"Booker T. Washington (1856-1915), who overcame adversity to become a prominent orator and educator, believed that education was the key to racial equality. Beginning with his early life, this classic work conveys the triumphs and tragedies he encountered during his pursuit of freedom and learning. From a childhood shaped by slavery to the experiences that led to his founding of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, a center of learning that focused...

Describes the history, traditions, culture, and religion of the Fulani, who held political, religious, and military power over parts of western Africa for several centuries and still live in many countries there.

The Story of an African Farm (1883) is a novel by South African political activist and writer Olive Schreiner. Her first published novel, The Story of an African Farm was a bestseller upon its release despite being criticized for its portrayal of controversial social, religious, and political themes. Part Bildungsroman, part philosophical fiction, the novel is recognized as a groundbreaking work for its exploration of feminism, atheism, and the influence...

Traces the roots and history of the martial art which was developed by Brazilian slaves and combines dance, play, ritual, and self-defense.

Classic Books Library presents this brand new edition of "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African", an autobiography published in 1798. Equiano (c. 1745-1797) was an African writer and abolitionist, who was taken into slavery as a child and transported to the British colony of Virginia. This personal account depicts the narrative of Equiano's life during his years as a slave: from being purchased as...

The day Walter White was buried in 1955 the New York Times called him "the nearest approach to a national leader of American Negroes since Booker T. Washington." For more than two decades, White, as secretary of the NAACP, was perhaps the nation's most visible and most powerful African-American leader. He won passage of a federal anti-lynching law, hosted one of the premier salons of the Harlem Renaissance, created the legal strategy that led to Brown...

From the time of his famous Atlanta address in 1895 until his death in 1915, Booker T. Washington was the preeminent African-American educator and race leader. But to historians and biographers of the last hundred years, Washington has often been described as an enigma, a man who rose to prominence because he offered a compromise with the white South: he was willing to trade civil rights for economic and educational advancement. Thus, one historian...

"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...

Introduction to the life and accomplishments of famed African-American author and activist, Alice Walker. The most highly recognized series on African Americans celebrates Black History Month all year long! Journey to Freedom: The African American Library provides fascinating information on the heroic stories of African Americans who have played leading roles in shaping world history. Packed with vintage photographs that bring both the subjects' frustrations...