Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine: The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, which are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.

Zora Neale Hurston's Final Decade

An intriguing investigation of the famous writer’s turbulent final years.

Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography

Reconstructs the events, relationships, and achievements that marked the life of the Black novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist, assessing her important works and commitment to the Black folk tradition.

The first comprehensive, authoritative biography of American icon Arthur Ashe—the Jackie Robinson of men’s tennis—a pioneering athlete who, after breaking the color barrier, went on to become an influential civil rights activist and public intellectual.

In 1962, boxing writers and fans considered Cassius Clay an obnoxious self-promoter, and few believed that he would become the heavyweight champion of the world. But Malcolm X, the most famous minister in the Nation of Islam-a sect many white Americans deemed a hate cult-saw the potential in Clay, not just for boxing greatness, but as a means of spreading the Nation's message. The two became fast friends, keeping their interactions secret from the press for fear of jeopardizing Clay's career. Clay began living a double life-a patriotic "good Negro" in public, and a radical reformer behind the scenes. Soon, however, their friendship would sour, with disastrous and far-reaching consequences.

Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington rose from his slavery beginnings to become a national leader in education and civil rights. Beginning his career as a teacher and developing into a renowned speaker, Washington s influence is still felt today through Tuskegee University, which he originally founded.

Frantz Fanon

Frantz Fanon is known as a champion of Africa against Europe, of black against white. 'Every brother on a rooftop can quote Fanon', it was said in the Chicago riots of 1967. He was a defender of the poor against the power elites; and his ideal of a Third World liberated from the West was for all mankind.: 'Let us try to create the whole man, whom Europe has been unable to bring to triumphant birth.'

Manchild in the Promised Land

Claude Brown is a Black man who made it out of slum Harlem, who pulled himself up from the gang wars, the pot-smoking, the stealing, the dope pushing, to become a law student at one of America's leading universities. Manchild in the Promised Land is his story. It is one of the most extraordinary autobiographies of our time

Alice Walker: A Life

A full-length portrait of the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer draws on letters, journals, and interviews to discuss her birth into a family of Georgia sharecroppers, the childhood accident that left her blind in one eye and sympathetic to human suffering.

The Temple of My Familiar

Transcending the conventions of time and place, Walker's novel moves from contemporary America, England, and Africa to unfamiliar primal worlds, where women, men, and animals socialize in surprising ways. The author of The Color Purple has created a mesmerizing novel of vision and spirit.

We Will Get to the Promised Land: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Communal-Political Spirituality

In We Will Get to the Promised Land, Lee explores the entire scope of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s spirituality, tracing its roots to African communal religious traditions and African Americans' fight for racial justice. He presents communal-political spirituality as constituting the heart of King's multifaceted spirituality. Lee reinterprets King's personal journey, theology, and ethics, as well as the Civil Rights Movement, in light of this communal-political spirituality, while assessing its ongoing importance for the common life in the twenty-first century, with particular attention to the war on terror and interreligious ecumenism. This copy contains highlights.

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

With knowledge, spirit, good humor, and passion, The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. brings to life a remarkable man whose thoughts and actions speak to our most burning contemporary issues and still inspire the desires, hopes, and dreams of us all.

Martin Luther King: Spirit-Led Prophet, a Biography

Martin Luther King Jr. was the most inspiring civil rights leader in American history. He was a scholar and a very gifted orator, but, before all else, he was a pastor, a theologian, a martyr, a Christian. Spirit-Led Prophet uniquely tells his compelling story from the perspective of his faith. In the midst of a tumultuous public life, King prayed for guidance and depended upon God’s spirit to lead him.

The Life and Times of Little Richard

The classic authorized biography exposes the astonishing life and times of Richard Wayne Penniman. Using Richard’s own words, Charles White chronicles a staggering career, tussles with God and The Devil, and an erratic series of comebacks. Illustrated with rare pictures and including a comprehensive discography.

James Brown: The Godfather of Soul

The author recalls his rise from poverty and segregation to wealth, musical preeminence and political influence and discusses his important friendships with such celebrities as Elvis Presley, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Muhammad Ali

Twaynes United States Authors Series presents concise critical introductions to great writers and their works.

Devoted to critical interpretation and discussion of an authors work, each study takes account of major literary trends and important scholarly contributions and provides new critical insights with an original point of view. An Authors Series volumeaddresses readers ranging from advanced high school students to university professors. The book suggests to the informed reader new ways of considering a writers work. A reader new to the work under examination will, after reading theAuthors Series, be compelled to turn to the originals, bringing to the reading a basic knowledge and fresh critical perspectives.

Each volume features:

• A critical, interpretive study and explication of the authors works

• A brief biography of the author

• An accessible chronology outlining the life, work, and relevant historical background of the author

• Aids for further study -- complete notes and references, a selected annotated bibliography and an index

• A readable style presented in a manageable length

Miles Davis: The Definitive Biography

This exhaustively researched, revised edition of Ian Carr's classic biography throws new light on Davis' life and career: from the early days in New York with Charlie Parker; to the Birth of Cool; through his drug addiction in the early 1950s and the years of extraordinary achievements (1954-1960), during which he signed with Columbia and collaborated with such unequaled talents as John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly and Cannonball Adderly. Carr also explores Davis' dark, reclusive period (1975-1980), offering firsthand accounts of his descent into addiction, as well as his dramatic return to life and music. Carr has talked with the people who knew Miles and his music best including Bill Evans, Joe Zawinul, Keith Jarrett, and Jack DeJohnette, and has conducted interviews with Ron Carter, Max Roach, John Scofield and others.

Miles: The Autobiography

Miles: The Autobiography, like Miles himself, holds nothing back. He speaks frankly and openly about his drug problem and how he overcame it. He condemns the racism he encountered in the music business and in American society generally. And he discusses the women in his life. But above all, Miles talks about music and musicians, including the legends he has played with over the years: Bird, Dizzy, Monk, Trane, Mingus, and many others.

The man who gave us some of the most exciting music of the twentieth century here gives us a compelling and fascinating autobiography, featuring a concise discography and thirty-two pages of photographs.