African American Studies

Textures synthesizes research in history, fashion, art, and visual culture to reassess the "hair story" of peoples of African descent. Long a fraught topic for African Americans and others in the diaspora, Black hair is here addressed by artists,...

A treatise of Black women's transformative influence in media and society, placing them front and center in a new chapter of mainstream resistance and political engagement In Reclaiming Our Space, social worker, activist, and cultural commentator...

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...

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...

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...

Finally, a collection that celebrates, considers, contemplates, even criticizes'midlife' from a black woman's point of view. Age Ain't Nothing but a Number ranges over every aspect of black women's lives: personal growth, family and friendship, love and...

Created as a "living memorial" to the philosophies and ideas of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this essential volume includes more than 120 quotations from the greatest civil rights leader's speeches, sermons and writings.

From Spike Lee's encouragement of independent, community fundraising to Joycelyn Elders's warning about the failings of our sick-care system to Stanley Crouch's disputation on heroic versus anarchic individuality, Black Genius is an exceptional, unique...

A groundbreaking look at how Black visionaries--from Wall Street to Lagos and beyond--are reimagining capitalism to benefit the needs of Black people and, ultimately, everyone. To many, the term "Black Capitalists" is oxymoronic. Black people were the...

From the creator of "a unified field theory of racism" (NPR's Planet Money), a dollars-and-cents reckoning of the state of Black America and a new framework to close the power gap Historically, Black Americans' quest for power has been understood as an...