Emerging with a varied political sensibility, this book explodes the bourgeois self-indulgence of American culture to give a lambasting critique of its current global ultra-exploration and political repression. Exploring pressing and complicated social issues, the book incorporates humor, invective, and vigor while analyzing life, beauty, and the defiance of denial and despair.
W. D. Wright
Crisis of the Black Intellectual (Hardcover)
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A reexamination of Harold Cruse's classic ""Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, "" published in 1967 at the height of the civil-rights movement and now required reading in African American studies courses, this polemic pays tribute to the earlier book's importance and takes to task the current generation of black scholars for failing to meet Cruse's rigorous standards for public commentary. Detailing the evolution of black-intellectual discourse since the 1960s, this assessment points to a lack of ongoing discussion about the role of intellectuals--black or white--in our society and insists that the experience of black Americans is so complex it deserves the closest and most honest scrutiny possible from black writers and academics. Instead, the book is sad to report, today's scholars are often caught up in media battles such as those described in the chapters ""Three of a Kind: Black Conservatives, Black Liberals, and Black Radicals"" and ""Why Black Female Intellectuals Tend to Shout.""
W. D. Wright
Crisis of the Black Intellectual (Paperback)
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A reexamination of Harold Cruse's classic ""Crisis of the Negro Intellectual, "" published in 1967 at the height of the civil-rights movement and now required reading in African American studies courses.
Askia Toure
Dawnsong!
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The poems in this collection address the cultural and spiritual needs of Black people. In Dawnsong! Toure successfully develops a heroic poetry that creates its own artistic matrix. In these poems Toure takes the reader back to ancient Egypt and, at the same time, demonstrates the relevance of Egyptian history and, at the same time, demonstrates the relevance of Egyptian history and mythology to the lives of contemporary Africans on the continent and in the diaspora.
Gwendolyn A. Mitchell
Describe the Moment
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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.
Haki R. Madhubuti
Don't Cry, Scream
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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
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Rajesh C. Oza
Double Play on the Red Line
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Family Pictures is a collection of poems dedicated to her friends and fighting against global anti=blackness
Diane D. Turner
Feeding the Soul
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An Africa-centered framework unifies these essays about misconceptions in standard accounts of the evolution of black music. Topics are cross-disciplinary and include Africa and the African diaspora, American black popular music, black consciousness and art, black message music, and the future of rap. Also included are poems by Nicole Sealey and Sandra Turner-Barnes; personal narratives by gospel music scholar James E. Adams and blues musician Byard Lancaster; and interviews with Katherine DeChavis, Kenny Gamble, Wynton Marsalis, Trudy Pitts, Shirley Scott, Ira Tucker, and McCoy Tyner. Rare archival photographs of musical pioneers complete this collection that leads to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the rich traditions of black music.
Randall Horton
Fingernails Across the Chalkboard
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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
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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
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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.
Annie Lee
Flora
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ORIGINAL African American Clown Art Plaque
Delores P. Aldridge
Focusing
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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
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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
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“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
