Social Science / Ethnic Studies Books

This classic in African American studies was first published in 1947; it has been a standard text ever since, and has been revised several times. Professors Franklin and Moss provide a comprehensive survey of the African American experience--including slavery, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Civil Rights movement--and highlight movements of self-determination and the struggle for equality.

A young black man's search to uncover his white mother's past and his own identity. Born in Poland, the daughter of a rabbi, James McBride's mother grew up in the Southern United States, ran away to Harlem, married a black man and founded a Baptist church, and then proceeded to put 12 children through college. McBride examines her life, his own childhood in Brooklyn's Red Hook housing projects, and the force of his mother's love which guided his and his siblings' lives.

Malcolm X was a controversial figure in the early sixties as one of the most forceful and eloquent spokesmen for African-Americans. In his writings and public appearances he addressed the issues of Black pride, separatism (a position he eventually renounced), and self-esteem. In the years prior to his assassination in 1965, he granted Alex Haley, author of ROOTS, a number of interviews. From these, Haley assembled this account of Malcolm X's short, turbulent life, candidly recalling his troubled upbringing and his sordid years on the streets. Born Malcolm Little, and known as Detroit Red during his years as a petty criminal in Harlem, Malcolm X managed to reinvent himself after a jailhouse conversion to Islam, an event he describes with rigorous honesty. He also includes an account of his life-changing pilgrimage to Mecca, as well as the rift with Elijah Muhammad and the Black Muslims that led to the formation of the Organization of Afro-American Unity. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X enjoyed widespread readership among audiences of all races, and influenced everything from the Black Power movement in the 1960s to the hip-hop community a generation later. It has been an inspiration to prisoners and the oppressed for four decades, and has been a staple in schools and libraries, appearing on virtually every list of essential books relating to the African-American experience.

An account of growing up Chicano in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

This trenchant analysis of what W.E.B. Dubois called "the problem of the color line" in America, was first published in the 1990s, and became a huge bestseller. Cornell West addresses topics such as affirmative action, black-Jewish relations, conservatism in the black community, Malcolm X, and black rage. West reminds readers of the legacy of white supremacy while acknowledging that progress has been made, and he points out the structures of power that, today, maintain or exacerbate the racial divisions within American society. Unequivocal in his comments, West, takes firm stands and points out difficult truths in these well-crafted essays, while offering vision and hope for the future.

This study of quilts made by African Americans during the slave period reveals the special role quilts played in the Underground Railroad where, through an established system of patterns, they served as signs and signals for slaves on their journey to freedom.

An eloquent collection of essays, first published in 1903, that has stood the test of time as one of the most thoughtful and prophetic texts in American letters on the subject of race and racism. Du Bois is particularly severe on the consequences of the moderate philosophies of Booker T. Washington, and advocates a bolder stance, including the right to vote, civic equality, and the education of black youth.

Historian Lerone Bennett, Jr., chronicles American history through the experiences of African-Americans, from their earliest arrival through key epochs in their history. BEFORE THE MAYFLOWER is a groundbreaking book that has become a classic in both history and Black Studies for its in-depth look at the essential presence of African American in the building of the nation and the shaping of its destiny.

A history of the development of jazz, from antebellum New Orleans to the present day. Gioia, a highly regarded critic and musician (and author of "The Imperfect Art"), traces the growth of jazz from a local musical dialect centered around the Storyville district of New Orleans to the internationally popular art form it became in succeeding years. A "New York Times" Notable Book for 1998.