american history
‘May We Forever Stand’ Explains Why “Lift Every Voice and Sing” Is an Immortal Song
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" has been embedded in black America's DNA for more than 100 years. We've sung it every February ever since Black History Month was a thing, and every December since Kwanzaa was a thing.
On a Turning Point for Martin Luther King, Jr.
Biographer Patrick Parr takes readers through a vital and decisive phase of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life virtually unexplored by other biographers.
Civil Rights Document, ‘A More Beautiful and Terrible History’, Is Revelatory, Sobering and Relevant
Theoharis's work is deeply (and sadly) relevant to our current condition. Many of the same issues Theoharis decries -- media inattention, liberal passivity on racial justice issues, government harassment of activists -- are still in play.
The Rationality of Violence: The Kerner Commission and the Riots of 1967
Separate and Unequal provides a riveting account of a crucial moment in US history. It offers a penetrating insight into the manner in which good intentions and just causes necessarily confront the mechanisms of governmental bureaucracy.
Is This the Death of Democracy in America?
The United States has pulled back from the brink of authoritarianism before. But a new study reveals the daunting challenges the country faces in preserving its democracy.
‘Bunk’ Joins the Dots Between Barnum and Trump
Kevin Young painstakingly presents the history of hoaxes and why we keep falling for the same old shtick.
‘A Pictographic History of the Oglala Sioux, 50th Anniversary Edition’ Is a Treasure
There's really nothing quite like this in other collections of "primitive" art, or even in the grand narrative painting from the European tradition.
‘Chocolate Cities’ Draws New Maps of Black American Life
A classic Parliament track inspires a new look at how black Americans moved, made connections, and created a nation-within-a-nation.
‘Soul of a Nation’ and ‘The Wall of Respect’ Prompt New Looks at Cutting-edge Black Art
No matter where you are on the wokeness spectrum, the Black Power era has yet to stop informing.
You May Be Black or You May Be White But in Africa You’re an American First
In African, American, David Peterson del Mar explores a creation myth for a nation of black people still searching for personal and collective terra firma.