Four years ago, Bryan Hicks left behind a lucrative corporate job to open a bakery with his trans girlfriend, Nadia Brooks.

In conservative Houston, Texas, they had to sue a transphobic landlord just to lease a space. Even so, the shop was

humming along until the Covid-19 pandemic slowed their business to a trickle. Cash-strapped and desperate, Bryan turns

to an unsavory character for a loan; when he's unable to pay it back, he's forced to rent out the bakery to an illegal trans

strip show to make some extra cash. The dancers and customers trash the place, and one night it gets so rowdy Bryan

fires a gun just to clear the store. How did his dream become such a nightmare? The novel moves back in time to tell the

history of the bakery, from the first "love cake" Bryan made for Nadia to Nadia's Hail Mary effort to win cash in a TV baking

competition. All the while, Bryan strives to be a supportive father to his queer son and his increasingly right-wing daughter.

Can Bryan save his bakery and his relationship with Nadia, or is he about to lose his love and livelihood in one fell swoop?

Bell's workmanlike prose captures both the tranquil atmosphere of the bakery and the wild energy of the trans party scene,

as here, when Bryan and Nadia visit a strip club: "Now that they were inside, Nadia looked overwhelmed, standing very

stiff. She looked scared to touch anything. Bryan grabbed her and led her through the mesh of bodies to the middle bar.

He handed Nadia a beer, and they both turned around to check out the raw scene."

A vibrant collection of love stories from a debut author, retelling myths, folktales, and histories from around the world.

A high-born Nigerian goddess, who has been beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover, longs to be truly seen.

A young businesswoman attempts a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life.

A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether she should uphold her family’s politics or be true to her heart.

In her debut collection, internationally acclaimed writer Bolu Babalola retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology with incredible new detail and vivacity. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from long-erased places.

With an eye towards decolonizing tropes inherent in our favorite tales of love, Babalola has created captivating stories that traverse across perspectives, continents, and genres.

Love in Color is a celebration of romance in all its many splendid forms.

The Sun Is Also a Star meets You’ve Got Mail in this YA Christmas love story set in a London Black-owned bookshop.

Charming, handsome Trey Anderson balances the pressures of school popularity with a job at his family’s beloved local bookshop, Wonderland.

Quirky, creative Ariel Spencer needs tuition for the prestigious art program of her dreams, and an opening at Wonderland is the answer. When Trey and Ariel learn that Wonderland is on the brink of being shut down by a neighborhood gentrifier, they team up to stop the doors from closing before the Christmas Eve deadline—and embark on a hate-to-love journey that will change them forever.

Heartwarming and romantic, this read is the gift that keeps on giving, no matter the season.

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When Nala Robertson attends an open mic night for her cousin Imani’s birthday, she finds herself falling in instant love with Tye Brown, an activist who is spending the summer putting on events for the community. Nala would rather watch movies and try out new flavors at the local creamery. In order to impress Tye, Nala tells a few tiny lies to have more in common with him. When they spend time together, some of the lies get harder to keep up. But as Nala falls deeper into keeping up her lies and into love, she’ll learn all the ways love is hard, and how self-love is revolutionary.

LGBTQ+ influencers Terrell and Jarius open up about their joyful love story and family life—and the challenges they've encountered along the way—in this honest, powerful guidebook.

Terrell and Jarius Joseph—a picturesque home, adorable children, family businesses, and millions of fans online. Love Out Loud is Terrell and Jarius’s guide to help couples of all kinds sustain their relationship and nurture their nontraditional family. With the Josephs’s essential roadmap you’ll learn how to:
* Define your needs as individuals and as a couple to build the life of your dreams
* Recognize growing pains before they hurt your marriage
* Break tradition to discover your unique parenting style
* Build a circle of support for your children

We all crave genuine love, belonging, and the freedom to be our true selves, no matter what our family unit looks like. Love Out Loud is the story of the Josephs’ quest to redefine fatherhood. After enduring a devastating miscarriage followed by two premature births by surrogacy just five weeks apart, Terrell and Jarius realized that to have the family of their dreams, they needed to live and love by their own rules. Filled with empathetic advice and a healthy dose of real talk, you, too, can discover how to build a relationship and family your way and build the life of your dreams.

Hitch meets The Sun Is Also a Star in this witty and romantic teen novel about a self-professed teen love doctor with a popular radio segment who believes he can get a girl who hates all things romance to fall in love with him in only three dates.

Prince Jones is the guy with all the answers—or so it seems. After all, at seventeen, he has his own segment on Detroit’s popular hip-hop show, Love Radio, where he dishes out advice to the brokenhearted.

Prince has always dreamed of becoming a DJ and falling in love. But being the main caretaker for his mother, who has multiple sclerosis, and his little brother means his dreams will stay just that and the only romances in his life are the ones he hears about from his listeners.

Until he meets Dani Ford.

Dani isn’t checking for anybody. She’s focused on her plan: ace senior year, score a scholarship, and move to New York City to become a famous author. But her college essay keeps tripping her up and acknowledging what’s blocking her means dealing with what happened at that party a few months ago.

And that’s one thing Dani can’t do.

When the romantic DJ meets the ambitious writer, sparks fly. Prince is smitten, but Dani’s not looking to get derailed. She gives Prince just three dates to convince her that he’s worth falling for.

A new romance series that's Emily In Paris meets A Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! In this first book, budding theatre nerd Whitney Curry studies abroad in Paris,France, where she meets her match in a cute, aloof footballer.

Whitney Curry is primed to have an epic semester abroad. She’s created the perfectitinerary and many, many to-do lists after collecting every detail possible about Paris, France. Thus, she anticipates a grand adventure filled with vintage boutiques, her idol Josephine Baker’s old stomping grounds, and endless plays sure to inspire the ones she writes and—ahem—directs!
But all is not as she imagined when she’s dropped off at her prestigious new Parisian lycée. A fish out of water, Whitney struggles to juggle schoolwork, homesickness, and mastering the French language. Luckily, she lives for the drama. Literally.
Cue French tutor Thierry Magnon, a grumpy yet très handsome soccer star, who’s determined to show Whitney the real Paris. Is this type-A theater nerd ready to see how lessons on the City of Lights can turn into lessons on love?

Opening with David Mancuso's seminal “Love Saves the Day” Valentine's party, Tim Lawrence tells the definitive story of American dance music culture in the 1970s—from its subterranean roots in NoHo and Hell’s Kitchen to its gaudy blossoming in midtown Manhattan to its wildfire transmission through America’s suburbs and urban hotspots such as Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Newark, and Miami.

Tales of nocturnal journeys, radical music making, and polymorphous sexuality flow through the arteries of Love Saves the Day like hot liquid vinyl. They are interspersed with a detailed examination of the era’s most powerful djs, the venues in which they played, and the records they loved to spin—as well as the labels, musicians, vocalists, producers, remixers, party promoters, journalists, and dance crowds that fueled dance music’s tireless engine.

Love Saves the Day includes material from over three hundred original interviews with the scene's most influential players, including David Mancuso, Nicky Siano, Tom Moulton, Loleatta Holloway, Giorgio Moroder, Francis Grasso, Frankie Knuckles, and Earl Young. It incorporates more than twenty special dj discographies—listing the favorite records of the most important spinners of the disco decade—and a more general discography cataloging some six hundred releases. Love Saves the Day also contains a unique collection of more than seventy rare photos.

In this inspiring, intimate memoir, the first Black woman to ever be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court chronicles her extraordinary life story.
 
With this unflinching account, Justice Ketanji BrownJackson invites readers into her life and world, tracing her family’s ascent from segregation to her confirmation on America’s highest court within the span of one generation.
 
Named “Ketanji Onyika,” meaning “Lovely One,” based on a suggestion from her aunt, a Peace Corps worker stationed in West Africa, Justice Jackson learned from her educator parents to take pride in her heritage since birth. She describes her resolve as a young girl to honor this legacy and realize her dreams: from hearing stories of her grandparents and parents breaking barriers in the segregated South, to honing her voice in high school as an oratory champion and student body president, to graduating magna cum laude from Harvard, where she performed in musical theater and improv and participated in pivotal student organizations.
 
Here, Justice Jackson pulls back the curtain, marrying the public record of her life with what is less known. She reveals what it takes to advance in the legal profession when most people in power don’t look like you, and to reconcile a demanding career with the joys and sacrifices of marriage and motherhood.
 
Through trials and triumphs, Justice Jackson’s journey will resonate with dreamers everywhere, especially those who nourish outsized ambitions and refuse to be turned aside. This moving, open-hearted tale will spread hope for a more just world, for generations to come.

New York Times-bestselling author adrienne maree brown knows we need each other more than ever, and offers “loving corrections”: a roadmap towards collective power, righting wrongs, and true belonging 

This selection of prescient, compassionate essays explores patterns we engage in that are rooted in limited thinking. Through a lens of “loving correction” rather than mere critique, author adrienne maree brown helps us reimagine how to hold ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities accountable by setting clear boundaries, engaging in reflection, and nurturing honest relationships.

Loving Corrections is divided into two sections, with the first portion featuring new essays including “A Word for White People” and “Relinquishing the Patriarchy” and writing on topics like moving from fragility to fortitude, disability, and navigating critique within activist communities. The second section expands and updates pieces from brown's popular monthly column “Murmurations” in YES! Magazine that explore accountability—within oneself and community—with depth, inventiveness, and empathy.

Along with allowing us more authentic access to ourselves and to each other, the “corrections” in the book’s title are intended to explore and break identity-based patterns including white supremacy, fragility, patriarchy, and ableism. brown also offers practical guidance on how to apologize and be accountable from our nuanced positions of power, history, and resources.

Building on her previous work—especially Holding Change and We Will Not Cancel Us—brown reminds us how much we need each other: "It is only through relationship that we learn how to be, understand our impact on others and explore small shifts that may yield remarkable collective change."

An updated edition combining two classic works of Chicana and queer literatures, with a new introduction by renowned writer and luminary, Cherríe Moraga.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of its original publication, this updated edition of Loving in the War Years combines Moraga’s classic memoir with The Last Generation: Poetry and Prose, originally published in 1993, along with additional writings from the late 1990s,  The result is a synergy of signature works crucial to the development of the intersectional politics we know today.

Cherríe Moraga’s powerful memoir remains as urgent as ever. She explores the contradictions and complexities of her Chicana and lesbian identities, moving gracefully between poetry and prose, Spanish and English, personal narratives and political theory. Moraga recounts navigating the world largely as an outsider in her early years, circling the interconnected societies around her from a distant yet observant perspective. Ultimately, however, her writing serves as a bridge between her cultures, languages, family, and herself, enabling her to look inward to forge connections from what had heretofore been inaccessible parts of her interior world. A touchstone for artists and activists, the works combine to show how deep self-awareness and compassionate engagement with one’s radically changing surroundings are key to building global solidarity among people and political movements. 

Secrets emerge and romance sparks in this irresistible romance from the USA Today bestselling author Kennedy Ryan.

Kerris Moreton should be the happiest woman in the world: She has a successful business and is about to start the family she's always wanted. But the man of her dreams--the one whose green eyes see straight into her soul and whose gentle hands make her body hum with pleasure--is not hers.

Each secret moment with Walsh Bennett serves to remind Kerris of what she's missing. And every stolen hour makes it harder to see her future without him. But being with Walsh would betray a sacred promise and upend her perfect life. When tragedy strikes, the razor's edge between love and loyalty grows sharper than ever. And Kerris must decide where her heart will fall . . .

Don't miss the beginning of Kerris and Walsh's story in When You Are Mine.

Lu must learn to leave his ego on the sidelines if he wants to finally connect with others in the climax to the New York Times bestselling and award-winning Track series from Jason Reynolds.

Lu was born to be cocaptain of the Defenders. Well, actually, he was born albino, but that’s got nothing to do with being a track star. Lu has swagger, plus the talent to back it up, and with all that—not to mention the gold chains and diamond earrings—no one’s gonna outshine him.

Lu knows he can lead Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and the team to victory at the championships, but it might not be as easy as it seems. Suddenly, there are hurdles in Lu’s way—literally and not-so-literally—and Lu needs to figure out, fast, what winning the gold really means.

Expect the unexpected in this final event in Jason Reynold’s award-winning and bestselling Track series.

She's an angel.

And she doesn't mind dancing with a demon.

That's why I'd move mountains, dry seas, and hydrate the desert if it made her happy. She brought goodness to the world. It was only right that I made it hers, along with the two tiny beauties that shared her hazel eyes and perfect smile. For them, I'd do whatever. For them, I'd become whoever.

He's a protector.

And, a far cry from the menace they've labeled him.

He's just misunderstood. That's why I'd climb the highest mountain, cross the widest seas, and conquer the desert if it brought us closer together. He brought so much wholesomeness to the world. It was only right that I made him a part of mine, along with my two minis who shared my story and sentiments. Because of him, we'd found happiness. Because of him, we'd found home.

There’s a story about Rich Paul that everyone knows: A twenty-one-year-old kid from Cleveland who sells sports jerseys out of his car meets a high school basketball phenom named LeBron James at an airport—the two become friends and forge a decades-long partnership that reinvents the business of sports. That random meeting might seem like the lucky break that changed Paul’s life. But a moment of good fortune means nothing without the struggle that gets you there. And the truth is, Paul had always been lucky.

Rich Paul became a gambler at an early age—his fast mind and gift for finding an edge made him a devastating dice roller who could hold his own with grown men, win big, and walk away alive. Shooting dice wasn’t just a pastime; it was a way to earn money for his family as his mother struggled under the weight of drug addiction. He learned the secret science of dice in the same place he found all the lessons of his young life: the corner store his father operated, the center of the neighborhood’s frantic action. Paul’s father had another family but kept his son close working at the store. Paul dreamed of becoming a star athlete, but the streets were where he thrived, building a lucrative enterprise on shaky ground. When he found himself at a dangerous crossroads, he summoned the teachings of his past to create a different future.

Readers will follow the riveting journey of a young Rich Paul narrated by the Paul of today, who looks back with wit and insight, drawing out the lessons he learned at every stage—about business, people, and the values that lead to success. It’s the inspiring story of the luck that’s all around us, if we know where to look.

“My little dark baby, / My little earth-thing, / My little love-one, / What shall I sing / For your lullaby?" With gracefully chosen words as smooth as a song, the poet Langston Hughes celebrates the love between an African American mother and her baby. Award-winning illustrator Sean Qualls’s painted and collaged artwork captures universally powerful maternal moments with tenderness and whimsy. Like little love-ones, this beautiful book is a treasure. Now in board book format.

Edie is stumbling her way through her twenties, sharing a subpar apartment in Bushwick, clocking in and out of her admin job, making a series of inappropriate sexual choices. She is also haltingly, fitfully giving heat and air to the art that simmers inside her. And then she meets Eric, a digital archivist with a family in New Jersey, including an autopsist wife who has agreed to an open marriage with rules.

As if navigating the constantly shifting landscapes of contemporary sexual manners and racial politics weren’t hard enough, Edie finds herself unemployed and invited into Eric’s home -though not by Eric. She becomes a hesitant ally to his wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. Edie may be the only Black woman young Akila knows.

Both personal and universal, Harris’ multimedia works weave together legacies of family dynamics, racial discrimination and queer histories

Gathering photographs and installations from both his celebrated and lesser-known series, Our First and Last Love charts new connections across the artistic practice of New York–based artist Lyle Ashton Harris (born 1965). Inspired by his adolescence divided between New York City and Dar es Salaam, Harris explores the complexities of African and African American collective identity while forging his own personal narrative as a queer Black man. The retrospective exhibition chronicles Harris’ approach to representation and self-portraiture while tracing central themes and formal techniques in his work over the last 35 years. Central to this collection are Harris’ most recently completed pieces. Titled Shadow Works, these multimedia assemblages set photographic prints amid Ghanaian funerary textiles, shells, pottery and locks of the artist’s hair. In the exhibition and the corresponding catalog, the pieces function as starting points for thematic groups of Harris’ other works. Juxtaposed with handwritten notes and family photographs, these arrangements underscore Harris’ layered approach to his practice.

"The British-Ghanaian artist creates compelling character studies of people who don’t exist, reflecting her twin talents as a writer and a painter" –Zadie Smith, the New Yorker

This volume gathers around 60 works by British artist and writer Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, internationally celebrated for her paintings of timeless subjects in everyday moments of happiness, comradery and solitude. The publication includes texts by Yiadom-Boakye herself, writer and filmmaker Kodwo Eshun, and curator Lekha Hileman Waitoller.
Yiadom-Boakye’s lush oils on canvas or coarse linen portray fictitious characters rendered in loose brushwork and set against dramatic backgrounds. The figures are composites drawn from different sources including scrapbooks and drawings. Animals such as birds, foxes, owls and dogs make regular appearances. To look at a Yiadom-Boakye painting is an invitation to slow down and observe, to enter the imaginary visual tales she spins.
Born and raised in London by Ghanian parents, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye (born 1977) studied at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design and Falmouth College of Arts, and received her MA from the Royal Academy Schools in 2003. Her first solo exhibition was held at Jack Shainman Gallery in 2010. Since then, her work has been exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery in London (2015), the Venice Biennale (2013), the New Museum in New York (2012), the Biennale de Lyon in France (2011), the Studio Museum in Harlem (2008) and many others. Her work has been collected by the Tate, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others.

An unforgettable debut about a young British Ghanaian woman as she navigates her twenties and finds her place in the world, for readers of Queenie and The Other Black Girl.

Maame (ma-meh) has many meanings in Twi but in my case, it means woman.

It’s fair to say that Maddie’s life in London is far from rewarding. With a mother who spends most of her time in Ghana (yet still somehow manages to be overbearing), Maddie is the primary caretaker for her father, who suffers from advanced stage Parkinson’s. At work, her boss is a nightmare and Maddie is tired of always being the only Black person in every meeting.

When her mum returns from her latest trip to Ghana, Maddie leaps at the chance to get out of the family home and finally start living. A self-acknowledged late bloomer, she’s ready to experience some important “firsts”: She finds a flat share, says yes to after-work drinks, pushes for more recognition in her career, and throws herself into the bewildering world of internet dating. But it's not long before tragedy strikes, forcing Maddie to face the true nature of her unconventional family, and the perils––and rewards––of putting her heart on the line.

Smart, funny, and deeply affecting, Maame deals with the themes of our time with humor and poignancy: from familial duty and racism, to female pleasure, the complexity of love, and the life-saving power of friendship. Most important, it explores what it feels like to be torn between two homes and cultures—and it celebrates finally being able to find where you belong.

As the popularity of women’s basketball burgeons, Karra Porter reminds us in Mad Seasons that today’s Women’s National Basketball Association, or WNBA had its origins in a ragtag league twenty years earlier. Porter tells the story of the Women’s Professional Basketball League WBL, which pioneered a new era of women’s sports.

Formed in 1978, the league included the not-so-storied Dallas Diamonds, Chicago Hustle, and Minnesota Fillies. Porter’s book takes us into the heart of the WBL as teams struggled with nervous sponsors, an uncertain fan base, and indifferent sportswriters. Despite bouncing paychecks, having to sleep on floors, and being stranded on road games, the players endured and thrived.

Karra Porter brings to life the pioneers of the WBL: “Machine Gun” Molly Bolin, who set lasting scoring records—then faced an historic custody battle because of her basketball career; Connie Kunzmann, a popular player whose murder rocked the league; Liz Silcott, whose remarkable talents masked deeper problems off the court; Ann Meyers, who went from an NBA tryout to the league she had rebuffed; Nancy Lieberman, whose flashy play and marketing savvy were unlike anything the women's game had ever seen.

A story of hardship and sacrifice, but also of dedication and love for the game, Mad Seasons brings the WBL back to life and shows in colorful detail how this short-lived but pioneering league ignited the imagination of a new generation of female athletes and fans.

From the world of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls comes a story based on the life of Madam C.J. Walker, America’s first female self-made millionaire.

Sarah is the first person in her family who wasn’t born into slavery in Delta, Louisiana. But being free doesn’t mean that Sarah doesn’t have to work. She cooks, she cleans, she picks cotton, she does laundry, and she babysits. And when she works, she wraps up her hair.

One day, Sarah’s hair starts to fall out! It’s itchy, crunchy, patchy, and won’t grow. Instead of giving up, Sarah searches for the right products. And then she invents something better than any shampoo or hair oil she’s used before. Her hair grows and grows! That’s when she decides to rebrand herself as “Madam C. J. Walker,” and begins her business empire.

Madam C. J. Walker Builds a Business is the story of a leader in the hair care industry, but it’s also an inspiring tale about the importance of empowering women to become economically independent.

This historical fiction chapter book includes additional text on Madam C. J. Walker’s lasting legacy, as well as educational activities designed to encourage entrepreneurship.

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The ultimate hands-on workbook for anyone looking to get their finances in order—from budgeting to investing and everything in between—by Tiffany "The Budgetnista" Aliche, the New York Times bestselling author of the smash hit Get Good with Money

We all want to live within our means, save for retirement, invest a little, and yet still have some left over each month for fun. But as most people know, real life can get in the way of even our best intentions! To help us set realistic goals and keep us on track to meeting them, New York Times bestselling financial educator Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche has an invaluable 10-step action plan: Made Whole. With her signature down-to-earth style, she offers worksheets, checklists, and action items for ten important building blocks—from the ins and outs of budgeting, investing, credit rating, and estate planning, to getting insurance and getting the flow of our money automated. A hardworking tool for getting our financial ducks in a row, it also includes:

• Clear explanations of intimidating financial terminology
• Simple instruction on calculating our present situation and future needs

• Invaluable worksheets for keeping track of the numbers

• Handy hacks for increasing your credit score, making savings "hard to access," and finding support to stay on track to your goals

A masterclass in taking charge of your money, Made Whole has what every reader needs to achieve financial savvy, stability, and security.

In the tradition of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a page-turning 93-year history of Crownsville Hospital, one of the nation’s last segregated asylums, that New York Times bestselling author Clint Smith describes as “a book that left me breathless.”

On a cold day in March of 1911, officials marched twelve Black men into the heart of a forest in Maryland. Under the supervision of a doctor, the men were forced to clear the land, pour cement, lay bricks, and harvest tobacco. When construction finished, they became the first twelve patients of the state’s Hospital for the Negro Insane. For centuries, Black patients have been absent from our history books. Madness transports readers behind the brick walls of a Jim Crow asylum.
 
In Madness, Peabody and Emmy award-winning journalist Antonia Hylton tells the 93-year-old history of Crownsville Hospital, one of the last segregated asylums with surviving records and a campus that still stands to this day in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. She blends the intimate tales of patients and employees whose lives were shaped by Crownsville with a decade-worth of investigative research and archival documents. Madness chronicles the stories of Black families whose mental health suffered as they tried, and sometimes failed, to find safety and dignity. Hylton also grapples with her own family’s experiences with mental illness, and the secrecy and shame that it reproduced for generations.
 
As Crownsville Hospital grew from an antebellum-style work camp to a tiny city sitting on 1,500 acres, the institution became a microcosm of America’s evolving battles over slavery, racial integration, and civil rights. During its peak years, the hospital’s wards were overflowing with almost 2,700 patients. By the end of the 20th-century, the asylum faded from view as prisons and jails became America’s new focus.
 
In Madness, Hylton traces the legacy of slavery to the treatment of Black people’s bodies and minds in our current mental healthcare system. It is a captivating and heartbreaking meditation on how America decides who is sick or criminal, and who is worthy of our care or irredeemable.

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A beautiful story inspired by Mae Jemison, the first African American Woman to travel in space.

When Little Mae was a child, she dreamed of dancing in space. She imagined herself surrounded by billions of stars, floating, gliding, and discovering.

Little Mae is a girl with big dreams, a supportive loving family, unbounded passion, and all the right stuff to dance among the stars. Against all odds, she will overcome any obstacle to become an astronaut one day.

In this engaging follow up to How to Make a Slave and Other Essays, the recipient of PEN New England Award for nonfiction and finalist for the National Book Award sharply examines and explains Black life and culture with equal parts candor and humor.

In Magically Black and Other Essays Jerald Walker elegantly blends personal revelation and cultural critique to create a bracing and often humorous examination of Black American life. He thoughtfully addresses the inherent complexities of topics as eclectic as incarceration, home renovations, gentrification, the crip walk, pimping, and the rise of the MAGA movement, approaching them through various Black perspectives, including husband, father, teacher, and writer. The collection’s overarching theme is captured in the titular essay, which examines the culture of heroic action African Americans created in response to their enslavement and oppression, giving proof to Albert Murray’s observation that the “fire in the forging process . . . for all its violence, does not destroy the metal that becomes the sword.”

In seiner Serie Afro-Iran stellt der deutsch-iranische Fotograf Mahdi Ehsaei (*1989) eine Facette des Iran vor, die selbst Einheimischen weitgehend unbekannt ist: Im Süden des Landes gibt es eine ethnische Minderheit, die das Erbe ihrer afrikanischen Herkunft in Kleidungsstil, Musik und Tanz sowie in ihren mündlichen Überlieferungen und Ritualen bis heute aufrecht erhält und so die Kultur der gesamten Region beeinflusst hat. Für sein Projekt reiste Ehsaei in die südiranische Provinz Hormozgan am Persischen Golf, der Heimat der Nachfahren von Sklaven und Händlern aus Afrika. In dieser Gegend, reich and Traditionen und Geschichte, lebt einer der ethnisch vielfältigsten Bevölkerungsanteile in einer einzigartigen Landschaft. In seinem Buch präsentiert Ehsaei zahlreiche überraschende Porträts, die dem landläufigen Bild vom Iran nicht entsprechen. "Afro-Iran" zeigt vielmehr Details, die die Jahrhunderte alte Geschichte einer Bevölkerungsgruppe dokumentieren, die in der Geschichtschreibung des Iran häufig vergessen wird und die doch die Kultur des Südens entscheidend geprägt hat.

100% of the proceeds go to our friends at The Mahogany Project!

Founded in 2017 by advocate Verniss McFarland, The Mahogany Project aims to reduce social isolation, stigma, and violence that our most marginalized communities often face daily. A pillar of our work- creating safe spaces for transgender and queer communities of color in Houston, Texas- has allowed our work to impact the lives of trans communities in our local city, and across the United States.

The only Black trans-led/peer led community center in the state of Texas, The Mahogany Project provides supportive services, ranging from emergency housing resource navigation, food pantry, clothing closet, and case management support. In addition, we provide recreational and arts activities- from our media center/recording studio to painting classes to community celebrations- all with the aim of providing empowerment and safety for communities who have nowhere else to turn to for peer-led support. We believe that everyone deserves access to economic stability, dignified housing, quality healthcare, resources, community, and opportunities for healing. We provide and connect the most marginalized to programs that help individuals and communities thrive.

100% of the proceeds go to our friends at The Mahogany Project!

Founded in 2017 by advocate Verniss McFarland, The Mahogany Project aims to reduce social isolation, stigma, and violence that our most marginalized communities often face daily. A pillar of our work- creating safe spaces for transgender and queer communities of color in Houston, Texas- has allowed our work to impact the lives of trans communities in our local city, and across the United States.

The only Black trans-led/peer led community center in the state of Texas, The Mahogany Project provides supportive services, ranging from emergency housing resource navigation, food pantry, clothing closet, and case management support. In addition, we provide recreational and arts activities- from our media center/recording studio to painting classes to community celebrations- all with the aim of providing empowerment and safety for communities who have nowhere else to turn to for peer-led support. We believe that everyone deserves access to economic stability, dignified housing, quality healthcare, resources, community, and opportunities for healing. We provide and connect the most marginalized to programs that help individuals and communities thrive.

100% of the proceeds go to our friends at The Mahogany Project!

Founded in 2017 by advocate Verniss McFarland, The Mahogany Project aims to reduce social isolation, stigma, and violence that our most marginalized communities often face daily. A pillar of our work- creating safe spaces for transgender and queer communities of color in Houston, Texas- has allowed our work to impact the lives of trans communities in our local city, and across the United States.

The only Black trans-led/peer led community center in the state of Texas, The Mahogany Project provides supportive services, ranging from emergency housing resource navigation, food pantry, clothing closet, and case management support. In addition, we provide recreational and arts activities- from our media center/recording studio to painting classes to community celebrations- all with the aim of providing empowerment and safety for communities who have nowhere else to turn to for peer-led support. We believe that everyone deserves access to economic stability, dignified housing, quality healthcare, resources, community, and opportunities for healing. We provide and connect the most marginalized to programs that help individuals and communities thrive.

A clever, Black contemporary twist on Little Red Riding Hood, Mahogany embraces the beauty—and magic—of her culture to thwart the Big Bad Wolf. Mahogany is a spunky girl who loves to sew, listen to music, and wear fresh kicks. On the way to deliver homemade honey cornbread to Grandma's house, she encounters a hungry wolf. Because Mahogany is clever, she stands by a willow tree, where her long, black curly hair blends with the branches. She hides in the forest, where her ebony skin merges with the shadows. And Mahogany knows the lavender scent of her skin will mix with the smells of flowering plants, tricking any wolf nose. Ultimately, Mahogany’s Blackness, her wits, and her sewing skills all save her in this refreshing, celebratory, and innovative retelling.