"In this provocative and captivating dialogue, bell hooks and Cornel West come together to discuss the dilemmas, contradictions, and joys of Black intellectual life. The two friends and comrades in struggle talk, argue, and disagree about everything from community to capitalism in a series of intimate conversations that range from playful to probing to revelatory. In evoking the act of breaking bread, the book calls upon the various traditions of...

New York Times­ best-selling author Cornel West is one of America’s most provocative and admired public intellectuals. Whether in the classroom, the streets, the prisons, or the church, Dr. West’s penetrating brilliance has been a bright beacon shining through the darkness for decades.

Yet, as he points out in this new memoir, "I’ve never taken the time to focus on the inner dynamics of the dark precincts...

William Hannibal Thomas (1843-1935) served with distinction in the U.S. Colored Troops in the Civil War (in which he lost an arm) and was a preacher, teacher, lawyer, state legislator, and journalist following Appomattox. In many publications up through the 1890s, Thomas espoused a critical though optimistic black nationalist ideology. After his mid-twenties, however, Thomas began exhibiting a self-destructive personality, one that kept him in constant...

"[C]hronicles a critical yet overlooked chapter in American history: the inspiring rise and calculated fall of the black elite, from Emancipation through Reconstruction to the Jim Crow Eraembodied in the experiences of an influential figure of the time, academic, entrepreneur, and political activist and black history pioneer Daniel Murray" -- provided by publisher. "In the wake of the Civil War, Daniel Murray, born free and educated in Baltimore,...

Born on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Samuel Ringgold Ward (1817-c. 1869) escaped enslavement and would become a leading figure in the struggle for Black freedom, citizenship, and equality. He was extolled by his contemporary Frederick Douglass for his "depth of thought, fluency of speech, readiness of wit, logical exactness." Until now, his story has been largely untold. Ward, a newspaper editor, Congregational minister, and advocate for the temperance...

This interracial history of the Harlem Renaissance focuses on white women, collectively called "Miss Anne," who became Harlem Renaissance insiders during the 1920s.

A biography of the noted historian and sociologist who was an important leader of African American protest and helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

It's the early 1900s and a change has gripped the world. The Harlem Renaissance has awakened people to a wealth of African American arts and culture. Centered in Harlem, New York, this renaissance brought the world all black orchestras, singers who wowed audiences in the United States and abroad, and amazing writers whose books became best sellers. It's a time when almost anything seems possible. So what road will you travel? Will you: Leave your...