"The Newbery Award-winning author of The Crossover pens an ode to black American triumph and tribulation, with art from a two-time Caldecott Honoree"--
A biographical novel tells the story of Cassius Clay, the determined boy who would one day become Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers of all time.
Jean-Michael Basquiat and his unique, collage-style paintings rocked to fame in the 1980s as a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the art work had ever seen. But before that, he was a little boy who saw art everywhere: in poetry books and museums, in games and in the words that we speak, and in the pulsing energy of New York City. Now, award-winning illustrator Javaka Steptoe's vivid text and bold artwork echoing Basquiat's own introduce young readers...
" Little Martin grew up in a family of preachers: his dad was a preacher, his uncle was a preacher, his grandfather was a preacher…so maybe he’d become a great preacher too. One day, a friend invited him to play at his house. Martin was shocked when his mother wouldn’t let him in because he was black. That day he realized there was something terribly unfair going on. Martin believed that no one should remain silent and accept something if it's...
Presents the life of the man who escaped slavery in Maryland to become a speaker and writer for abolition and the rights of African Americans and women, focusing on his childhood and youth as a slave.
"In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schools had to allow Black students to attend previously all-white schools. On September 4, 1957, nine Black students were set to attend Little Rock Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas. But when they arrived, an angry mob of white people spat at them and hurled racist insults. They were also prevented from entering the school by the National Guard. After they were finally allowed in weeks later, they faced...
Until 1957, two worlds existed in Little Rock, Arkansas: one for white Americans and another for African Americans. Whites and blacks went to separate schools, ate at separate restaurants, and even used separate drinking fountains. That year, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to end the laws that kept people apart. Nine black students agreed to attend Little Rock's all-white Central High School. But could they face angry mobs, threats, and violence?...
For months six-year-old Ruby Bridges must confront the hostility of white parents when she becomes the first African American girl to integrate William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960.
"An autobiography about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and his life growing up in New York, becoming the basketball star he's known to be, and getting involved in the world around him as an activist for social change"--
Sojourner Truth was born into slavery but possessed a mind and a vision that knew no bounds. So Tall Within traces her life from her painful childhood through her remarkable emancipation to her incredible leadership in the movement for rights for both women and African Americans.
"Born enslaved, Harriet Tubman rose up to become one of the most successful, determined and well-known conductors of the Underground Railroad. With her family's love planted firmly in her heart, Harriet looked to the North Star for guidance--and its light helped guide her way out of slavery. Her courage made it possible for her to help others reach freedom too." -- Amazon.com.
When Harriet Tubman was born a plantation slave in 1820, her parents hoped she could learn a trade and be spared from working in the fields. But because she defended a slave against an overseer, she became a field hand anyway. As she learned to survive in the woods and find her way by the North Star, she dreamed of freedom. When she was almost 30, she finally made her escape-but securing her own freedom wasn't enough. Risking life and limb, she became...
"Critically acclaimed author Jabari Asim and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator E.B. Lewis give readers a fascinating glimpse into the boyhood of Civil Rights leader John Lewis. John wants to be a preacher when he grows up a leader whose words stir hearts to change, minds to think, and bodies to take action. But why wait? When John is put in charge of the family farm's flock of chickens, he discovers that they make a wonderful congregation! So he...
Features female figures of black history, including pilot Bessie Coleman, politician Shirley Chisholm, mathematician Katherine Johnson, poet Maya Angelou, and filmmaker Julie Dash.