View Product | ISBN: 9781682650455 | $9.95 | Paperback

The Civil War finally ended slavery in the United States in 1865. But blacks didn’t suddenly enjoy all the rights other Americans took for granted. They had to struggle against racism and discrimination to claim those rights. African-American Activists traces that generations-long struggle. In this book, you’ll meet early activists like Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, who had very different ideas about how blacks should take their place in American society. You’ll read about activists who worked for integration and equality under the law during the civil rights movement, including Rosa Parks and John Lewis. And you’ll learn how a new generation of African-American activists, such as Majora Carter and Van Jones, continue to work for a better society today.

View Product | ISBN: 9781682650462 | $9.95 | Paperback

From quilts to marble, from comic strips to welded steel, African Americans have created exciting works of art for more than a hundred years. African-American Artists traces the struggles and shows the work of many of these men and women. This book will introduce you to Harriet Powers, who was born a slave and who told legends and stories on her quilts. You’ll meet Horace Pippin, who taught himself to paint and kept painting even after he lost the use of his arm. Cartoonist Aaron McGruder and digital artist Angela Perkins are among the African-American artists who continue to enrich the nation’s culture today.

View Product | ISBN: 9781682650479 | $9.95 | Paperback

Without education, it’s very difficult to make the most of your talents and abilities. But for much of American history, black people couldn’t get an education. In many places it was against the law for slaves to learn to read and write. Despite this, many brave slaves found a way to learn. Some taught themselves. Others sneaked to schools held late at night. Even after slavery was ended in 1865, African Americans continued to be treated unfairly. It was still a struggle for them to get an education. African-American educators stepped up to make a difference. They faced hardship. They often worked for very little pay–or for no pay at all. These educators built schools. They taught their students and stood up for equal rights. They proved that a person’s race has nothing to do with his or her ability.

View Product | ISBN: 9781682650486 | $9.95 | Paperback

African Americans–famous and anonymous alike–have helped shape popular musical genres ranging from jazz and blues to rock ‘n’ roll and rap. This book provides a vivid account of that process, beginning with the work songs and spirituals of slaves and continuing up to the present. African-American Musicians tells the stories of figures such as bluesman Robert Johnson, whose guitar playing was so extraordinary that people said he must have made a deal with the devil; jazz great Duke Ellington, considered one of America’s greatest composers and bandleaders; classical singer Marian Anderson, who struck a blow for civil rights with her music; Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop”; and many, many more.

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Some of them were elementary school dropouts. Others became medical doctors or college professors. Some were famous, while some toiled in obscurity. Some became rich. Others remained poor their whole lives. But the African-American scientists and inventors profiled in this book had one thing in common: a determination to succeed. And in pursuing their dreams, these creative thinkers made the world a better place. Lewis Latimer devised a manufacturing process that made electric lights affordable for ordinary people. Charles Drew did pioneering work in blood storage, helping save countless lives. Garrett Woods figured out how to send messages from moving trains. Learn about these and many other black scientists and inventors in this fascinating book.

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African-American Writers and Journalists spans nearly three centuries of literary and journalistic history, from a long-unpublished ballad composed in the 1740s by a slave named Lucy Terry to the works of the Nobel Prize–winning novelist Toni Morrison. It tells the stories of figures such as Frederick Douglass, whose towering intellect and powerful prose helped animate the movement to abolish slavery; Ida B. Wells and Charlotta Bass, journalists who risked their lives to report on racial violence and injustice; and Ralph Ellison and Richard Wright, who challenged society with hard questions about race and equality.

View Product | ISBN: 9781682650516 | $9.95 | Paperback

Many people dream of owning their own business or making it to the top of the corporate ladder. In the pages of this book, you’ll meet African Americans who overcame obstacles and stereotypes to make their dreams a reality. Madam C. J. Walker was orphaned at age 7, married at 14, became a mother at 18, and was widowed at 20. She went on make a million dollars selling hair care products. Berry Gordy loved music but went broke after opening a record store. He didn’t give up, though. Gordy eventually started Motown Records, which became one of the country’ most successful record labels and introduced a host of talented black artists to mainstream American audiences. Stanley O’Neal grew up on a farm without running water or indoor toilets. Through intelligence and hard work he became the head of a $50 billion investment bank. Read about these and other inspiring figures in this book.

View Product | ISBN: 9781682650523 | $9.95 | Paperback

On November 4, 2008, Americans went to the polls and elected the first black president in the history of the United States. Barack Obama was clearly a gifted politician with impressive achievements and a compelling life story. Still, his historic election wouldn’t have been possible if earlier generations of African Americans hadn’t paved the way. This book tells the stories of pioneering African-American lawyers and politicians. It details their efforts to guarantee black people the same rights enjoyed by other Americans, including the right to vote. In courtrooms, statehouses, and the halls of Congress, the people profiled in this book have helped make the United States what the framers of the Constitution hoped: “a more perfect Union.”

View Product | ISBN: 9781682650530 | $9.95 | Paperback

African Americans have participated in all of the country’s major conflicts, from the Revolutionary War to the present. Their contributions were vital and their courage on the battlefield commendable. Often, however, the nation was less than grateful. This book tells the story of blacks in the U.S. military. It is a story of courage and honor–a story that will both fascinate and inspire.

View Product | ISBN: 9781682650547 | $9.95 | Paperback

This book is filled with fascinating stories, from the night a shy young woman’s play changed Broadway to the day the most successful talk show host in history got her start. Find out about the stage actor who once earned letters in four college sports–and who won academic honors, too. Follow the triumphs and disappointments of some of the most famous black entertainers in our nation’s history. Rediscover great personalities who have been forgotten. And learn about how the roles of black performers both changed with and helped changed American society.

View Product | ISBN: 9781682650554 | $9.95 | Paperback

This book profiles some of the greatest African-American athletes of the past 150 years. They competed in sports ranging from boxing and horse racing to track and field, basketball, and baseball. As you’ll discover, what these champions accomplished on the field of competition was often but a small part of their story. Read, for example, about how doctors thought Wilma Rudolph might never walk after a childhood bout of polio–but she went on to sprint her way to three Olympic gold medals. Or how the fiery Jackie Robinson silently endured a torrent of abuse in order to break baseball’s “color barrier.” Find out the connection between a stolen bike and Muhammad Ali’s legendary boxing career. And learn how the African-American sports heroes of the past helped pave the way for superstars of the present, such as Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, and Candace Parker.

View Product | ISBN: 9781682650561 | $9.95 | Paperback

“The arc of the moral universe is long,” Martin Luther King Jr. once observed, “but it bends toward justice.” In this book, you’ll read about many courageous people–including Dr. King himself–who worked for justice during the long struggle for African-American civil rights.