Ruby Sisson Library

Starting with a Preface to a Twenty Volume Suicide Note, and including many out-of-print and limited edition chapbooks and broadsides, Transblusency: The Selected Poems of Amiri Baraka concisely illuminates Baraka's almost single-handed renovation of both the nature and form of post-WWII African American literature, and his profound influence on a generation of poets of all ethnic backgrounds.

"August Wilson (1945-2005) was a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who had a particular talent for capturing the authentic, everyday voice of Black Americans. As a child, he read off soup cans and cereal boxes, and when his mother brought him to the library, his whole world opened up. After facing intense prejudice at school from both students and some teachers, August dropped out. However, he continued reading and educating himself independently....

Contains one hundred poems from classic and contemporary African American poets, as selected by an award-winning black poet and activist, including such writers as Robert Hayden, Mari Evans, Kevin Young, and Rita Dove.

A collection of writings by such authors as W.E.B. DuBois, Toni Morrison, Rita Dove, Richard Wright, and Ralph Ellison, exploring the connections of circle, veil, water, and song that link past and present African American cultures.

Presents Ben Philippe's memoir-in-essays, chronicling a lifetime of being the Black friend in predominantly white spaces. From cheating his way out of swim tests to discovering stray family members in unlikely places, he finds the punchline in the serious while acknowledging the blunt truths of existing as a Black man in today's world.

Presents a biography of twentieth-century American poet Maya Angelou, features literary criticism of her work, and includes a chronology of her life, and a bibliography of her writings

The history of African Americans is explored in their writings, narratives, letters, editorials, speeches, lyrics, & folktales, from U.S. colonial times to today. Here is the most comprehensive collection of African-American writing to date and includes poetry, prose, speeches, songs, documents, and letters from the pre-Colonial era through today's best and most well-known writers. An anthology that anyone interested in the full scope of African-American...

This biography introduces readers to the five-time winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, Walter Dean Myers. Readers will learn about Myers's childhood in Harlem, his difficulty in school with a speech impediment, and the inspiration behind his award-winning titles. His books include Monster, Scorpions, and Fallen Angels. Easy-to-read text and full-color photos highlight Myers's childhood, education, and life as an author. Checkerboard Library is...