African American Studies

Omar ibn Said (1770-1863) was a Muslim scholar from West Africa who spent more than fifty years enslaved in the North Carolina household of James Owen, brother of Governor John Owen. In 1831 Omar composed a brief autobiography, the only known narrative...

First published in 1903, The Souls of Black Folk is a masterpiece of American literature, a foundational text of sociology, and a deeply personal answer to the question "What is it like to be a Black American?" Breathtaking, searing, and brilliant,...

The first Black mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, shares his story of making his way in a world that wasn't built for him, drawing on his rich heritage as the son of a civil rights leader. As a proud son of a civil rights leader, Steven L. Reed grew up...

"Charlayne Hunter-Gault is an eminent Dean of American journalism, a vital voice whose work chronicled the civil rights movement and so much of what has transpired since then. My People is the definitive collection of her reportage and commentary...

Home Sweet Sanctuary: Idlewild Families Celebrate a Century is a cultural study of the remarkable community of Idlewild, an African American resort in northern Michigan, one of the few remaining settlements of its kind in the United States. Idlewild was...

Day presents a striking portrayal of poverty, with all its related problems, among African America women in America. The book explores unemployment, underemployment, isolation, and lack of assets such as a car or home ownership.

Understanding how culture affects the ways we communicate--how we tell jokes, greet, ask questions, hedge, apologize, compliment, and so much more.We can learn to speak other languages, but do we truly understand what we are saying? How much detail...

A unique and epic novel describing the African Diasporic immigrant experience conveyed through the protagonist's immersion in American college life, which leads to his alienation from home. Kwakye covers substantial bredth of narrative, reminiscent of...

The first ever collection of writing from the Brixton Black Women's Group, one of the first and most important black radical organisations of the 1970s "We came to Britain in search of better opportunities or to get some of the wealth which had been...

A heartrending and engrossing memoir that challenges narratives of racial progress and postracial America. "Every so often, a book comes along that changes the way we see, speak, and think about the world. Shattered is one of those books." --Frank B...