Featuring poetry, short plays, and short stories, this collection contains content written by young people as part of Chicago's Gallery 37 Project, an art education program for youths aged 14–21. The illustrations are also done by the participants in the 1998 Gallery 37 program.
Chancellor Williams
Destruction of Black Civilization
Regular price
$29.95
Save $-29.95
The Destruction of Black Civilization took Chancellor Williams sixteen years of research and field study to compile. The book, which was to serve as a reinterpretation of the history of the African race, was intended to be ""a general rebellion against the subtle message from even the most 'liberal' white authors (and their Negro disciples): 'You belong to a race of nobodies. You have no worthwhile history to point to with pride.'"" The book was written at a time when many black students, educators, and scholars were starting to piece together the connection between the way their history was taught and the way they were perceived by others and by themselves. They began to question assumptions made about their history and took it upon themselves to create a new body of historical research. The book is premised on the question: ""If the Blacks were among the very first builders of civilization and their land the birthplace of civilization, what has happened to them that has left them since then, at the bottom of world society, precisely what happened? The Caucasian answer is simple and well-known: The Blacks have always been at the bottom."" Williams instead contends that many elements—nature, imperialism, and stolen legacies— have aided in the destruction of the black civilization. The Destruction of Black Civilization is revelatory and revolutionary because it offers a new approach to the research, teaching, and study of African history by shifting the main focus from the history of Arabs and Europeans in Africa to the Africans themselves, offering instead ""a history of blacks that is a history of blacks. Because only from history can we learn what our strengths were and, especially, in what particular aspect we are weak and vulnerable. Our history can then become at once the foundation and guiding light for united efforts in serious[ly] planning what we should be about now."" It was part of the evolution of the black revolution that took place in the 1970s, as the focus shifted from politics to matters of the mind.
Haki R. Madhubuti
Don't Cry, Scream
Regular price
$8.00
Save $-8.00
In this classic collection of poetry, the reader will find a bold poem for each crucial issue of Black life.
zestard-easy-donation
Donate Now
Regular price
$5.00
Save $-5.00
Rajesh C. Oza
Double Play on the Red Line (PRE-ORDER NOW, Available September 2025)
Regular price
$24.95
Save $-24.95
**PRE-ORDER NOW, Available September 2025 ** In Double Play on the Red Line, debut novelist Rajesh C. Oza delivers a powerful, emotionally resonant story of injustice, alliance, and hope between two American men of color—one Black, one Indian—bound by a brutal encounter in Wrigley Field’s iconic bleachers.
Geneva Smitherman
Educating African American Males
Regular price
$12.95
Save $-12.95
Educating African American Males: Detroit's Malcolm X Academy Solution shows an African-centered educational program in action, documenting its success stories and new challenges. It is must reading for teachers, parents, and all those concerned about the future of our children and our community. For years, Detroit's Malcolm X Academy has been on the frontline of the struggle to reclaim our youth and our community. Their philosophy, curriculum, and pedagogy are African-based and proven effective.
Brian Gilmore
Elvis Presley Is Alive and Well and Living in Harlem
Regular price
$8.00
Save $-8.00
Intertwining wit, satire, sensitivity, and rich verbal imagery, this collection of free verse celebrates the triumph of Black culture.
Philip C. Kolin
Emmett Till in Different States
Regular price
$18.95
Save $-18.95
The poems in Emmett Till in Different States span more than 7 decades of events in Emmett Till’s legacy from the 1940s to the present. In them Philip Kolin shows how Emmett Till’s importance has expanded from being a Civil Rights martyr to becoming a choric, heroic commentator on the tragedies of Civil Rights injustices (e.g. Medgar Evers’s murder, the Freedom Riders, the murders of Chicago’s children, Trayvon Martin), and a voice of conscience for America to hear and heed. The title of this collection points to the multiple ways we can see Emmett Till through time and space (e.g. geographic, historical, psychological, and theological.) Kolin weaves other voices throughout the poems in this collection, most notably Mamie Till, Gospel great Mahalia Jackson who bought Till’s gravestone, an old black woman (Aunt Aretha) who meets Till in the Delta, Till’s fictionalized brothers (other black men who have been slain and their bodies left to rot), his fictionalized sister based upon the Shulamite woman in the Song of Songs, the Chicago River, and even Carolyn Bryant, the white woman whom Till was said to have offended. These voices–and Till’s as well–emerge from a variety of traditions–Biblical, the blues, classical mythology, spirituals. According to Natasha Trethewey, the 19th Poet Laureate of the United States, “In the history of a nation still on the long journey toward full realization of its creed, there are stories that need to be told again and again. The murder of Emmett Till is one such story; it belongs to all of us and should be sung by many different voices. In Emmett Till in Different States, Philip Kolin adds his voice—a necessary retelling so that we might be transformed by the listening.”
Useni Eugene Perkins
Explosion of Chicago's Black Street Gangs-1900 to Present
Regular price
$8.95
Save $-8.95
This book is the bible on the social pathology of street gangs in Chicago. It should be read by all professionals working with young adults, especially those involved in law enforcement.
Gwendolyn Brooks
Family Pictures
Regular price
$10.00
Save $-10.00
Family Pictures is a collection of poems dedicated to her friends and fighting against global anti=blackness
Randall Horton
Fingernails Across the Chalkboard
Regular price
$15.95
Save $-15.95
Featuring a wide assortment of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction, this powerful volume confronts the existence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic within the Black Diaspora. Defining a cultural dialogue that will be prevalent well into the 21st century, these writings celebrate life and the living by humanizing the effects of HIV and giving powerful voices to the affected and afflicted. The writings, presented in four major sections, speak out about the hard-hitting truths that surround HIV; the forms of abuse, such as incest and rape, which cast HIV into the lives of girls and women; the issues of grief and loss; and the range of reactions, from acceptance to denial, activism, and the search for justice. The writers featured include Dennis Brutus, Tony Medina, Randi Triant, Truth Thomas, Duriel Harris, Frank X. Walker, Arisa White, Tara Betts, and Lamont B. Steptoe.
Imani A. Humphrey
First Fruits
Regular price
$7.95
Save $-7.95
Highlighting the crucial role of children and elders during a special family time, this book stresses the importance of family participation in the celebration of this African American holiday.
Kwaku Person-Lynn
First Word
Regular price
$21.95
Save $-21.95
An informative collection of narratives (in their words) from some of the most prominent and important Black scholars, artists. From Kwaku Person-Lynn: The most important thing to remember is that the person I am talking with has a body of knowledge that needs to be preserved for the next generation. We needed to hear our history and culture from our perspective….To know that thousands were listening to the teachings of John Henrik Clarke, Cheikh Anta Diop, Yosef-ben-Jochannan, Ivan Van Sertima, Frances Cress Welsing, W.E.B. DuBois, Asa Hilliard, Na’im Akbar, and many others was transformative to so many lives.
Delores P. Aldridge
Focusing
Regular price
$8.95
Save $-8.95
This timely work propels our understanding of African American men and women beyond the crossroads. Dr. Aldridge's insight and vision place Black male-female relationships in a liberating framework from which Blacks can initiate the crucial tasks of reclaiming ourselves, restoring our traditions, and reconstructing the African world.
Marc Lamont Hill
FOR GAZA’S CHILDREN
Regular price
$24.95
Save $-24.95
We firmly believe that our children are the stewards of our liberation. When we prioritize our children, we are also prioritizing a world shaped by peace, safety, love and justice. When we protect our children, we are also protecting our most beautiful legacies and coveted traditions. When we invest in our children, we are also investing in our most audacious freedom dreams and our most impossible future worlds. The children of Gaza, and indeed all of Palestine, are no different. Driven by this commitment, we have decided to assemble an anthology that prioritizes children. We hope to contribute to the present moment of radical resistance and revolutionary possibility by placing the lives, experiences, conditions, feelings, perspectives, and stories of the region’s children at the center of our social, cultural, moral, legal, and political analysis. For this anthology, we have chosen to exclusively spotlight the voices of progressive Black and Jewish American writers. In foregrounding Black and Jewish identities, including those writers who identify as both Black and Jewish, we hope to refute several dangerous myths about Black and Jewish Americans on the question of Israel/Palestine.
Aneb Kgositsile
for you, this circle
Regular price
$19.95
Save $-19.95
“Aneb Kgositsile’s poems remind me of the physical language of the Alvin Ailey Dancers. Her poems evoke the same Black elegance, fearlessness and clarity as they sweep across the senses rendering the reader helpless to resist the beauty of truth, its teaching pain and healing pleasure.” --Michael Simanga
Adelaide L. Sanford
From Enslavement to Belovedness
Regular price
$19.95
Save $-19.95
James D. Montgomery Sr.
Full Circle - Race, Law & Justice (Hardcover)
Regular price
$24.95
Save $-24.95
Full Circle is the story of one of the foremost attorneys of the last half century - Attorney James D. Montgomery, Sr. He is recognized as a well-respected statesman and passionate advocate who has devoted his career to challenging racist systems and policies espoused by the American justice system. Working with other Civil Rights Leaders of the time, Attorney Montgomery fought for - often with little or no pay - a fair criminal justice system, desegregated Chicago public schools, fair housing, and an end to police brutality.
James D. Montgomery Sr.
Full Circle - Race, Law & Justice (Paperback)
Regular price
$19.95
Save $-19.95
Full Circle is the story of one of the foremost attorneys of the last half century - Attorney James D. Montgomery, Sr. He is recognized as a well-respected statesman and passionate advocate who has devoted his career to challenging racist systems and policies espoused by the American justice system. Working with other Civil Rights Leaders of the time, Attorney Montgomery fought for - often with little or no pay - a fair criminal justice system, desegregated Chicago public schools, fair housing, and an end to police brutality.
Brenda Eatman Aghahowa
Grace Under Fire
Regular price
$18.95
Save $-18.95
An insightful analysis of key speeches by the late Texas congresswoman Barbara Jordan, this book also summarizes the events that shaped her life and views on public policy. At the center of the discussion are two of Jordan's most famous speeches: her""""""Statement on Impeachment,"" made before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in July of 1974 during the Nixon impeachment hearings; and her historic Democratic National Convention keynote address, delivered at Madison Square Garden in July of 1976. The book includes an audio CD containing both speeches, and the book's appendix documents Jordan's sudden rise to national attention with excerpts from the countless letters she received from her constituents in the late 1970s.
Herbert G. McCann
Greenwood
Regular price
$19.95
Save $-19.95
The unprecedented prosperity and creativity of the Roaring Twenties acts as a striking counterpoint to the poverty of a young Southwestern town in this eloquent tale drawn from real sources of African American history. The hopeful residents of Greenwood, Oklahoma, are still suffering economically but plan to turn their lives around. Richard Rowland's love for Sarah Page worries his father and offends the sensibilities of the people who hold the power of life and death over him. L. J. McSpadden is the son of slaves who has overcome incredible odds to become a success and yet is the thorn in the side of men more powerful than he. And William Hogg is driven to build the greatest city in the Southwest. Many more men pass through town who help shape the economic and political standards of the time, but when their goals collide with the citizens of Greenwood, a conflagration ignites that terrifies some and excites others.
