African American Studies

From colonial newspapers to the Internet age, America's racial divisions have played a central role in the creation of the country's media system, just as the media has contributed to--and every so often, combated--racial oppression. This acclaimed...

In this "inspiring memoir about the real power of courage and hope" (Kirkus Reviews), lifelong activist Shirley Sherrod explains why she was fired from the USDA under false charges and how she stood up against the politics of fear. Sherrod was a lifelong...

The first systematic examination of the image of Malcolm X, a uniquely conspicuous cultural figure who has been framed as both villain and hero, cast by mainstream media during his lifetime as "the most feared man in American history," and elevated at...

Publisher Comments: In Hands on the Freedom Plow fifty-two women--northern and southern, young and old, urban and rural, black, white, and Latina--share their courageous personal stories of working for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee...

Publisher Comments: An unprecedented and timely collection of Dr. King’s speeches on labor rights and economic justice People forget that Dr. King was every bit as committed to economic justice as he was to ending racial segregation. He fought...

Four great migrations defined the history of black people in America. Berlin's magisterial new account of these passages evokes both the terrible price and the moving triumphs of a people forcibly and then willingly migrating to America over four...

From Josephine Baker to Shonda Rhimes, from Arthur Ashe to President Barack Obama, this completely revised and updated volume explores and celebrates African-American accomplishment in a variety of fields.

The fatherless black family is a problem that grows to bigger proportions every year as generations of black children grow up without an adult male in their homes. As this dire pattern grows worse, what can men do who hope to break it, when there are so...

Actor and social commentator Phillips speaks powerfully to life as a conservative African American. With a frank voice and a loving heart, this brilliant and outspoken man presents a series of funny and thought-provoking essays that examine the simple...

In the dark days following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King courageously emerged from her supporting role in the civil rights movement to preserve King's legacy of nonviolent commitment to social justice.

A seminal Jones/Baraka literary landmine that launches Akashic Books' new African American-focused reprint series."Jones/Baraka usually speaks as a Negro-and always as an American. He is eloquent, he is bold. He demands rights-not conditional favors...

These are the things of which men think who live: of their own selves and the dwelling place of their fathers; of their neighbors; of work and service; of rule and reason and women and children; of Beauty and Death and War.

African Americans today face a systemic crisis of mass underemployment, mass imprisonment, and mass disfranchisement. This comprehensive reader makes clear to students the mutual constitution of these three crises. NEW SERIES ANNOUNCEMENT Critical Black...

In a world riven by conflict, reconciliation is not always possible -- but it offers one of the few paths to peace for a troubled nation or a troubled soul. In "Bone to Pick," bestselling author and "Newsweek" editor Ellis Cose offers a provocative and...