Black Lives Matter: African-American History and Culture

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Beautiful Struggle: A Memoir

Beautiful Struggle: A Memoir
$17.00
An exceptional father-son story from the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me about the reality that tests us, the myths that sustain us, and the love that saves us.

Paul Coates was an enigmatic god to his sons: a Vietnam vet who rolled with the Black Panthers, an old-school disciplinarian and new-age believer in free love, an autodidact who launched a publishing company in his basement dedicated to telling the true history of African civilization. Most of all, he was a wily tactician whose mission was to carry his sons across the shoals of inner-city adolescence--and through the collapsing civilization of Baltimore in the Age of Crack--and into the safe arms of Howard University, where he worked so his children could attend for free.

Among his brood of seven, his main challenges were Ta-Nehisi, spacey and sensitive and almost comically miscalibrated for his environment, and Big Bill, charismatic and all-too-ready for the challenges of the streets. The Beautiful Struggle follows their divergent paths through this turbulent period, and their father's steadfast efforts--assisted by mothers, teachers, and a body of myths, histories, and rituals conjured from the past to meet the needs of a troubled present--to keep them whole in a world that seemed bent on their destruction.

With a remarkable ability to reimagine both the lost world of his father's generation and the terrors and wonders of his own youth, Coates offers readers a small and beautiful epic about boys trying to become men in black America and beyond.

Praise for The Beautiful Struggle

"I grew up in a Maryland that lay years, miles and worlds away from the one whose summers and sorrows Ta-Nehisi Coates evokes in this memoir with such tenderness and science; and the greatest proof of the power of this work is the way that, reading it, I felt that time, distance and barriers of race and class meant nothing. That in telling his story he was telling my own story, for me."--Michael Chabon, bestselling author of The Yiddish Policemen's Union and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

"Ta-Nehisi Coates is the young James Joyce of the hip hop generation."--Walter Mosley

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9780385527460
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Coates, Ta-Nehisi
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Black Stats: African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-First Century

Black Stats: African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-First Century
$14.95

An essential handbook of eye-opening--and frequently myth-busting--facts and figures about the real lives of Black Americans today

There's no defeating white supremacist myths without data--real data. Black Stats is a compact and useful guide that offers up-to-date figures on Black life in the United States today, avoiding jargon and assumptions and providing critical analyses and information.

Monique W. Morris, author of the acclaimed Pushout, has compiled statistics from a broad spectrum of telling categories that illustrate the quality of life and the possibility of (and barriers to) advancement for a group at the heart of American society. With fascinating information on everything from disease trends, incarceration rates, and lending practices to voting habits, green jobs, and educational achievement, the material in this book will enrich and inform a range of public debates while challenging commonly held yet often misguided perceptions.

Black Stats simultaneously highlights measures of incredible progress, conveys the disparate impacts of social policies and practices, and surprises with revelations that span subjects including the entertainment industry, military service, and marriage trends. An essential tool for advocates, educators, and anyone seeking racial justice, Black Stats is an affordable guidebook for anyone seeking to understand the complex state of our nation.

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9781595589194
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Morris, Monique W
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Combined Destinies: Whites Sharing Grief about Racism

Combined Destinies: Whites Sharing Grief about Racism
$17.95
By beginning a conversation that encourages self-examination and compassion, Combined Destinies invites readers to look at how white Americans have been hurt by the very ideology that their ancestors created. Editors Ann Todd Jealous and Caroline T. Haskell, both experienced psychotherapists skilled at facilitating dialogue about racial issues, are cognizant of the challenges that even the thought of such conversations often presents. Their book is based on the premise that for positive and lasting change to occur, hearts as well as minds must be opened. This courageous anthology posits that unearned privilege has damaged the psyche of white people as well as their capacity to understand racism. Drawing on the intimate stories of diverse contributors, Combined Destinies is organized thematically, with individual chapters focusing on topics such as guilt, shame, silence, and resistance. The book includes an extensive reader's guide, posing questions for discussion pertaining to each chapter and offering readers a chance to explore their own experiences. ANN TODD JEALOUS is a former marriage and family therapist with a long history of supporting civil rights. CAROLINE T. HASKELL is a licensed clinical social worker and founding director of Health and Wellness Services at California State University-Monterey Bay and the campus affiliate director for the National Coalition Building Institute in Washington DC.
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Dispatches from the Race War

Dispatches from the Race War
$17.95

Essays on racial flashpoints, white denial, violence, and the manipulation of fear in America today.

Drawing on events from the killing of Trayvon Martin to the Black Lives Matter protests last summer, Wise calls to account his fellow white citizens and exhorts them to combat racist power structures.--The New York Times

"What Tim Wise has brilliantly done is to challenge white folks' truth to see that they have a responsibility to do more than sit back and watch, but to recognize their own role in co-creating a fair, inclusive, truly democratic society."--Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow

Tim Wise's new book gives us the tools we need to reach people whose understanding of our country is white instead of right. And without pissing them off!--James W. Loewen, author, Lies My Teacher Told Me

Tim Wise's latest is more urgent than ever. --Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy

A white social justice advocate clearly shows how racism is America's core crisis. A trenchant assessment of our nation's ills.--*Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

[Dispatches from the Race War] is a bracing call to action in a moment of social unrest.--Publishers Weekly

Dispatches from the Race War exhorts white Americans to join the struggle for a fairer society.--Chapter 16

In this collection of essays, renowned social-justice advocate Tim Wise confronts racism in contemporary America. Seen through the lens of major flashpoints during the Obama and Trump years, Dispatches from the Race War faces the consequences of white supremacy in all its forms. This includes a discussion of the bigoted undertones of the Tea Party's backlash, the killing of Trayvon Martin, current day anti-immigrant hysteria, the rise of openly avowed white nationalism, the violent policing of African Americans, and more.

Wise devotes a substantial portion of the book to explore the racial ramifications of COVID-19, and the widespread protests which followed the police murder of George Floyd.

Concise, accessible chapters, most written in first-person, offer an excellent source for those engaged in the anti-racism struggle. Tim Wise's proactive approach asks white allies to contend with--and take responsibility for--their own role in perpetuating racism against Blacks and people of color.

Dispatches from the Race War reminds us that the story of our country is the history of racial conflict, and that our future may depend on how--or if--we can resolve it. "To accept racism is quintessentially American," writes Wise, "to rebel against it is human. Be human."

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9780872868090
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Wise, Tim
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Down Along with That Devil's Bones: A Reckoning with Monuments, Memory, and the Legacy of White Supremacy

Down Along with That Devil's Bones: A Reckoning with Monuments, Memory, and the Legacy of White Supremacy
$7.95
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ESSENTIAL ANTIRACIST READING

"We can no longer see ourselves as minor spectators or weary watchers of history a­fter finishing this astonishing work of nonfiction." --Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy

Connor Towne O'Neill's journey onto the battlefield of white supremacy began with a visit to Selma, Alabama, in 2015. There he had a chance encounter with a group of people preparing to erect a statue to celebrate the memory of Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the most notorious Confederate generals, a man whom Union general William Tecumseh Sherman referred to as "that devil." After that day in Selma, O'Neill, a white Northerner transplanted to the South, decided to dig deeply into the history of Forrest and other monuments to him throughout the South, which, like Confederate monuments across America, have become flashpoints in the fight against racism.

Forrest was not just a brutal general, O'Neill learned; he was a slave trader and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. O'Neill encountered citizens who still hold Forrest in cult-like awe, desperate to preserve what they call their "heritage," and he also talked to others fighting to tear the monuments down. In doing so he discovered a direct line from Forrest's ugly history straight to the heart of the battles raging today all across America. The fight over Forrest reveals a larger battle, one meant to sustain white supremacy--a system that props up all white people, not just those defending the monuments. With clear-eyed passion and honest introspection, O'Neill takes readers on a journey to understand the many ways in which the Civil War, begun in 1860, has never ended.

A brilliant and provocative blend of history, reportage, and personal essay, Down Along with That Devil's Bones presents an important and eye-opening account of how we got from Appomattox to Charlottesville, and of our vital need to confront our past in order to transcend it and move toward a more just society.

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9781616209100
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O'Neill, Connor Towne
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How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective

How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective
$15.95
If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free. --Combahee River Collective Statement

Winner of the 2018 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Nonfiction

The Combahee River Collective, a path-breaking group of radical black feminists, was one of the most important organizations to develop out of the antiracist and women's liberation movements of the 1960s and 70s. In this collection of essays and interviews edited by activist-scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, founding members of the organization and contemporary activists reflect on the legacy of its contributions to Black feminism and its impact on today's struggles.

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor writes on Black politics, social movements, and racial inequality in the United States. Her book From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation won the 2016 Lannan Cultural Freedom Award for an Especially Notable Book. Her articles have been published in Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society, Jacobin, New Politics, The Guardian, In These Times, Black Agenda Report, Ms., International Socialist Review, and other publications. Taylor is Assistant Professor in the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University.

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9781608468553
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Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta
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Meaning of Freedom

Meaning of Freedom
$15.95

Want to Better Understand Socialism? New York Magazine recommends The Meaning of Freedom

What is the meaning of freedom? Angela Y. Davis' life and work have been dedicated to examining this fundamental question and to ending all forms of oppression that deny people their political, cultural, and sexual freedom. In this collection of twelve searing, previously unpublished speeches, Davis confronts the interconnected issues of power, race, gender, class, incarceration, conservatism, and the ongoing need for social change in the United States. With her characteristic brilliance, historical insight, and penetrating analysis, Davis addresses examples of institutional injustice and explores the radical notion of freedom as a collective striving for real democracy - not something granted or guaranteed through laws, proclamations, or policies, but something that grows from a participatory social process that demands new ways of thinking and being. "The speeches gathered together here are timely and timeless," writes Robin D.G. Kelley in the foreword, "they embody Angela Davis' uniquely radical vision of the society we need to build, and the path to get there."

The Meaning of Freedom articulates a bold vision of the society we need to build and the path to get there. This is her only book of speeches.

"Davis' arguments for justice are formidable. . . . The power of her historical insights and the sweetness of her dream cannot be denied."--The New York Times

"One of America's last truly fearless public intellectuals." --Cynthia McKinney, former US Congresswoman

"Angela Davis deserves credit, not just for the dignity and courage with which she has lived her life, but also for raising important critiques of a for-profit penitentiary system decades before those arguments gained purchase in the mainstream." --Thomas Chatterton Williams, SFGate

"Angela Davis's revolutionary spirit is still strong. Still with us, thank goodness!"
--Virginian-Pilot

"Long before 'race/gender' became the obligatory injunction it is now, Angela Davis was developing an analytical framework that brought all of these factors into play. For readers who only see Angela Davis as a public icon . . . meet the real Angela Davis: perhaps the leading public intellectual of our era." --Robin D. G. Kelley author of Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original

"There was a time in America when to call a person an 'abolitionist' was the ultimate epithet. It evoked scorn in the North and outrage in the South. Yet they were the harbingers of things to come. They were on the right side of history. Prof. Angela Y. Davis stands in that proud, radical tradition." --Mumia Abu-Jamal, author of Jailhouse Lawyers: Prisoners Defending Prisoners v. the U.S.A.

"Behold the heart and mind of Angela Davis, open, relentless, and on time!" --June Jordan

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9780872865808
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Davis, Angela Y
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Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness

Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness
$18.95

An honest explanation about how power and privilege factor into the lives of white children, at the expense of other groups, and how they can help seek justice. --THE NEW YORK TIMES

ONE OF HUFFPOST'S RECOMMENDED ANTI-RACIST BOOKS FOR KIDS AND TEENS

**A WHITE RAVEN 2019 SELECTION**

NAMED ONE OF SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL'S BEST BOOKS OF 2018

Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness is a picture book about racism and racial justice, inviting white children and parents to become curious about racism, accept that it's real, and cultivate justice.

This book does a phenomenal job of explaining how power and privilege affect us from birth, and how we can educate ourselves...Not My Idea is an incredibly important book, one that we should all be using as a catalyst for our anti-racist education. --THE TINY ACTIVIST

Quite frankly, the first book I've seen that provides an honest explanation for kids about the state of race in America today. --ELIZABETH BIRD, librarian "It's that exact mix of true-to-life humor and unflinching honesty that makes Higginbotham's book work so well..."--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (*Starred Review)

A much-needed title that provides a strong foundation for critical discussions of white people and racism, particularly for young audiences. Recommended for all collections. --SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (*Starred Review)

A necessary children's book about whiteness, white supremacy, and resistance... Important, accessible, needed. --KIRKUS REVIEWS

A timely story that addresses racism, civic responsibility, and the concept of whiteness. --FOREWORD REVIEWS

For white folks who aren't sure how to talk to their kids about race, this book is the perfect beginning. --O MAGAZINE

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9781948340007
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Higginbotham, Anastasia
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Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls

Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls
$23.99

A groundbreaking and visionary call to action on educating and supporting girls of color, from the highly acclaimed author of Pushout

"Monique Morris is a personal shero of mine and a respected expert in this space."
--Ayanna Pressley, U.S. congresswoman and the first woman of color elected to Boston's city council

Wise Black women have known for centuries that the blues have been a platform for truth-telling, an underground musical railroad to survival, and an essential form of resistance, healing, and learning. In this "powerful call to action" (Rethinking Schools), leading advocate Monique W. Morris invokes the spirit of the blues to articulate a radically healing and empowering pedagogy for Black and Brown girls. Morris describes with candor and love what it looks like to meet the complex needs of girls on the margins.

Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues is a "vital, generous, and sensitively reasoned argument for how we might transform American schools to better educate Black and Brown girls" (San Francisco Chronicle). Morris brings together research and real life in this chorus of interviews, case studies, and the testimonies of remarkable people who work successfully with girls of color. The result is this radiant guide to moving away from punishment, trauma, and discrimination toward safety, justice, and genuine community in our schools.

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9781620973998
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Morris, Monique W
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Strange Fruit, Volume I

Strange Fruit, Volume I
$23.95
Strange Fruit Volume I is a collection of stories from early African American history that represent the oddity of success in the face of great adversity. Each of the nine illustrated chapters chronicles an uncelebrated African American hero or event. From the adventures of lawman Bass Reeves, to Henry "Box" Brown's daring escape from slavery.
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9781938486296
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Gill, Joel Christian

Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?

Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?
$16.00
In 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., isolated himself from the demands of the civil rights movement, rented a house in Jamaica with no telephone, and labored over his final manuscript. In this prophetic work, which has been unavailable for more than ten years, he lays out his thoughts, plans, and dreams for America's future, including the need for better jobs, higher wages, decent housing, and quality education. With a universal message of hope that continues to resonate, King demanded an end to global suffering, asserting that humankind-for the first time-has the resources and technology to eradicate poverty.
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9780807000670
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King, Martin Luther
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Witnessing Whiteness

Witnessing Whiteness
$39.00
Witnessing Whiteness invites readers to consider what it means to be white, describes and critiques strategies used to avoid race issues, and identifies the detrimental effect of avoiding race on cross-race collaborations. The author illustrates how racial discomfort leads white people toward poor relationships with people of color. Questioning the implications our history has for personal lives and social institutions, the book considers political, economic, socio-cultural, and legal histories that shaped the meanings associated with whiteness. Drawing on dialogue with well-known figures within education, race, and multicultural work, the book offers intimate, personal stories of cross-race friendships that address both how a deep understanding of whiteness supports cross-race collaboration and the long-term nature of the work of excising racism from the deep psyche. Concluding chapters offer practical information on building knowledge, skills, capacities, and communities that support anti-racism practices, a hopeful look at our collective future, and a discussion of how to create a culture of witnesses who support allies for social and racial justice. For book discussion groups and workshop plans, please visit www.witnessingwhiteness.com.
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9781607092575
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Tochluk, Shelly
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