In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father, a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man, has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey, first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of...

"A harrowing memoir about one of the darkest periods in American history. Born a free man in New York, Solomon Northup was abducted in Washington, D.C., in 1841 and spent the next twelve years of his life in captivity as a slave on a Louisiana cotton plantation. After his rescue, he published this exceptionally vivid and detailed account of slave life--perhaps the best written of all the slave narratives. It became an immediate bestseller and today...

"B is for Beautiful, Brave, and Bright! And for a Book that takes a Bold journey through the alphabet of Black history and culture. Letter by letter, The ABCs of Black History celebrates a story that spans continents and centuries, triumph and heartbreak, creativity and joy. It's a story of big ideas--P is for Power, S is for Science and Soul. Of significant moments--G is for Great Migration. Of iconic figures--H is for Zora Neale Hurston, X is for...

Draws on new research to trace the life of Malcolm X from his troubled youth through his involvement in the Nation of Islam, his activism in the world of Black Nationalism, and his assassination.

Young, Gifted and Black Too celebrates the lives of 52 more leaders, heroes, sportspeople, and artists of color from around the world.

Before John Glenn orbited the earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. Among these problem-solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in...

February 21, 1965. Controversial civil rights leader Malcolm X is gunned down during a speech in Manhattan. Few were shocked by the news of Malcolm X's death. Since 1952 the former member of the Nation of Islam had supported the Nation's philosophy of violence as the method to achieve justice for blacks in the United States. But in March 1964, after a major shift in his philosophy, Malcolm changed his message. He no longer agreed with the Nation of...

"What are the odds? Statistics tell us that African American males growing up in a single-parent household are nine times more likely to drop out of high school and twenty times more likely to end up in prison than any other demographic. But what would it take for one young man not only to rise above those statistics but also become a celebrated Navy SEAL, an acclaimed Hollywood actor, and a deep man of faith? For Remi Adeleke--whose life journey...

Often regarded as more of a myth and legend than man, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was many things throughout his storied life: student, activist, preacher, dreamer, father, husband. From his Atlanta childhood centered in the historically Black neighborhood of Sweet Auburn to his precipitous rise as a civil rights leader on the streets of Birmingham, Selma, and Montgomery, Dr. King would go on to become one of the most recognizable, influential,...

Gain an unprecedented look at the experiences and accomplishments of African Americans in the military, and learn why such a group of heroic men and women would fight for the freedom of others that they themselves weren't able to enjoy. Hosted by Halle Berry with an introduction by Colin Powell, and features the voices of Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, Danny Glover, John Travolta, and many more.