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History and Current Events February 2021 |
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| Black Futures by Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham (editors)What it is: An inventive and nonlinear mixed-media anthology that asks: "What does it mean to be Black and alive right now?"
What's inside: Poetry, artwork, essays, memes, recipes, and interviews.
Contributors include: Ta-Nehisi Coates; Zadie Smith; Kiese Laymon; Samantha Irby; Hanif Abdurraqib; Ziwe Fumudoh. |
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| Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma OluoWhat it's about: How white male identity in America preserves a status quo that harms women and people of color.
Food for thought: "If white men are finding that the overwhelmingly white-male-controlled system isn’t meeting their needs, how did we end up being the problem?”
Author alert: Ijeoma Oluo is the New York Times bestselling author of So You Want to Talk About Race. |
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| Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Andrea Pitzer1594 Netherlands: Dutch navigator William Barents embarked on the first of three Arctic expeditions seeking a northern route to China.
But then... During the third expedition, Barents and his crew became icebound in Nova Zembla, where they spent a year battling the elements, hungry polar bears, and disease.
Read it for: A dramatic, vividly recreated survival story aided by journal entries, archival materials, and the author's own travels to the Arctic. |
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| A Black Women's History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole GrossWhat it is: A sweeping yet concise history prioritizing the experiences of Black women whose "everyday heroism" shaped America.
What's inside: Profiles of 11 lesser known Black women whose stories provide illuminating context for the Atlantic slave trade, the Great Migration, Jim Crow laws, protest movements, and more.
Try this next: Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall. |
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| Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong DunbarHow it began: In 1796, on the eve of being "gifted" to one of George and Martha Washington's granddaughters, lifelong Washington family slave and seamstress Ona Judge made a daring escape to freedom.
What happened next: Pursued by Washington for years, Judge settled in New Hampshire, where she lived freely for the next half century.
Book buzz: This thought-provoking National Book Award Finalist offers an eye-opening perspective on the legacy of America's first president. |
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| What Truth Sounds Like: Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished... by Michael Eric DysonWhat it's about: The fateful May 1963 meeting organized by attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and James Baldwin to discuss race relations.
In attendance: Lorraine Hansberry, Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne, psychologist Kenneth Clark, and Freedom Rider Jerome Smith.
Why it matters: This "watershed moment in American politics" jump-started difficult conversations that continue to resonate today. |
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| Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.What it is: A sobering history of America's Reconstruction era and Jim Crow legislation that offers striking parallels to contemporary white supremacy movements.
Topics include: Eugenics and scientific racism; mass produced stereotypes and blackface; the emergence of the "New Negro." |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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