|
|
|
|
History and Current Events February 2026 |
|
|
|
| The Great Resistance: The 400-Year Fight to End Slavery in the Americas by Carrie GibsonHistorian Carrie Gibson's (El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America) sweeping history illuminates four centuries of enslaved people's resistance to the Atlantic slave trade and "insists on the primacy of the enslaved themselves as agents of their own liberation"(Kirkus Reviews). Further reading: Daring to Be Free: Rebellion and Resistance of the Enslaved in the Atlantic World by Sudhir Hazareesingh. |
|
| 24 Hours at the Capitol: An Oral History of the January 6th Insurrection by Nora NeusEmmy Award-nominated producer and freelance journalist Nora Neus' compelling follow-up to 24 Hours in Charlottesville is a nail-biting, minute-by-minute oral history of the January 6, 2021 United States Capitol attack, featuring never-before-heard firsthand accounts from lawmakers, staffers, and police officers who were there. Further reading: Storm at the Capitol: An Oral History of January 6th by Mary Clare Jalonick. |
|
| Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster by Jacob SoboroffMSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff's urgent and affecting chronicle of the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires blends personal reflections (Soboroff's childhood home was destroyed) with accounts from meteorologists, firefighters, politicians, and area residents. For fans of: Paradise: One Town's Struggle to Survive an American Wildfire by Lizzie Johnson. |
|
Focus on: Black History Month
|
|
| My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future by Alice RandallIn her impassioned and insightful blend of history and memoir, Nashville-based songwriter and producer Alice Randall (the first Black woman to co-write a number one country song) spotlights trailblazing yet forgotten Black country musicians whose artistry has influenced the genre. Try this next: Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King by Preston Lauterbach. |
|
| The Conjuring of America: Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women's Magic by Lindsey StewartBlack feminist philosopher Lindsey Stewart's sweeping and richly detailed follow-up to The Politics of Black Joy traces the origins and evolution of West African spiritual practices in America, popularized by enslaved conjure women who utilized their skills to heal their communities. Try this next: When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. Montgomery. |
|
|
|
Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America's Civil Rights Revolution
by Peniel E. Joseph
In Freedom Season, acclaimed historian Peniel E. Joseph offers a stirring narrative history of 1963, marking it as the defining year of the Black freedom struggle--a year when America faced a deluge of political strife and violence and emerged transformed. Nineteen sixty-three opened with the centenary of the Emancipation Proclamation and ended with America in a state of mourning. Freedom Season shows how the upheavals of 1963 planted the seeds for watershed civil rights legislation and renewed hope in the promise and possibility of freedom.
|
|
|
|
Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King
by Preston Lauterbach
In this nuanced and illuminating examination of Elvis Presley's complicated legacy, music journalist Preston Lauterbach (The Chitlin' Circuit) spotlights four trailblazing Black musicians whose artistry and style inspired a young Presley, but whom he rarely (if ever) credited. Try this next: Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters by Lynnée Denise.
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
|
|
|