The author of Baldwin’s Harlem looks at the evolving culture, politics, economics, and spiritual life of Detroit—a blend of memoir, love letter, history, and clear-eyed reportage that explores the city’s past, present, and future and its significance to the African American legacy and the nation’s fabric.Herb Boyd moved to Detroit in 1943, as race riots were engulfing the city. Though he did not grasp their full significance at the time, this critical moment would be one o...

There is no neighborhood in America as famous, infamous, and inspiring as Harlem. From its humble beginnings as a farming district and country retreat for the rich, Harlem grew to international prominence as the meccaof black art and culture, then fell from grace, despised as a crime-ridden slum and symbol of urban decay. But during all of these phases there was writing in Harlem—great writing that sprang from one of the richest and most unique communities in the world. From Harlem’...

Like two intrepid leftist sleuths, Herb Boyd and Don Rojas take a deep dive into the files of the CIA, mainly inspired by Malcolm X's belief that he was under surveillance. They unearth and disclose enough evidence to confirm Malcolm's suspicion as well as to suggest, through circumstantial documentation, at least one agent stalking him. The book offers valuable insight into the history of government agencies spying on Black activists, and targeting Malcolm was just among the most notable ...

A crowd of onlookers gawked from the sidewalk as four young black men dressed in black leather jackets and berets leaped from a Volkswagen each of them wielding shotguns with bandoliers strapped across their bodies. The young men surrounded two white police officers who had accosted a black man and had him spread-eagled against a building.The young men did not say a word as the police officers watched them nervously their eyes fixed on the shotguns. One of the young men held a large law bo...

A sweeping, deeply rooted history of Harlem at the center of Black cultural, political, and intellectual lifeFrom its earliest Indigenous inhabitants and Dutch settlers to its emergence as a global center of Black culture, Epic Harlem offers one of the most comprehensive narrative histories ever written about this storied New York neighborhood. Author, journalist, and longtime Harlem resident Herb Boyd traces the evolution of Harlem across centuries, captu...

African History For Beginners explores the rich history of this continent of contrasts. Discover the glory of the Pharaohs and Towers of Zimbabwe the cosmology of the Yoruba the courage of the Masai and the golden wonders of Mali the art treasures of the Bushongo and the sophistication of the Egyptians. It is a unique documentary portrait of the Africans' struggle to preserve their cultural heritage and homeland. Recent archeological discoveries indicate that Africa was the birth place of ...

No modern tragedy has had a greater impact on race relations in America than the kidnapping and murder of Emmett Till, the 14-year-old black boy from Chicago whose body was battered beyond recognition and dumped in the Tallahatchie River while visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi, in 1955. This grotesque crime became the catalyst for the civil rights movement.Simeon Wright saw and heard his cousin Emmett whistle at Caroline Bryant at a grocery store; he was sleeping in the same...

**Discover the complete Black history of New York—from 1609 to the present—by the award-winning author of Breaking the Chains and Black Indians. For readers 12 and up.Includes a new intro and last chapter with insights on modern-day movements like Black Lives Matter, plus 50+ historical maps, illustrations, and photos. Essential for NY teachers, librarians and teens.**From the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in New Amsterdam in 1609 to the Harlem Re...

“The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” These were the prescient words of W. E. B. Du Bois’s influential 1903 book The Souls of Black Folk. The preeminent Black intellectual of his generation, Du Bois wrote about the trauma of seeing the Reconstruction era’s promise of racial equality cruelly dashed by the rise of white supremacist terror and Jim Crow laws. Yet he also argued for the value of African American cultural traditions an...

Now a hit Netflix miniseries directed by Mike Flanagan and starring Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, and Timothy HuttonPast the rusted gates and untrimmed hedges, Hill House broods and waits.Four seekers have come to the ugly, abandoned old mansion: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of the psychic phenomenon called haunting; Theodora, his lovely and lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a lonely, homeless girl well acquainted with polterge...

Perfect for fans of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, this is the fiercely honest, no-holds-barred memoir of the legendary jazz, swing, and standards singing sensation—a fiftieth-anniversary edition updated with stunning new photos, a revised discography, and an insightful foreword by music writer David RitzTaking the reader on a fast-moving journey from Billie Holiday’s rough-and-tumble Baltimore childhood (where she ran errands at a whorehouse in exc...

Step into the perfumed parlors of the Everleigh Club, the most famous brothel in American history–and the catalyst for a culture war that rocked the nation. Operating in Chicago’s notorious Levee district at the dawn of the last century, the Club’s proprietors, two aristocratic sisters named Minna and Ada Everleigh, welcomed moguls and actors, senators and athletes, foreign dignitaries and literary icons, into their stately double mansion, where thirty stunning Everleigh “butterflies” awai...