'Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom' Is as Monumental as the Man It Chronicles
Noted historian David W. Blight offers readers the fullest portrait of Frederick Douglass yet in this "biography of a voice".
04 Apr 2019
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Jordan Peele's 'Us', Postmodernism, and Free-Floating Racism
Before terrifying us, Peele overwhelms with cultural signifiers untethered from their referents in his latest, Us.
29 Mar 2019
A Troubled Sound Rings on in Danny Goldberg's 'In Search of the Lost Chord'
Danny Goldberg's In Search of The Lost Chord: 1967 and The Hippie Idea resonates with today's activist readers.
01 Feb 2019
Framing White Nationalism in Spike Lee's 'BlacKkKlansman'
Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman most dramatically reveals how race is a performance, not a biological essence, as it focuses on the importance of language in structuring racial representations.
21 Nov 2018
'May We Forever Stand' Explains Why "Lift Every Voice and Sing" Is an Immortal Song
"Lift Every Voice and Sing" has been embedded in black America's DNA for more than 100 years. We've sung it every February ever since Black History Month was a thing, and every December since Kwanzaa was a thing.
18 Oct 2018
On a Turning Point for Martin Luther King, Jr.
Biographer Patrick Parr takes readers through a vital and decisive phase of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life virtually unexplored by other biographers.
05 Oct 2018
Civil Rights Document, 'A More Beautiful and Terrible History', Is Revelatory, Sobering and Relevant
Theoharis's work is deeply (and sadly) relevant to our current condition. Many of the same issues Theoharis decries -- media inattention, liberal passivity on racial justice issues, government harassment of activists -- are still in play.
19 Jul 2018
The Rationality of Violence: The Kerner Commission and the Riots of 1967
Separate and Unequal provides a riveting account of a crucial moment in US history. It offers a penetrating insight into the manner in which good intentions and just causes necessarily confront the mechanisms of governmental bureaucracy.
16 Jul 2018
Is This the Death of Democracy in America?
The United States has pulled back from the brink of authoritarianism before. But a new study reveals the daunting challenges the country faces in preserving its democracy.
19 Apr 2018
'Bunk' Joins the Dots Between Barnum and Trump
Kevin Young painstakingly presents the history of hoaxes and why we keep falling for the same old shtick.
04 Apr 2018
'A Pictographic History of the Oglala Sioux, 50th Anniversary Edition' Is a Treasure
There's really nothing quite like this in other collections of "primitive" art, or even in the grand narrative painting from the European tradition.
23 Mar 2018
'Chocolate Cities' Draws New Maps of Black American Life
A classic Parliament track inspires a new look at how black Americans moved, made connections, and created a nation-within-a-nation.
12 Mar 2018
'Cartoon County' Life in Post-WWII America
Cartoon County reminds that beneath a post-WWII decade of seeming complacency and prosperity, comics strips were clear reflections of a society in transition.
16 Feb 2018
'Soul of a Nation' and 'The Wall of Respect' Prompt New Looks at Cutting-edge Black Art
No matter where you are on the wokeness spectrum, the Black Power era has yet to stop informing.
01 Feb 2018
A Weak Case for the Important Issue of 'Muslims and the Making of America'
A book like Muslims and the Making of America is necessary in these times, and it's for that very reason that Hussain's effort is so disappointing.
18 Jul 2017
Nobody Won the 'War for the Soul of America'
Andrew Hartman’s engaging exploration of the culture wars confirms that the conflicts will never be resolved because both sides are too extreme for America's moderate middle-ground.
01 Jun 2015
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