African American Biography

An upcoming book to be published by Penguin Random House...

This heartfelt picture book biography, adapted for audio, tells the story of MaVynee Betsch, an African American opera singer turned environmentalist and the legacy she preserved. MaVynee loved going to the beach. But in the days of Jim Crow, she couldn't just go to any beach--most of the...

In Feeding the Soul (Because It’s My Business), Tabitha Brown made readers feel seen, loved and heard, sharing the knowledge she gained from her own journey in life. Now, in this gorgeous journal, Tabitha invites readers to think more deeply about their own life paths, and how to bring more...

Starting with Lucy Terry of the early 18th century and finishing with poet laureate Rita Dove, this inspiring anthology edited by Catherine Clinton captures the enormous talent and passion of black poets. Powerful and diverse, I, Too, Sing America is a forum for voices baring their souls, speaking their minds, tracing their roots, and proclaiming their dreams.

Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here was more than a bestseller; it was a national event. His beautifully narrated, heartbreaking nonfiction account of two black boys struggling to grow up in a Chicago public housing complex spent eight weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, was a...

A moving essay collection promoting freedom, self-love, and divine wholeness for Black women and opening new levels of understanding and ideological transformation for non-Black women and allies “Candice Marie Benbow is a once-in-a-generation theologian, the kind who, having ground dogma into...

A birder strolling in Central Park. A college student lounging on a university quad. Two men sitting in a coffee shop. Perfectly ordinary actions in ordinary settings—and yet, they sparked jarring and inflammatory responses that involved the police and attracted national media coverage. Why? In essence, Elijah Anderson would argue, because these were Black people existing in white spaces. In this book, Anderson brings his immense knowledge and ethnography to bear in this timely study of the racial barriers that are still firmly entrenched in our society at every class level.

Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth provides a historian’s view of the country’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond.

Discover more about Stevie Wonder, the music prodigy whose awards include 25 Grammy Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Stevie Wonder is one of the most successful singer-songwriter-musicians of our time. Signing his first record deal when he was only eleven, he had his first No.1 hit...

The posthumous memoir of Rev. James Lawson Jr., peer of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., mentor to Congressman John Lewis and the Freedom Riders, and a principal architect of a nonviolent resistance movement that changed the world. “This book is a gift to be treasured, from a man who has already...

Discover the untold story of Charles R. Saunders, the little known figure who wrote groundbreaking fantasy worlds and redefined an entire genre. Blending biography with a tribute to Saunders’ forgotten literary legacy, To Leave a Warrior Behind uncovers the life of an enigmatic recluse, and...

From a preeminent King scholar, the origin story of the man, minister, and civil rights hero who would lead the nation and change the world. We know who Martin Luther King, Jr. became, but who was he at the beginning of his life? How did his youth inform his outlook and his approach to activism...

You can sparkle, shimmer, shine – just like Marsha did. This vibrant and joyful audiobook celebrates the legacy of Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman and activist who played an instrumental role during the Stonewall Riots that lead to PRIDE month, written by award-winning filmmaker and...

Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger, a chapter book series about women who spoke up and rose up against the odds--including Simone Biles! Simone Biles was raised by her grandparents and had to overcome many hardships as a child...

As groundbreaking as Code Girls and Hidden Figures, this is the shocking true story of two segregated codebreaking units racing to unlock Stalin’s atomic secrets in the face of a rapidly expanding Soviet nuclear threat at the dawn of the Cold War. Facing the global threat of a rising Communist...

A mixed-race orphan, Murray grew up in segregated North Carolina before escaping to New York, where she attended Hunter College and became a labor activist in the 1930s. When she applied to graduate school at the University of North Carolina, where her white great-great-grandfather had been a trustee, she was rejected because of her race. She went on to graduate first in her class at Howard Law School, only to be rejected for graduate study again at Harvard University this time on account of her sex. Undaunted, Murray forged a singular career in the law.

This powerful biography follows Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s road to the Supreme Court as the first Black woman to be confirmed, for middle grade readers from New York Times bestselling author Garen Thomas and The Washington Post reporter Lori Rozsa. This inspiring story features key...

How did a young boy from Ohio go on to become one of the greatest basketball players of all time? Read about the incredible life and career of LeBron James in this addition to the #1 New York Times best-selling Who Was? series. Today, LeBron James is an international superstar who has won four...

When Ruby Bridges was just six years old, she became the first African American student to integrate an elementary school in the South. Based on the pivotal events that happened in 1960 and told from her own point of view for the first time, in a poetic reflection on her experience that changed the face of history and the trajectory of the civil rights movement. I Am Ruby Bridges offers hope and confidence to all children and is a perfect learning tool for schools and libraries to teach the story of Ruby Bridges as never before.

How did Oprah Winfrey do to become the world's most well-known female personality as well as a successful entrepreneur? It turns out it was not just all luck. Her mantra, "Turn Your Wounds Into Wisdom," served her well from an early age, especially after tragically losing her first child and later when she worked to turn her life dreams into reality.