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African American Studies Selected Biographies I

	Executing Justice: An Inside Account Of The Case Of Mumia Abu-Jamal by Daniel R. Williams Mumia Abu-Jamal's defense attorney provides readers with a definitive and compelling account of his client's struggle for justice, as it describes the 1982 conviction of award-winning Philadelphia journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal for the killing of a police officer and the controversy that has rocked this death-row case. 20,000 first printing. – (Baker & Taylor)
	I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Collects critical essays on the author's autobiographical work – (Baker & Taylor)
	I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It by Charles Barkley The outspoken former NBA player and sports commentator shares his opinions and observations on basketball, popular culture, personal relationships, celebrity and fame, politics, money, and life. – (Baker & Taylor)
	White Is A State Of Mind by Melba Beals The author of the critically acclaimed Warriors Don't Cry continues her story about what happened after the integration of the Little Rock schools and describes her long but rewarding journey toward compassion and forgiveness, a successful career, joyous marriage, and new approach to life. 22,000 first printing. Tour. – (Baker & Taylor)
	Manchild In The Promised Land by Claude Brown A rerelease of a 1965 best-selling classic traces the author's experiences as a first-generation African American raised in the Northern ghettos of Harlem in the mid-20th century, an upbringing marked by violence, drugs and devastating urban disadvantages. By the author of Makes Me Wanna Holler. – (Baker & Taylor)
	Black Ice by Lorene Cary An African-American woman remembers her adolescence at the formerly all-white, all-male St. Paul's School in New Hampshire, and tells of the pains she endured in order to succeed without selling out – (Baker & Taylor)
	Reflections Of An Affirmative Action Baby by Stephen Carter A self-described beneficiary (and, at times, victim) of affirmative action confronts the problems spawned by our national obsession with racial measurement. Carter provides a thoughtful analysis of this controversial issue, arguing that affirmative action often allows the nation to escape inexpensively from its moral obligation to undo the legacy of slavery.
	Narrative And Selected Writings by Frederick Douglass
	W. E. B. Dubois by David Lewis A definitive biography of the African-American author and scholar chronicles DuBois's life from his formative years, through his role as a founder of the NAACP, to his self-exile to Ghana. – (Baker & Taylor)
	Lanterns: A Memoir Of Mentors by Marian Edelman The African American lawyer and president of the Children's Defense Fund describes the positive influences of family, church members, teachers, colleagues, and other social reformers in her life – (Baker & Taylor)
	Black Frontiersman by Henry O. Flipper Black Frontiersman is Flipper's autobiographical account of his service with the Tenth U.S. Cavalry in Texas and Oklahoma and his years as a civilian that followed – one of only a handful of such accounts by a black American.
	Aretha: From These Roots by David Ritz and Aretha Franklin In an intimate and inspirational memoir, America's Queen of Soul recounts the story of her life, from her childhood as the daughter of a Baptist minister in Detroit to her meteoric rise to success, offering insights into the joys of motherhood, romance, and the faith and determination that have taken her to the top. 250,000 first printing. Tour. – (Baker & Taylor)
	Groovin’ High: The Life Of Dizzy Gillespie by Alyn Shipton A biography of the American jazz trumpeter follows his career from the swing, bebop, and big band performances of the 30s, 40s, and 50s, through his recordings in the early 1990s – (Baker & Taylor)
	Gemini by Nikki Giovanni A young poet, attuned to the social problems of contemporary America, reveals her thoughts on the black experience – (Baker & Taylor)
	Black Cuban, Black American by Evelio Grillo
	To Be Young, Gifted And Black by Lorraine Hansberry Selections from the works of the late Negro playwright include play excerpts, autobiographical sketches, poetry, and drawings – (Baker & Taylor)
	The Life Of Langston Hughes by Arnold Rampersad Poet, playwright, novelist, a grand figure in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s–Langston Hughes was one of the most extraordinary and prolific American writers of this century. This book is the first installment of a projected two-volume life that will undoubtedly be the definitive biography of Hughes. Based on exhaustive research in archival collections throughout the country and abroad but primarily in the Langston Hughes Papers (previously closed to most scholars) at the Beinecke Library of Yale University, the book traces in detail Hughes's life from his birth in Missouri in 1902 to the winter of 1941. Descended from a family steeped in radical Abolitionism (an ancestor had fought and died with John Brown at Harper's Ferry), Hughes was a driven man who often gave the appearance of a happy wanderer. His nomadic life led him to Mexico in 1919 and 1920, Africa in 1923, Europe in 1924, and the Soviet Union in 1932. After his exhilarating Russian travels, he completed a journey around the world by way of China and Japan, and in 1937, he spent several months in besieged Madrid at the height of the Spanish Civil War. Hughes's greatest devotion, however, was to the word. Inspired by both the democratic chants of Walt Whitman and the vibrant forms of Afro-American culture, he became the most original and revered of black poets as well as a fiction writer and dramatist of considerable power. Although his political vision was often radical and his sense of injustice acute, he faced the world as an open, laughing, and gregarious man. Yet, as this compelling biography shows, there lurked beneath the laughter a gnawing loneliness that Hughes strove to overcome in his devotion to his art and his ideal vision of America. – (Oxford University Press)
	Only The Strong Survive: The Odyssey Of Allen Iverson by Larry Platt A portrait of the 2001 NBA MVP describes his violence and drug-marked childhood, his early talents on the playground, his entry into the NBA in 1996, and the personal choices that caused him to be vilified by the press. – (Baker & Taylor)
	Chester Himes: A Life by John Sallis A fascinating biography of crime writer Chester Himes chronicles his colorful personal life, from his youth as a petty criminal and prison experiences to his rise to success as an acclaimed poet, critic, and novelist, and his extraordinary literary work. Reprint. – (Baker & Taylor)
	Dust Tracks On A Road by Zora Neale Hurston Presents the story of an African American woman who rose from poverty to become an author who held a prominent place among the artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. – (Baker & Taylor)
	The House That Jack Built by James Haskins and Hal Jackson The story of one of the most important figures in American radio and television from his start in Washington, D.C., as the first African American announcer on network radio to many other “firsts,” and the people he met along the way. – (Baker & Taylor)
	Find Where The Wind Goes by Mae Jemison Following her childhood dreams, Mae Jemison grew to become an accomplished woman as a chemical engineer, scientist, physican, and astronaut while having made her mark in the history books as the first African-American woman to travel into space. – (Baker & Taylor)
	King Of Ragtime: Scott Joplin And His Era by Edward A. Berlin The story of the popular, critically acclaimed music of Scott Joplin shares a definitive portrait of a man who was part of the first post-Civil War generation of African-American pioneers who escaped poverty and low social status through entertainment. UP. – (Baker & Taylor)
	A Defiant Life: Thurgood Marshall & The Persistence Of Racism In America by Howard Ball An account of the struggles of a Supreme Court justice both on and off the bench and his fight for racial equality – (Baker & Taylor)
	Pauli Murray by Pauli Murray Autobiography of a Black activist, feminist, lawyer, priest, and poet
	Straight No Chaser: How I Became A Grown-Up Black Woman by Jill Nelson Blending memoir, essay, and political analysis, the first African American writer at the Washington Post's sunday magazine takes a look at what it takes to grow up Black and female in the United States – (Baker & Taylor)
	Ted Poston: Pioneer American Journalist by Kathleen Hauke Offers a look at the life and career of the first African American reporter to work at a mainstream daily newspaper – (Baker & Taylor)
	Paul Robeson: Artist And Citizen by Jeffrey Stewart, ed Provides a biographical portrait of the football player and Rutgers College graduate who became a world-renowned actor, singer, and motion picture star – (Baker & Taylor)
	A Personal Odyssey by Thomas Sowell The Harvard-educated economist traces his journey from the mean streets of Harlem to the halls of power in government and industry, offering readers a compelling portrait of an American success story. – (Baker & Taylor)
	On Her Own Ground: The Life And Times Of Madam C.J. Walker by A’Lelia P. Bundles Written by her great-great-granddaughter, a biography of the entrepreneur and philanthropist Madam C.J. Walker is told through personal letters, records, and photographs from the family collection. – (Baker & Taylor)
	Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington For half a century from its publication in 1902 Up from Slavery was the best-known book written by an African American. The life of ex-slave Booker T. Washington embodied the legendary rise of the American self-made man, and his autobiography gave prominence for the first time to the voice of a group which had to pull itself up from extreme adversity. – (Blackwell North Amer)
	To Keep The Waters Troubled: The Life Of Ida B. Wells by Linda McMurry Edwards A historian presents the first full-length biography of the black woman crusader for racial justice and women's rights in the period after Reconstruction, detailing her efforts to eliminate lynching and her complicated relationship with the feminists of the time. UP. – (Baker & Taylor)
	Black Boy by Richard Wright Richard Wright records his struggle against self-pity and social injustice as he grew to manhood in the Jim Crow South and against the same racism in the North as a young man – (Baker & Taylor)
	The Autobiography Of Malcolm X by Malcolm X The Black leader discusses his political philosophy and reveals details of his life, shedding light on the ideas that enabled him to gain the allegiance of a still growing percentage of the Black population – (Baker & Taylor)





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