Non-fiction
- Sex in Public: The Transformative Social Power of Our Erotic Lives
Sex in Public: The Transformative Social Power of Our Erotic Lives
$30.00A prize-winning sociologist’s radical vision of the social power of erotic life.
“Fearless, candid, and bold, Sex in Public is necessary reading for anyone interested in imagining a different kind of world, one that approaches eroticism and freedom as fundamentally linked.” —Jennifer C. Nash, author of Black Feminism Reimagined
Whether we are contending with shame, healing from trauma, or experimenting in the bedroom, there is a common tendency to cast anything sexual as a problem best solved in private. Fears of judgment fuel an air of oppression around something that should be liberating. According to feminist sociologist Angela Jones, we must reject this solitary vision of desire to claim the pleasure fundamental to our freedom.
Sex in Public offers a revolutionary new paradigm for understanding sexuality. Sex is never strictly personal, but relentlessly social, shaped by power relations, and possessing outsized power of its own. To make this case, Jones charts the inner and interrelated workings of our desires, behaviors, identities, relationships, and communities.
Guiding readers through field-leading sociology, sexual science, and the voices of sexual rule-breakers worldwide, Jones pinpoints the repressive forces that distort eroticism’s power, but also reveals our means of breaking free. Championing a rebellious spirit that uplifts bodily autonomy, justice, and care, Sex in Public makes a tantalizing promise: better sex lives and empowerment await, if only we dare to know our sexualities fully, reimagining society as we do.
- A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing
A Terrible Strength: The Hidden Crisis of the Black Womb and Your Survival Guide to Healing
$28.99Black women are facing a systemic gynecological health crisis. This book gives them the tools needed to unlearn the medical normalization of their suffering and offers a path forward to healing—by a foremost physician, surgeon, researcher, and gynecological cancer expert.
When Dr. Kemi Doll first began training to be a gynecologic cancer surgeon, she quickly noticed that the level of care being offered to women was rarely equal. She started to ask herself: Whose pain was believed? Who was “high maintenance” vs. “angry and non-compliant”? Who died? White women’s pain was doubted, but Black women’s pain was often outright denied. And the locus of this crisis was the womb. Day by day, fibroids, bleeding, inflammation, and cancer struck Black women the hardest, yet the medical field cared very little about their fate. When student physicians would explicitly bring up these alarming disparities, Dr. Doll's teachers would reply: “Black women just don’t do well with this,” followed by, “We don’t really know why.”
Since then, Dr. Doll has made it her goal to give Black women the tools they need to unlearn what she calls “womb suffering.” For all women navigating gynecologic care, and the medical professionals who care for them, this comprehensive, authoritative book of science-backed information and lived experience covers:
* The mechanisms behind the four primary conditions that affect the womb—often with fatal consequences—including Endometriosis, Fibroids, Heavy Bleeding, and Endometrial cancer.
* An overview of the research conducted on reproductive health outside pregnancy—the lack of which has caused healthcare inequity and obstructed access to care
* Gripping stories of smart, successful women struggling with and overcoming Womb Suffering
* What good gynecologic health looks like and why it is vital to reclaiming a full, healthy life; how to feel and respond to your body’s signals; and the tools and vocabulary needed to help advocate and prepare for medical visits.A Terrible Strength links women’s health care to timely conversations on racial justice and healthcare inequity, arming women with the power to secure vibrant health and well-being for the rest of their lives.
- The Myth of Bouncing Back: Ditching the Lies of Resilience and Learning How to Rise for Real
The Myth of Bouncing Back: Ditching the Lies of Resilience and Learning How to Rise for Real
$18.99A Roadmap for Coming Back Stronger After Life's Hardest Falls
· How to lament, learn to stand again, and ultimately rebuild a beautiful life
· Helps you understand how you grow and change as a result of life's challenges and disappointments
· A hopeful, encouraging, and energizing book for the hurtingThere's no such thing as bouncing back. Whether that sentence made you frown in disagreement or sigh with relief that someone finally gets it, this book is for you. There's a lot of talk about resilience these days, but true resilience isn't just maintaining a positive attitude in the face of obstacles or returning to where you were before some difficulty or trauma occurred. It's a lifelong practice of falling, learning, and rising again with each new challenge. It's about becoming who you're meant to be.
With deeply personal stories and biblical reflections, Charaia Rush guides you through a process of building resilience through the cycles of failure, faith, and transformation. She shows you how to
· face your fears
· own your story--yes, even the hard parts
· release relationships, roles, or mindsets that no longer serve you
· reclaim your intrinsic worth apart from achievements or approval
· redefine success
· trust the process
· hold on to hope even when the future feels uncertain
· and moreFirmly grounded in God's promises, this practical and hopeful book offers a road map for rising again after life's hardest falls--while finding purpose in the process.
- A Parent's Guide to Self-Regulation: A Practical Framework for Breaking the Cycle of Dysregulation and Mastering Emotions for Parents and Children
A Parent's Guide to Self-Regulation: A Practical Framework for Breaking the Cycle of Dysregulation and Mastering Emotions for Parents and Children
Sold outDiscover tools and techniques for emotional regulation and managing behavior in this evidence-based parenting book designed to support overstressed parents and caregivers.
As the millennial generation moves into their parenting years, posting on social media about milestones, memories, and good times is almost second nature. Families can seem “perfect,” and some parenting methods are heralded as “the best.” However, behind closed doors, many parents and caregivers struggle greatly no matter what method or combination of approaches they use. There are points where it seems like you’ve tried everything. Maybe it even feels hopeless. That’s where A Parent’s Guide to Self-Regulation comes in.
This mental health book will demystify the concepts of dysregulation and parental self-regulation, and will normalize prioritizing these self-help skills for parents, before applying the concepts to parenting children. With this book’s step-by-step framework, you will learn how to navigate tough parenting moments, develop self-regulatory skills, and read real accounts from other parents. From addressing societal myths about dysregulated parenthood to tips on re-parenting yourself and improving emotional responses, this book will serve as both a friendly companion and a trusted source of mental health support.
A Parent’s Guide to Self-Regulation is written by Dr. Amber Thornton, a clinical psychologist and mother of two, who understands firsthand the challenges of navigating emotional regulation as a parent.
- The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home
The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home
$35.00Award-winning author and journalist Wil Haygood explores how the Vietnam War became a mirror for the struggle of Black Americans—fighting for freedom abroad while demanding equality at home—and a powerful lens through which to understand the racial and political divides that continue to shape American life.
"With this book, Wil Haygood has become the preeminent chronicler of the Black experience in America.” —Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Laureate for The Making of the Atomic Bomb
"In these masterful pages, Haygood reframes both the Vietnam War and the United States’ unfinished struggle for equality."—Mitchell Zuckoff, New York Times bestselling author of 13 Hours and Lost in Shangri-La
Drawing on the lives of soldiers and officers, doctors and nurses, journalists and activists, artists and politicians, Haygood illuminates a generation caught between two battles: one on the front lines in Vietnam and another for justice and dignity in America.
Among those at the heart of the story are Air Force pilot Fred Cherry, the first Black officer captured by the North Vietnamese and a hero to millions back home; Dr. Elbert Nelson, a doctor who came to Vietnam after watching TV footage of the Watts riots in Los Angeles and soon found himself amid rising Black soldier protests overseas; Wallace Terry, a groundbreaking Black reporter determined to expose the dynamics of race and war to the American public and Philippa Schuyler, a biracial concert pianist who traveled to Vietnam to rescue mixed-race orphans, many fathered by Black soldiers, and died trying to bring them to safety.
Surrounding their experiences are the cultural and political forces of the era, including Martin Luther King Jr., Marvin Gaye, Berry Gordy, and Lyndon Johnson, whose voices and actions shaped a decade of turbulence and transformation.
The War Within a War is both sweeping history and intimate revelation, capturing the tragedies and triumphs, the honor and hypocrisies, the courage and cowardice that shaped an era and whose repercussions resonate today.
- Mothering the Mother: African American Postpartum Traditions, Recipes and Healing
Mothering the Mother: African American Postpartum Traditions, Recipes and Healing
$19.99“A comprehensive exploration of postpartum traditions that emphasize the importance of nurturing mothers during their most vulnerable times. From traditional recipes to rituals, this book highlights sisterhood and the need for comprehensive care that honors both the mother and the newborn.”
―from the foreword by Erykah Badu, five-time GRAMMY Award Winner, singer/songwriter, and holistic healerAs a mother, grandmother, and traditional midwife, Shafia M. Monroe intimately knows about childbirth and the fourth trimester. For over forty years, she’s helped thousands give birth, and has taught thousands more how to support birthing parents, all integrating the deep wisdom of African American healing traditions. Long suppressed by the white medical establishment, these practices—such as belly binding, heat, herbs, the lying‑in period, and the “taking‑out‑of‑bed ritual”—are powerful healing tools. Using them, we mother the mother through a healthy postpartum period.
While this framework will be powerful healing for all mothers, the information in this book can save Black mothers' lives; with African American women disproportionately suffering from maternal mortality and morbidity, there is an urgent need for an embrace of African American postpartum care that surrounds the new mother and her baby with community, love, and protection. Mothering the Mother is a resource for Black women and communities to reclaim their cultural traditions for a healthy postpartum recuperation.
- Life Is a General Thing
Life Is a General Thing
$15.99Life is most certainly a general thing.
Have you ever become bogged down by the weight of expectations and the unpredictability of the future? I have. Have you ever felt overwhelmed by loneliness and wondered why every friendship and relationship you come across fails? Can you tell the difference between lust and love? Do you even know what "love" really is? What's the point of dating? Why are women excused for sexualizing men, while men are criticized if the roles were reversed? Do you find yourself procrastinating and wasting time? Is your confidence shaky, and your insecurities running wild in your mind? If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you have come to the right place. In this book, I am going to share some of my most personal experiences and stories with real-life, current, young adult issues, along with some (in my opinion) helpful tips and/or viewpoints, all in small, short chapters. I want you to read this book and feel yourself having a one-on-one conversation with me wherever you are. I hope that when you finish reading this book, you will feel not only motivated and inspired to make a change in yourself but that in whatever issue or insecurity you are experiencing, you will no longer feel like you're the only one who has (or is) experiencing those things. Or perhaps you'll find some humor in the relatability of this book, and it brings you a laugh. In whatever way this book affects you, I pray that, in some way, this book will bring something positive into your life.
- The Healing Tree: Botanicals, Remedies, and Rituals from African Folk Traditions
The Healing Tree: Botanicals, Remedies, and Rituals from African Folk Traditions
Sold out“A beautiful blend of folklore, botanical science, acquired wisdom, and spiritual guidance.”
—from the foreword by Luisah Teish
“If you want to learn about the reciprocal spiritual connection between humans and trees, you’re going to love this beautiful book.”
—Tess Whitehurst, author of The Magic of Trees
Reclaiming traditional botanical and herbal practices has never been more important than it is today. So much of our future depends on our ability to use ancient earth knowledge. In this crucially important book, author Stephanie Rose Bird recounts the story of the sacred wood: how to live in it, learn from it, and derive spiritual enrichment from it, as well as how to preserve and protect it. The Healing Tree offers functional, accessible recipes, remedies, and rituals derived from a variety of African and African American traditions to serve mind, body, soul, and spirit.The Healing Tree celebrates the forest: its powers, spirits, magic, medicine, and mysteries. Bird shares how trees have provided her with personal healing, then allows us to share in that process for our own benefit. Bird’s book follows her own personal journey, but Africa is always her touchstone—the persistent and tenacious ancestral mother wisdom and spiritual foundation that refuses to fade away. The Healing Tree preserves this knowledge, presenting it as relevant and viable and demonstrating in intimate detail how vestiges of that knowledge took root in the Western Hemisphere, in African American culture, and more broadly in American culture in general.
Previously published as A Healing Grove, this updated edition includes a new preface by the author and a source guide for the botanicals discussed within. - Sit with Me: A No-BS Journey to Mindfulness and Meditation
Sit with Me: A No-BS Journey to Mindfulness and Meditation
$19.99Meditation is an effective way to manage anxiety and depression, insomnia, stress, and even some acute illnesses. If you want to become more aware and purposeful about your actions, mindfulness coach and Metta teacher, Oneika Mays can help you heal, develop communication skills, process forgiveness, and discover self-worth.
Sit with Me invites readers to learn how to:
* Incorporate metta, meditation and lovingkindness into your life and discover how to deepen love for others
* Expand your circles and mind
* Authentically contribute to personal and societal healing
* Build bridges to unite people, and learn how to be a better humanAfter spending over a decade volunteering and working at Rikers Island Correctional Facility, Oneika saw what happens to people who feel like they've been tossed aside. And before Rikers, Oneika spent two decades as a bookseller offering new worlds to seekers and language for exploration. She has a gifted ability to take big ideas and distill them down into understandable and relatable learnings allowing her to show up as a conduit for transformation. Oneika is your teacher, your auntie, your friend, and an intuitive soul here for the work of personal collective liberation.
Sit with Me is a gift to those who feel disconnected or lost, but know they want something to change. If you've ever felt left out, forgotten, judged, misunderstood or mistreated, this book is for you.
- Good Grief, Pass the Bread, Mom Is Dead: A Memoir
Good Grief, Pass the Bread, Mom Is Dead: A Memoir
$21.99Television writer, producer, and bestselling author of the acclaimed The Broke Diaries and Mixed charts her unexpected role as her terminally ill mother's caretaker in this funny, moving, and unforgettable memoir.
Angela Nissel always wanted her mother’s approval. But two defining events created a barrier between them: renouncing Christianity and being admitted to a psychiatric ward— events that mirrored failed parenting to her mother.
Beating her depression, Angela moved to Los Angeles where she quickly achieved success as a television writer but soon after found herself dead broke and enduring a painful divorce. It was at this low point that she received heartbreaking news: her mother had cancer. Angela moves her mother to Los Angeles where she attempts to hide foreclosure notices and her live-in boyfriend while also trying to save her mother’s life with everything from crystals to celebrity doctors. Still, her mother succumbs to her cancer.
In this poignant and hilarious memoir, Angela chronicles her odyssey as she tries to remain “strong” like her mother in the face of grief. Delightfully self-deprecating, unsparing in its honesty, yet filled with wacky humor and joy, Good Grief, Pass the Bread, Mom is Dead, is an unforgettable portrait of love, yearning, loss, and resilience that reveals the indelible power of introspection to save our lives.
- A High Price for Freedom: Raising Hidden Voices from the African American Past
A High Price for Freedom: Raising Hidden Voices from the African American Past
$30.00The author and director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Publishing Project gives voice to long silent African Americans from the past, allowing them to tell their own stories that shed new light on critical moments in the Black Freedom Struggle, challenging what we think we know about Black history.
History is at its best when new findings and perspectives challenge old ideas and notions about the past, and even overturn common wisdom.
What if a former enslaved man in Galveston, Texas, witnessed the first Juneteenth and told a completely different story from what most of us know about that day? Why were slave ships most prone to rebellion, including those carrying the most African women? How has Islam found its way into R&B, soul, jazz, and other American popular music? Who was Benjamin Banneker, really?
In A High Price for Freedom, historian Clyde W. Ford addresses these and other questions, amplifying little-known voices from the African American past. In this wide-ranging, impeccably researched book, Ford begins with the 1656 court case of a woman named Elizabeth Key, who won a verdict for her freedom against her would-be enslaver—a victory that would forever change the nature, brutality, and course of American slavery.
Ford examines a range of topics, from the role of women in fomenting slave revolts to an in-depth look at how Selma was not really about voting rights or even Martin Luther King, Jr, but about a twenty-six-year-old Black man named Jimmie Lee Jackson who was killed by an Alabama state trooper. As he laying dying in the only hospital that would treat Black people in February 1965, Jimmie Lee whispered to his nurse, a Catholic nun, “Sister, isn’t this a high price for freedom?”
Eye-opening, enlightening, and often counterintuitive, this fascinating history includes compelling, heartrending, and factual accounts about people and events in the African American past that teach us things we never learned and challenge the stories we thought we knew.
- Learning to Be: Finding Your Center After the Bottom Falls Out
Learning to Be: Finding Your Center After the Bottom Falls Out
$19.99Juanita called it "The Crash."
Her counselor labeled it "a major depressive episode." Others called it a nervous breakdown. On the spiritual front, it was a dark night of the soul.
This experience landed Juanita, a busy pastor, mother, and community leader, in bed. When everything in her life finally came to a stop, she found that she had to learn to be―with herself and with God―all over again.
If you are longing for a trustworthy companion through your dark days, this book is here for you. Each chapter includes life-giving spiritual practices to help you discover your own new ways of being.
- Haitian Vodou: An Introduction to Haiti's Indigenous Spiritual Tradition
Haitian Vodou: An Introduction to Haiti's Indigenous Spiritual Tradition
$18.99Haitian Vodou is a fascinating spiritual tradition rich with ceremonies and magic, songs and prayers, dances and fellowship. Yet outside of Haiti, next to no one understands this joyous and profound way of life. ln Haitian Vodou, Mambo Chita Tann explores the historical roots and contemporary practices of this unique tradition, including discussions of:
* Customs, beliefs, sacred spaces, and ritual objects
* Characteristics and behaviors of the Lwa, the spirits served by Vodou practitioners
* Common misconceptions such as "voodoo dolls" and the zombie phenomenon
* Questions and answers for attending ceremonies and getting involved in a sosyete (Vodou house)
* Correspondence tables, Kreyol glossary, supplemental prayer texts, and an extensive list of reference books and online resourcesWell-researched, comprehensive, and engaging, Haitian Vodou will be a welcome addition for people new to Haitian spirituality as well as for students, practitioners, and academics.
- Fros, Fades, and Braids: A Brief History of Black Hair in America
Fros, Fades, and Braids: A Brief History of Black Hair in America
Sean Qualls
Sold outFrom Coretta Scott King Honor artist Sean Qualls comes his author debut: a captivating and hip, brief history of Black hairstyles, the people who made those one-of-a-kind styles look so good, and the Black hair movements that would influence each generation. Black hair may change, but it will never cease to leave its mark on the world. Quall’s star is rising as he just illustrated Questlove’s The Idea In You, which was recommended by Michelle Obama.
Hair—that wavy, wooly, kinky, curly, knotty, and nappy stuff.
From Coretta Scott King Honor illustrator Sean Qualls comes a vibrant, captivating, and hip history of the most well-known Black hairstyles, the incredible people who made those one-of-a-kind styles look and feel so good, and the revolutionary hair care products and movements that would influence each generation, reminding us that Black hair may change, but it will never cease to leave its mark on the world.
Ever since Madam C. J. Walker created some of the first hair care products for Black hair, styles like the juicy Jheri curl, buzzing beehive, and the fresh fades and braids we know and love today have cemented their coily, kinky, curly, and rightful place in hair history. Black hair has a rich and detailed past that is celebrated in style by Qualls, with dynamic full color art and design throughout!
- Gray Areas: How the Way We Work Perpetuates Racism and What We Can Do to Fix It
Gray Areas: How the Way We Work Perpetuates Racism and What We Can Do to Fix It
Adia Harvey Wingfield
$19.99NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB's November 2023 Must Read Books • LIBRARY JOURNAL EDITOR PICK •
“A groundbreaking book, both bold in its premise and precise in its exploration of systemic racism in the workplace. This could not be a more urgent and necessary blueprint for progress.”—Bakari Sellers, New York Times bestselling author of My Vanishing Country
“Provides a trailblazing antiracist framework for us all.”—Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist
"This vital and accessible study is a must-read for anyone concerned with workplace equality."—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
A leading sociologist reveals why racial inequality persists in the workplace despite today’s multi-billion-dollar diversity industry—and provides actionable solutions for creating a truly equitable, multiracial future.
Labor and race have shared a complex, interconnected history in America. For decades, key aspects of work—from getting a job to workplace norms to advancement and mobility—ignored and failed Black people. While explicit discrimination no longer occurs, and organizations make internal and public pledges to honor and achieve “diversity,” inequities persist through what Adia Harvey Wingfield calls the “gray areas:” the relationships, networks, and cultural dynamics integral to companies that are now more important than ever. The reality is that Black employees are less likely to be hired, stall out at middle levels, and rarely progress to senior leadership positions.
Wingfield has spent a decade examining inequality in the workplace, interviewing over two hundred Black subjects across professions about their work lives. In Gray Areas, she introduces seven of them: Alex, a worker in the gig economy Max, an emergency medicine doctor; Constance, a chemical engineer; Brian, a filmmaker; Amalia, a journalist; Darren, a corporate vice president; and Kevin, who works for a nonprofit.
In this accessible and important antiracist work, Wingfield chronicles their experiences and blends them with history and surprising data that starkly show how old models of work are outdated and detrimental. She demonstrates the scope and breadth of gray areas and offers key insights and suggestions for how they can be fixed, including shifting hiring practices to include Black workers; rethinking organizational cultures to centralize Black employees’ experience; and establishing pathways that move capable Black candidates into leadership roles. These reforms would create workplaces that reflect America’s increasingly diverse population—professionals whose needs organizations today are ill-prepared to meet.
It’s time to prepare for a truly equitable, multiracial future and move our culture forward. To do so, we must address the gray areas in our workspaces today. This definitive work shows us how.
Gray Areas includes 15 black-and-white images and a photo insert.
- "After Mecca": Women Poets and the Black Arts Movement
"After Mecca": Women Poets and the Black Arts Movement
Professor Cheryl Clarke
Sold outThe politics and music of the sixties and early seventies have been the subject of scholarship for many years, but it is only very recently that attention has turned to the cultural production of African American poets.
In "After Mecca," Cheryl Clarke explores the relationship between the Black Arts Movement and black women writers of the period. Poems by Gwendolyn Brooks, Ntozake Shange, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez, Jayne Cortez, Alice Walker, and others chart the emergence of a new and distinct black poetry and its relationship to the black community's struggle for rights and liberation. Clarke also traces the contributions of these poets to the development of feminism and lesbian-feminism, and the legacy they left for others to build on.
She argues that whether black women poets of the time were writing from within the movement or writing against it, virtually all were responding to it. Using the trope of "Mecca," she explores the ways in which these writers were turning away from white, western society to create a new literacy of blackness.
Provocatively written, this book is an important contribution to the fields of African American literary studies and feminist theory.
- Wake Up America: Black Women on the Future of Democracy
Wake Up America: Black Women on the Future of Democracy
Keisha N. Blain
$18.99“This book is as urgent as it is imperative.” ?Ibram X. Kendi, best-selling author of How to Be an Antiracist
From the coeditor of the best-selling Four Hundred Souls, a galvanizing anthology for those seeking to build an inclusive democracy.
In 1968, civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer called for Americans to “wake up” if they wanted to “make democracy a reality.” Today, as Black communities continue to face challenges built on centuries of discrimination, her plea is increasingly urgent. In this exhilarating anthology of original essays, Keisha N. Blain brings together the voices of major progressive Black women politicians, grassroots activists, and intellectuals to offer critical insights on how we can create a more equitable political future.
These women draw on their diverse experiences and expertise to speak to three core themes: claiming civil and human rights, building political and economic power, and combating all forms of hate. We hear from Black Lives Matter cofounder Alicia Garza, who argues that Black communities must organize to wield increased political power; EMILYs List president Laphonza Butler, who spells out ways to fight for women’s reproductive rights; and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who delineates practical, thorough steps toward tangible reparations. Additional incisive essays include those by former Ohio State Senator Nina Turner; prison abolitionist Mariame Kaba; disability rights activist Andraéa LaVant; Boston’s first woman and first Black mayor, Kim Michelle Janey; and others at the forefront of the ongoing fight for social justice.
In addressing our most pressing issues and providing key takeaways, Wake Up America serves as a blueprint for the steps we can take right now and in the years to come.
- Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025
Prospect Park: Photographs of a Brooklyn Oasis, 1980 to 2025
Jamel Shabazz, Laylah Amatullah Barray, Richard E. Green
Sold out*Use discount code SALE at checkout for 30% *
Spanning 45 years of Jamel Shabazz’s photography in Prospect Park, this gorgeous and meditative volume captures the heart and soul of Brooklyn through one of its most cherished spaces.
Known for his iconic NYC street photography documenting the city’s African American community, Jamel Shabazz first gained widespread acclaim with his books Back in the Days and A Time Before Crack, renowned for their vivid portrayal of 1980s style and culture.
However, long before his fame as a photographer, Shabazz served in the military and as a corrections officer for twenty years. After long days at work, he often sought refuge in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, describing it as a place to find inner peace—and, since 1980, he has continued capturing its vibrant spirit.
This collection features his signature portraits of locals, from Afro-Caribbean percussionists at Drummer’s Grove to multicultural families enjoying moments of quiet reflection. Complementing these human-centered images are lesser-seen landscapes revealing the serene beauty of the park.
Together, these photographs underscore its dual role as a bustling cultural hub and a tranquil refuge. Perfect for anyone who cherishes Brooklyn’s cultural history, this volume reveals a new and deeply personal side of Shabazz's work, offering a compelling portrait of community, resilience, and connection within an urban sanctuary.
- Dead and Alive: Essays
Dead and Alive: Essays
Zadie Smith
from $20.00*Paperback Release Date - 10/27/26*
A profound and unparalleled literary voice, Zadie Smith returns with a resounding collection of essays
In the past two decades, few writers have mastered the craft and art of the essay in the way that Zadie Smith has. Her writing, at once an occasion for personal reckoning and communal reflection, studies the fault lines that divide us and consistently finds grounds for solidarity and compassion.
This eagerly awaited new collection brings Smith’s dexterity as an essayist to bear on a range of subjects that have captured her attention in recent years. Organized in five thematic sections—eyeballing, considering, reconsidering, mourning, and confessing—she unspools intimate dialogues with various sources of inspiration. She takes an exhilaratingly close look at artists Toyin Ojih Odutola and Kara Walker. She invites us along to the movies in her review of Tár, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and to her desk while researching the Tichborne trial and writing her New York Times bestselling novel The Fraud. She asks us to take another look at Flannery O'Connor and to mourn with her the passing of writers Joan Didion, Martin Amis, Hilary Mantel, Philip Roth, and Toni Morrison. And she shows us once again in Dead and Alive her unrivaled ability to think through, critically and humanely, some of the most urgent preoccupations of our troubled times.
With an eye toward the past and the present, Smith examines what it means to identify with our contemporary world and the history that frames it.
- The Dark Delight of Being Strange: Black Stories of Freedom
The Dark Delight of Being Strange: Black Stories of Freedom
James B. Haile III
$26.00Winner, 2025 Hugh J. Silverman Book Prize, Association for Philosophy and Literature
Finalist, 2025 PEN Open Book Award, PEN America
An ambitious genre-crossing exploration of Black speculative imagination, The Dark Delight of Being Strange combines fiction, historical accounts, and philosophical prose to unveil the extraordinary and the surreal in everyday Black life.
In a series of stories and essays, James B. Haile, III, traces how Black speculative fiction responds to enslavement, racism, colonialism, and capitalism and how it reveals a life beyond social and political alienation. He reenvisions Black technologies of freedom through Henry Box Brown’s famed escape from slavery in a wooden crate, fashions an anticolonial “hollow earth theory” from the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, and considers the octopus and its ability to camouflage itself as a model for Black survival strategies, among others. Looking at Black life through the lens of speculative fiction, this book transports readers to alternative worlds and spaces while remaining squarely rooted in present-day struggles. In so doing, it rethinks historical and contemporary Black experiences as well as figures such as Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Henry Dumas, and Toni Morrison.
Offering new ways to grasp the meanings and implications of Black freedom, The Dark Delight of Being Strange invites us to reimagine history and memory, time and space, our identities and ourselves.
- The Return of Black Nationalism and the Death of White Supremacy
The Return of Black Nationalism and the Death of White Supremacy
Dr. Vincent Edward Oluwole Adejumo
$28.95The Return of Black Nationalism and the Death of White Supremacy delves into the dynamic history and powerful future of Black Nationalism in the United States. From the dark days of slavery to today's fight for equality, this compelling book uncovers the relentless struggle of African Americans against systemic white supremacy, a legacy embedded in the very foundation of the country.
Professor Vincent Adejumo takes readers on a fascinating journey through time, unraveling the rich history of Black Nationalism and its role as a steadfast defense against white supremacy. He shines a light on the remarkable individuals and leaders who have shaped Black American identity from the 1700s to the present, bringing their stories to life with vivid detail and insightful analysis.
Discover a different America through Adejumo's eyes, where the concept of 'Separate but Equal' is reinterpreted and the essence of Blackness is celebrated. This book not only explores the past but also connects it to today's economic and political landscape, revealing the lasting influence of Black Nationalism.
Whether you're a history enthusiast or a curious reader, The Return of Black Nationalism and the Death of White Supremacy offers a fresh perspective on American history, uncovering the unsung heroes and unexpected villains who have shaped the nation's journey. This is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the profound impact of Black Nationalism on America's past, present, and future.
A compelling foreword by Dr. Adeyami Dossintroduces the book. Dozens of historical images complement this important story.
- Unfurled: Designing a Living Home
Unfurled: Designing a Living Home
Hilton Carter
$35.00In Unfurled: Designing a Living Home, acclaimed plant stylist Hilton Carter invites readers into the heart of his home―a personal sanctuary that has evolved, layer by layer, to reflect his style, creativity, and love for plants.
Hilton takes readers on a behind-the-scenes journey through every room, from the tranquil primary bedroom to the plant-filled sunroom, the vibrant studio to the inviting guest room, and beyond. With his eye for design, he shares the inspiration that lies behind each space, talking the reader through the mood boards he creates when embarking on a room renovation and explaining the thoughts behind a design, both functional and decorative. Hilton shares how each room has ‘unfurled’ beautifully over time, discussing how to choose colour and texture, offering expert advice on room layout, and showing how to use plants to breathe life into the home. Alongside personal stories and design insights, Unfurled is filled with practical tips and ideas for ways to recreate these looks in your own home, whether you’re working with a spare bedroom or a compact shower room. With Hilton’s guidance, you’ll learn how to incorporate thoughtful styling, select the right plants for your rooms and cultivate a home that's nurturing, dynamic and alive.
- Black History Is Your History
Black History Is Your History
Taylor Cassidy
from $12.99*Paperback Release Date - 10/13/2026*
From TikTok star and creator of Fast Black History Taylor Cassidy comes a witty, lightly illustrated nonfiction debut that blends history and memoir in a joyful celebration of Black American historical figures.
Meet Taylor Cassidy, Black history enthusiast and creator of the viral TikTok series Fast Black History. In her debut book, Taylor takes readers on a journey through the Black history she wishes she was taught in school. With sparkling wit and humor—and lots of fun pop culture references—she paints a vibrant picture of twelve figures from Black history whose groundbreaking contributions shaped America as we know it today. Introducing icons from activists to literary giants, movie stars to Olympic gold medalists, fashion designers to astronauts, and more, this one-of-a-kind collection makes Black history relatable, relevant, and utterly irresistible.
Using Black history as inspiration, Taylor weaves together research and personal anecdotes that illuminate each trailblazer’s impact on her own life—as well as sharing plenty of triumphant, funny, and embarrassing moments from her past. From navigating friend breakups and unrequited crushes to setting boundaries and fighting self-doubt, Taylor’s been there…and she’s learned some valuable life lessons along the way.
This book is a joyful celebration of Black historymakers, and you’re invited to the party. Come on in and let these twelve true stories inspire you to make history of your own!
- African American Architects: Embracing Culture and Building Urban Communities
African American Architects: Embracing Culture and Building Urban Communities
Mr. Melvin Mitchell
$25.00Melvin Mitchell believes that the 2016 opening of the NMAAHC signals either a black architect renaissance or the demise of the black architect-practitioner corps in the U.S. by 2040 if not earlier…along with the demise of Black America’s cultural, political, and spatial beachheads in America’s big cities. He argues in this book that America’s perennial housing crisis - most acutely manifested in Black America’s accelerating displacement from America’s cities – must be countered by a new progressive 21st century movement that re-invents the revolutionary construction-based architecture modus operandi deployed 100 years ago by Booker T. Washington. Mitchell believes that Washington completed the build-out of the Tuskegee Institute campus as a counter to America’s building of the “White City” aka the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair-Columbian Exposition 600 miles to the north in Chicago, Illinois. Mitchell argues that the centerpiece of a new “architecture” must realign with the needs of Black America for majorincreases in home and business ownership and wealth creation. That requires a massive “Buy the Block”-type redevelopmentin urban Black America. Today that must entail nothing short of the literal building of at least one million newaffordable housing units in urban Black America by Black America between now and 2030. The means to accomplishsuch a moon shot are there in existing and emerging progressive legislation. The American Housing and Economic Mobility Act, the Green New Deal, and the Opportunity Zones Act must all beharnessed with the trillions of available public dollars, private equity funds, and black nouveau rich wealth to createand sustain an African American-dominated urban affordable housing industry. That may not be the answer but is mostcertainly one of several heretofore missing pieces.
- Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol
Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol
by Nell Irvin Painter
$18.99"A pathbreaking biography. It should command the widest popular attention and profound scholarly attention." —David Levering Lewis, author of W. E. B. DuBois
Sojourner Truth: ex-slave and fiery abolitionist, figure of imposing physique, riveting preacher and spellbinding singer who dazzled listeners with her wit and originality. Straight-talking and unsentimental, Truth became a national symbol for strong black women—indeed, for all strong women. Like Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass, she is regarded as a radical of immense and enduring influence; yet, unlike them, what is remembered of her consists more of myth than of personality.
Now, in a masterful blend of scholarship and sympathetic understanding, eminent black historian Nell Irvin Painter goes beyond the myths, words, and photographs to uncover the life of a complex woman who was born into slavery and died a legend. Inspired by religion, Truth transformed herself from a domestic servant named Isabella into an itinerant pentecostal preacher; her words of empowerment have inspired black women and poor people the world over to this day. As an abolitionist and a feminist, Truth defied the notion that slaves were male and women were white, expounding a fact that still bears repeating: among blacks there are women; among women, there are blacks.
No one who heard her speak ever forgot Sojourner Truth, the power and pathos of her voice, and the intelligence of her message. No one who reads Painter's groundbreaking biography will forget this landmark figure and the story of her courageous life.
- Safe in a Midwife's Hands: Birthing Traditions from Africa to the American South
Safe in a Midwife's Hands: Birthing Traditions from Africa to the American South
by Linda Janet Holmes
$22.95Interviews Black midwives in Africa and the US to detail birthing and postpartum traditions as vital cultural practices that counterbalance racism within medical systems.
A Ms. Magazine “Most Anticipated Feminist Book of 2023”
After a less-than-positive experience giving birth as a Black woman in the 1970s, Linda Janet Holmes launched a lifetime of work as an activist dedicated to learning about and honoring alternative birth traditions and the Black women behind them. Safe in a Midwife’s Hands brings together what Holmes has gleaned from the countless midwives who have shared with her their experiences, at a time when their knowledge and holistic approaches are essential counterbalances to a medical system that routinely fails Black mothers and babies. Building on work she began in the 1980s, when she interviewed traditional Black midwives in Alabama and Virginia, Holmes traveled to Ghana, Ethiopia, and Kenya to visit midwives there. In detailing their work, from massage to the uses of medicinal plants to naming ceremonies, she links their voices to those of midwives and doulas in the US. She thus illuminates parallels between birthing traditions that have survived hundreds of years of colonialism, enslavement, Jim Crow, and ongoing medical racism to persist as vital cultural practices that promote healthy outcomes for mothers and babies during pregnancy, birth, and beyond. - Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography
Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography
by Staci Robinson
$35.00*Ships/ready for pick-up in 7-10 business days*
The first and only Estate-authorized biography of the legendary artist, Tupac Shakur, a moving exploration of his life and powerful legacy, fully illustrated with photos, mementos, handwritten poetry, musings, and more
Artist, Poet, Actor, Revolutionary, Legend- Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur is one of the greatest and most controversial artists of all time. More than a quarter of a century after his tragic death in 1996 at the age of just twenty-five, he continues to be one of the most misunderstood, complicated and prolific figures in modern history. Tupac’s unapologetic lyrics, for which he was villainized by many at the time, read in these pages as prophecy. His cry of outrage in a country that repeatedly told Black men and women that their lives did not matter, continues to inspire his fans around the world.
In Tupac Shakur, author and screenwriter Staci Robinson—who knew Tupac as a young man and who was entrusted by his mother, Afeni Shakur, to write his biography—peels back the myths and unpacks the complexities that have shadowed Tupac’s existence. With exclusive access to his private notebooks, letters, unpublished lyrics and uncensored conversations with those who knew and loved him best, Robinson tells a powerful story of a life defined by politics and art, and a man driven by equal parts brilliance and impulsiveness.
It is a story of a mother and son bound together by a love for each other and for their people, and the relationship that endured through their darkest times. It is a political story that begins in the whirlwind of the 60’s Civil Rights Movement, and takes you through a young artist's awakening to rage and purpose in the nineties era of Rodney King. It is a story of dizzying success and its devastating consequences. And, of course, it is the story of his music, his timeless message that will never die as it continues to touch and inspire past, present and future generations. - Decolonizing the Body: Healing, Body-Centered Practices for Women of Color to Reclaim Confidence, Dignity, and Self-Worth
Decolonizing the Body: Healing, Body-Centered Practices for Women of Color to Reclaim Confidence, Dignity, and Self-Worth
by Kelsey Blackwell
$19.95*Ships/ready for pick-up in 7-10 business days*
Decolonizing the Body explores the traumatic physical and emotional effects of colonization and systemic racism on the body and mind. Written by a woman of color for women of color, it offers body-centered somatic practices to free women from internalized oppression, so they can reclaim confidence, dignity, and self-worth.
Powerful, body-based practices to help you reclaim confidence, dignity, and self-worth.
As a woman of color, you are more likely to experience oppression, discrimination, and physical or sexual violence in your lifetime. In addition, your family may have experienced generational trauma and systemic racism going back for centuries. This old and new trauma can manifest in both the mind and body. However, there are ways you can free yourself from this trauma, build confidence in yourself and your abilities, and restore your powerful sense of self.
Written by a woman of color for women of color, Decolonizing the Body offers proven-effective somatic, body-centered practices to help you heal from systemic oppression, trust the profound wisdom of your own body, and reconnect with your true self. And by slowing down, cultivating a daily ritual, and setting strong boundaries, you can reclaim your inherent dignity and worth—as well as those aspects of yourself that you may have cast aside in an effort to survive.
With this empowering guide, you’ll discover:
- How bodies are colonized through systems of oppression
- Why slowing down is essential for healing
- How to listen to what your body needs
- How to create a space for ritual in your daily life
- How to strengthen feelings of capability
- How to cultivate community—starting with yourself
To decolonize the body is to become whole again, and to come home again. Let this book be your guide on this crucial journey.
- Unbought and Unbossed by Shirley Chisholm
Unbought and Unbossed by Shirley Chisholm
$17.99In this classic work—a blend of memoir social criticism, and political analysis that remains relevant today—the first Black Congresswoman to serve in American history, New York’s dynamic representative Shirley Chisholm, traces her extensive political struggle and examines the problems that have long plagued the American system of government.
“A tremendously impressive book.”—Washington Post
“Her motto and title of her autobiography—Unbossed and Unbought—illustrates her outspoken advocacy for women and minorities during her seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.”—National Women’s History Museum
“I want to be remembered as a woman . . . who dared to be a catalyst of change.”
Political pioneer Shirley Chisholm—activist, member of the House of Representatives and former presidential candidate—was a woman who consistently broke barriers and inspired generations of American women, and especially women of color. Unbossed and Unbought is her story, told in her own words—a thoughtful and informed look at her rise from the streets of Brooklyn to the halls of Congress. Chisholm speaks out on her life in politics while illuminating the events, personalities, and issues of her time, including the schism in the Democratic party in the 1960s and ’70s—all which speak to us today.
In this frank assessment, “Fighting Shirley” recalls how she took on an entrenched system, gave a public voice to millions, and embarked on a trailblazing bid to be the first woman and first African American President of the United States. By daring to be herself, Shirley Chisholm shows how one person forever changed the status quo.
- You Owe You : Ignite Your Power, Your Purpose, and Your Why by Eric Thomas, PhD
You Owe You : Ignite Your Power, Your Purpose, and Your Why by Eric Thomas, PhD
$27.00You owe it to yourself to recognize your gifts, your power, and your place in the world, no matter your story or your struggle, and Eric Thomas—celebrated motivational guru, educator, and problem-solver to many of the top athletes and business leaders—has the blueprint to get you there.
If you feel like success is for others, that only certain people get to have their dreams fulfilled, Eric Thomas’s You Owe You is your wake-up call. His urgent message to stop waiting for inspiration to strike and take control of your life is one he wishes someone had given him when he was a teenager—lost, homeless, failing in school, and dealing with the challenges of being a young Black man in America.
Once he was able to break free from thinking of himself as a victim and truly understand his strengths, he switched the script. And now, with this book, Thomas reveals how you, too, can rewrite your life's script. With support, he recognized that his unique gift is being able to capture the attention of all kinds of people in all kinds of settings—boardrooms, locker rooms, churches, classrooms, even the streets—thanks to his wealth of experiences and command of language. Today, Thomas considers himself blessed to speak to an audience that is as large as it is diverse, from the rich and famous to kids struggling in school to young men in prison hoping for a new start.
Thomas’s secrets of success have already helped hundreds of thousands on their journey, but this is his first guide to show you how to start today, right now. These critical first steps include deeply understanding yourself and the world around you, finding your why, accepting that you may have to give up something good for something great, and constantly stretching toward your potential. No matter where you are on your journey toward greatness, you owe it to yourself to become fully, authentically you. And Eric Thomas’s You Owe You can help get you there. - One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race
One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race
by Yaba Blay
$30.00Use discount code SALE at checkout to receive a 30% discount!
Challenges narrow perceptions of Blackness as both an identity and lived reality to understand the diversity of what it means to be Black in the US and around the world
What exactly is Blackness and what does it mean to be Black?
Is Blackness a matter of biology or consciousness?
Who determines who is Black and who is not?
Who’s Black, who’s not, and who cares?
In the United States, a Black person has come to be defined as any person with any known Black ancestry. Statutorily referred to as “the rule of hypodescent,” this definition of Blackness is more popularly known as the “one-drop rule,” meaning that a person with any trace of Black ancestry, however small or (in)visible, cannot be considered White. A method of social order that began almost immediately after the arrival of enslaved Africans in America, by 1910 it was the law in almost all southern states. At a time when the one-drop rule functioned to protect and preserve White racial purity, Blackness was both a matter of biology and the law. One was either Black or White. Period. Has the social and political landscape changed one hundred years later?
One Drop explores the extent to which historical definitions of race continue to shape contemporary racial identities and lived experiences of racial difference. Featuring the perspectives of 60 contributors representing 25 countries and combining candid narratives with striking portraiture, this book provides living testimony to the diversity of Blackness. Although contributors use varying terms to self-identify, they all see themselves as part of the larger racial, cultural, and social group generally referred to as Black. They have all had their identity called into question simply because they do not fit neatly into the stereotypical “Black box”—dark skin, “kinky” hair, broad nose, full lips, etc. Most have been asked “What are you?” or the more politically correct “Where are you from?” throughout their lives. It is through contributors’ lived experiences with and lived imaginings of Black identity that we can visualize multiple possibilities for Blackness. - Teaching with Equity: Strategies and Resources for Building a Culturally Responsive and Race-Conscious Classroom by Aja Hannah
Teaching with Equity: Strategies and Resources for Building a Culturally Responsive and Race-Conscious Classroom by Aja Hannah
$15.95*Ships in 7-10 Business Days*
Learn how to incorporate equitable teaching practices in your everyday classroom with this helpful guide designed to help your young students thrive.
Bringing racial equity into the classroom doesn’t have to be an intimidating task. Teaching with Equity will help you take the first step in making your classroom a fun, safe, and fulfilling environment for all students.
First, start off by establishing a baseline: Where is racial equity lacking in your classroom and where are there opportunities for change? Then learn about the common stereotypes that students of color often face before finally diving into resources like interactive worksheets, surveys, grading rubrics, lesson plans, and more designed to help teachers:- Talk about race effectively with your young students
- Include diverse people and cultures in assignments and homework
- Provide learning resources and material that feature people of color
- Build racial comfort in your classroom
- And more!
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