

As a child, Bebe Moore spent her school years in Philadelphia, in a world of women. Surrounded by clouds of Emeraude and Chanel, supported by the strength of her mother, grandmother, aunts, and teachers, she learned by example to mind her p's and q's, to...