Identity History

Why some of the most interesting artists of our time committed themselves to some of the most devastating conflicts on Earth Why are some of the most interesting artists of our time committed to engaging with conflict and exploitation around the world? Beautiful, Gruesome, and True tells the...

A rousing, beautifully observed, and tender-hearted debut poetry collection about identity, culture, home, and belonging—for fans of Jasmine Mans and Fatimah Asghar “We, children of plátanos, always gotta learn to play in everyone else’s backyard and somehow feel at home.” Poet...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER The urgent, revelatory story of how a school board win for the conservative right in one Texas suburb inspired a Christian nationalist campaign now threatening to undermine public education in America—from an NBC investigative reporter and co-creator of the Peabody...

A timely and moving collection from the renowned inaugural poet on issues facing our country and people—immigration, gun violence, racism, LGBTQ issues, and more. Through an oracular yet intimate and accessible voice, Richard Blanco addresses the complexities and contradictions of our...

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD A stunning poetry debut: this meditation on the black female figure throughout time introduces us to a brave and penetrating new voice. Robin Coste Lewis’s electrifying collection is a triptych that begins and ends with lyric poems considering the roles...

“This powerful and meticulously argued book reveals that immigration crackdowns … [have] always been about saving and protecting the racist idea of a white America.” —Ibram X. Kendi, award-winning author of Four Hundred Souls and Stamped from the Beginning “A damning inquiry into the...

“An important part of American history told with a clear-eyed and forceful brilliance.” —National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson “We Refuse to Forget reminds readers, on damn near every page, that we are collectively experiencing a brilliance we've seldom seen or imagined…We...

For anyone who is interested in genealogy and DNA profiling, this is the story of a journalist who travels the world to solve the mystery of her ancestry, facing questions about American identity and what it means to belong. Now adapted for young readers from the acclaimed adult memoir. Who are...

In Same Blood, Different Boats, the author explores the psychological and cultural dissonance between Caribbean immigrants and African Americans, who share a common ancestry but often experience profound disconnection. Drawing on history, sociology, and personal narrative, the book exposes the inherited naivety with which many Caribbean immigrants arrive in the United States, often unaware of the deeply rooted racial dynamics, historical trauma, and cultural undercurrents that shape the Black American experience.

This powerful and hopeful book—inspired by the historic election of Vice President Kamala Harris—celebrates brown and Black girls. Brown girl, brown girl, what did you see? A world that sees my skin before it sees me. Based on a viral poem by Blaxican poet and activist Leslé Honoré...

In the context of Crypto-Jewish individuals and communities, both in the Iberian Peninsula and in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies of the New World, as well as in India, the knowledge of and distinction between halakhah and minhag persisted. But as contact with established Jewish communities (in particular, in Spain before the expulsion), with rabbis, and with Jewish texts lessened, the overall knowledge of Jewish practice and beliefs diminished. This short work explores the practices and beliefs that characterized the dual identity of crypto-Jews.

In this expansive collection of history, meet ten real-life kings, queens, inventors, scholars, and visionaries who lived in Africa thousands of years ago and changed the world. Black history begins thousands of years ago with the many cultures and people of the African continent. Through...

This book is a quick overview of four topics that have profoundly impacted us in deepening our relationship with our good God. As you read this, you will first get a look at the nation of Israel. Understanding Israel will better your understanding of God's loving history with humanity. Understanding God's loving history with humanity will set you up to understand your own identity as His adopted son or daughter. As your identity is revealed, you will then have a grid to explore what intimacy with God looks like and how it can transform your life.

In the eighth century, a debate between Sergius the Stylite and a Jew occurred. The discussion was conveniently titled Debate against a Jew. It records arguments about the relevance of biblical texts to Christians and the Jewish people. The anti-Jewish perspectives of Sergius are not surprising. The response given by his Jewish interlocutor is, however. The Jew noted that he was surprised by the number of Christians who attended his synagogue, contributed to it, and celebrated various Jewish holidays alongside Jews.

The destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE, and the Babylonian exile that followed, could have spelled the end of Israelite identity. But the return of exiles, first under Zerubbabel, and again under Ezra and Nehemiah a generation later, resurrected Isra-elite identity and opened a new chapter in the history of Israel.

This essay comes from the NPR series This I Believe, which features brief personal reflections from both famous and unknown Americans. The pieces that make up the series compel listeners to rethink not only what and how they have arrived at their beliefs, but also the extent to which they share them with others.