Centering Black culture and community for liberating, anti-racist therapeutic practice.

This innovative book lays out the journey of family therapist Makungu Akinyela in developing testimony therapy―a healing practice rooted in Black cultural traditions of testifying and storytelling. This book argues that traditional Eurocentric approaches to therapy often perpetuate colonial oppression in the lives of Black clients, and that decolonizing mental health requires centering African American cultural knowledge, history, and community.

Drawing from thinkers from the Black radical critical tradition like Frantz Fanon and W. E. B. Du Bois, Dr. Akinyela frames testimony therapy as a narrative practice grounded in Ubuntu (the African communal self) and the oral traditions of African diasporic peoples. Testimony Therapy maps out theory, practices, and supervision approaches that help therapists support clients in resisting internalized racism, reclaiming self-definition, and nurturing liberated Black identities. Ultimately, this work is a call for Black therapists and clients to engage therapy as cultural resistance―a pathway to repair our souls and build collective freedom beyond Eurocentric limitations.

A wickedly funny, adrenaline-rush of a novel about a graduate student who murders bad men and justifies it in the name of feminism, by a bold new voice in fiction

Yrsa is in a funk. She’s bored of her PhD program, bored of her research on Afropessimism, bored of the entitled undergrads she has to cater to. But most of all, she’s bored of the men in her life—especially the bad ones.

When her best friend, Nina, confesses to having an affair with her professor, and that he’s stolen her research, Yrsa is mad. On the quad, Yrsa bumps into the professor and witnesses his death: an unfortunate incident involving his San Pelligrino and a bee allergy. What she sees that afternoon awakens something in her: a taste for murder.

Emboldened, Yrsa decides to chase that high, and soon, no sexist, misbehaving man within commuting distance is safe.

With each murder, Yrsa feels a greater sense of meaning and purpose—finally, her doctoral research feels useful. But how long can killing in the name of feminist and racial solidarity justify her actions? Will her rampage ever assuage her feelings of rage and revenge? And how long until her actions—and buried family secrets—come back to haunt her?

One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels

“If one had to identify the single most influential shaping force in modern Black literary history, one would probably have to point to Wright and the publication of Native Son.” – Henry Louis Gates Jr.

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, HarperCollins is proud to present this library of American classics drawn from our storied catalog. When it was first published in 1940, Native Son established Richard Wright as a literary star. In the decades since, Wright's masterpiece—hailed as "a novel of tremendous power and beauty" (Newsweek)—has become a revered classic that remains as timely and relevant today as when it first appeared.

Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Native Son is the story of Bigger Thomas, a young Black man caught in a downward spiral after killing a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Written with the distinctive rhythm of a modern crime story, this formidable work is both a condemnation of social injustice and an unsparing portrait of the Black experience in America, revealing the tragic effect of poverty, racism, and hopelessness on the human spirit. As Wright explained, "I wrote Native Son to show what manner of men and women our 'society of the majority' breeds, and my aim was to depict a character in terms of the living tissue and texture of daily consciousness."

This edition of Native Son isthe restored text established by the Library of America—the novel as Wright intended it to be published. It also includes an essay by Wright titled, How "Bigger" was Born, along with notes on the text.

Baby loves doing everything with Daddy—from sorting laundry to gardening in the backyard—in this heartwarming picture book about the everyday bond between a dad and his child.

There is all kinds of cleaning to be done around the house, so Daddy needs lots of help. Baby is happy to oblige! But somehow when Baby helps, there ends up being more cleaning left to do than there was at the start. Including cleaning Baby! Luckily this dad has all the love and patience in the world for his little one in this sweet father-child book.

From a preeminent King scholar, the origin story of the man, minister, and civil rights hero who would lead the nation and change the world.

We know who Martin Luther King, Jr. became, but who was he at the beginning of his life? How did his youth inform his outlook and activism?

Before Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights leader, a Nobel Laureate, and a global hero, he was an emotional boy, a middling high school student devoted to fashion, dancing, and dating. Lerone A. Martin, Faculty Director of the Martin Luther King Institute at Stanford University, traces these roots to develop a fuller understanding of the influential preacher’s emotional life, his youthful confusion about his future and career direction, his teenage missteps, and his inspiration to fight for justice.

Revelatory, humanizing, and compassionate, Young King unearths:

* MLK's Childhood on Auburn Avenue: his days as “Little Mike"—the ever-eager middle child and a precocious prankster—spent at Ebenezer Baptist Church and the Auburn Avenue Library in Atlanta
* Early Encounters with Racism: his early experiences of segregation and the summers he spent on a Connecticut tobacco farm, his first trip outside the Jim Crow South
* College Life at Morehouse: his transformative time at Morehouse, playing basketball, hosting parties, studying sociology, and joining the Ministers’ Union
* Path to Seminary and Activism: his winding path to seminary and the co-development of his activist consciousness, his spiritual devotion, and his relationship with Coretta, his wife-to-be

As America undergoes another era of turmoil and change, this powerful biography provides a vital roadmap for how greatness comes to light. This essential work is a testament to how history shapes a leader.

Young King includes rarely seen black-and-white photographs of an adolescent MLK from his high school days and college years.

Anthony Anderson and Cedric The Entertainer, comedic royalty and hosts of A&E’s Kings of BBQ, gather their favorite recipes into an accessible and entertaining cookbook like no other.

For both Anthony Anderson and Cedric The Entertainer, two of the biggest names in comedy of all time, barbeque is more than just food—it’s a way of life. Recipes are passed down through generations at backyard cookouts, and pitmasters around the country carry on those traditions at their restaurants. That’s what the television show Kings of BBQ on A&E (and now streaming on Hulu) captured as Anthony and Cedric traveled the country with the goal of launching their own spice and BBQ sauce product lines. Their AC Barbeque product line is now carried thousands of stores nationwide, and fans are clamoring for this cookbook to go with them.

Organized by regions of the country to best capture the soul of the food including St. Louis, Memphis, and the Carolinas, AC Barbecue showcases the charm of these brilliant actors and comics both in the writing and bold photography. Recipes range from pork belly burnt ends to dry rub beef brisket to jerk ribs, and other favorites like macaroni salad, baked beans, fried catfish, and hush puppies are included as well. There are even snacks and desserts like fried pickles and peach cobbler, and maybe best of all, a whole chapter of sauces and rubs.

Whether you’re a seasoned pitmaster or just firing up your backyard grill, this book is a celebration of the rich traditions, bold flavors, and undeniable joy of barbequing. Packed with mouthwatering recipes, stunning photography, and Anthony and Cendric’s infectious personalities, this cookbook is a must-have for anyone looking to bring soul and flavor to their own backyard gatherings.

A sweet and thoughtful picture book about how we all need forgiveness--even parents--from the bestselling author of Andy Johnson and the March for Justice and Josey Johnson's Hair and the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah Johnson's baseball team has made it to the championships, and he's up to bat! Most of the Johnson family is in the stands cheering him on . . . but someone is missing: Isaiah's dad.

When Dad finally shows up, he apologizes for his absence and asks for Isaiah's forgiveness. But Isaiah is still hurt and isn't sure if he can forgive.

As a dad who's made plenty of mistakes himself, Esau McCaulley has crafted a biblically informed story that offers plenty of avenues for discussion on the power of forgiveness.

Black 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.

Fiery, funny, inviting and digressive, Sonny Simmons' memoir is a long overdue celebration of the famed New York free jazz pioneer

Though his years in the New York free-jazz scene of the sixties cemented his reputation as "one of the most forceful and convincing composers and soloists in his field," saxophonist Sonny Simmons (1933–2021) was nearly forgotten by the '80s, which found him broke, heavily dependent on drugs and alcohol, and separated from his wife and kids. "I played on the streets from 1980 to 1994, 365 days a year," Simmons tells jazz historian and biographer Marc Chaloin. "I would go to North Beach, and I'd sleep in the park. The word got around town that Sonny is a junkie, really strung out."
The resurrection of Simmons' career―upon the release of his critically acclaimed Ancient Ritual (Qwest Records) in 1994―has become a modern legend of the genre. In the last two decades of his musical career, Simmons broke through to a new echelon of recognition, joining the pantheon of great innovators and masters of the music. But to this day he remains an undersung figure. Here, in the first ever book dedicated to his life, Simmons recounts his childhood in the backwoods of Louisiana, his adolescence in the burgeoning Bay Area jazz scene and his star-studded life in New York playing alongside the greats.

By the author of the New York Times Bestseller The Hundred Years' War on Palestine

From British colonization to Israeli occupation, an essential primer on the nearly century-long fight for Palestinian liberation

A Beacon Classics edition, featuring a spot gloss cover and retro, classic palette

After over 75 years of death and dehumanization, the fight for Palestinian statehood has only grown more fervent, the stakes more dire than ever before. Israel’s increasingly violent occupation has culminated in a one-sided war, with Palestinians unable to defend themselves against Israel’s military assault. What led to the longest—and one of the deadliest—ongoing military occupations in the world? In The Iron Cage, Rashid Khalidi, one of the foremost scholars of Middle Eastern history, traces the origins of today’s war through sociopolitical and cultural analysis.

Drawing on a wealth of experience and scholarship, Khalidi offers crucial historical context of Palestinian attempts to achieve statehood. He tracks how settler colonialists—first the British, then the Israelis—ensnared Palestinians behind the bars of an “iron cage.” This cage bred the conditions for ineffective Palestinian leadership that would ultimately strengthen the bars that confined them.

Reflective and well-researched, The Iron Cage is an incisive negotiation with the past. Khalidi examines the internal and external failures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries to ground our understanding of the harrowing realities in the region today. Reading this vital chronicle is the first step in disrupting complicity and thinking about the future of the Middle East.

Michael Jackson’s closest sister pulls back the curtain to reveal the inner workings of the Jackson family, Michael’s tortured soul, and her own love for her brother in this intimate portrait of a beloved, yet troubled, pop legend.

In this shocking New York Times bestselling memoir, La Toya Jackson pays heartfelt tribute to her legendary brother Michael’s tortured soul and offers unprecedented insight into the troubled entertainer’s tragic destruction.

La Toya Jackson was always closer to Michael than anyone knew. Now, she sheds light on the intimate moments she shared with the beloved pop legend and unveils the disturbing behind-the-scenes dealings that she believes foretold his death. Like Michael, La Toya experienced an upbringing that made her vulnerable to exploitation, and her own journey led to hell and back at the hands of her former manager and husband. Here, in vivid and candid detail, she reveals the most painful episodes of her deeply personal story and explores how anyone—regardless of fame, fortune, or status—can be trapped in a cycle of abuse. La Toya ultimately found the courage to break free, rebuild her life and career, and reconcile with her close-knit family. Her unforgettable story will touch the hearts of millions of fans and inspire anyone who feels as if there’s nowhere to go that it is possible to truly start over...