WHERE TO BUY
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DR38BQNH
Audiobooks: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/when-its-darkness-on-the-delta-how-americas-richest-soil-became-its-poorest-land/855830
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-its-darkness-on-the-delta-w-ralph-eubanks/1146996065?ean=2940194484393
Libro.fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780807022368-when-it-s-darkness-on-the-delta

ABOUT
For readers of The Sum of Us and South to America, an essential new look at the roots of American inequality—and the seeds of its transformation

Once the powerhouse of a fledgling country’s economy, the Mississippi Delta has been consigned to a narrative of destitution. It is often faulted for the sins of the South, portrayed as a regional backwater that willfully cleaved itself from the modern world. But buried beneath the weight of good ol’ boy politics and whitewashed histories lies the Delta’s true story.

Mississippi native and award-winning writer W. Ralph Eubanks digs through this loamy topsoil, revealing a microcosm of economic oppression in the US. He traverses the Delta, examining its bellwether efforts to combat income inequality, and introduces people like

*Theodore G. Bilbo and William Whittington, segregationist congressmen who sabotaged federal reparations for former sharecroppers in the 1940s and ’50s
*Gloria Carter Dickerson, founder of the Emmett Till Academy, whose parents were instrumental in desegregating schools in Drew, MS, where Till was murdered
*Calvin Head, a community organizer who runs a farming co-op in Mileston, who revived the legacy of his hometown, the only Black resettlement community in Mississippi

With clear-eyed analysis and heart-rending prose, Eubanks exhumes a rich seedbed of racist political machinations and economic turmoil. Yet scattered within, yearning for transformation and reinvention, are the undying seeds of the oppressed. Their thirst, Eubanks argues, is one that can be quenched by thoughtful policymaking—and by investing in the very people whose ancestors tilled such fertile land.

A Selection from "When It's Darkness on the Delta: How America's Richest Soil Became Its Poorest Land"

WHERE TO BUY
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F7C3ZTXK
Audiobooks: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/909624
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forever-for-the-culture-steven-underwood/1147347841?ean=2940192849088
Libro.fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780807018330

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THE CURATORS OF CULTURE: Celebrate Black digital art in this essay collection revealing how Black artists have shaped everything from TikTok dances to viral memes

Steven Underwood digs into the current Black digital arts movement that has shaped popular culture for the last decade. He connects this current space to historical influences, speaking to a “legacy of audacity and daring that presented us with the opportunity to redirect the conversations on Blackness back on its center. Back to Black people.” Written as a collection of thought-provoking essays pulling in social commentary, interviews, popular culture, and deep research, Underwood taps into a topic that is incredibly relevant but often unknown.

The nature of the internet is so ephemeral that sometimes we forget when we do something worth celebrating. For Black people particularly, that’s unforgiveable. Digital Black art has become increasingly more outspoken, introspective, and genre-defining. But it’s also vulnerable. Original phrases, tweets, dances, songs, and other content are often taken from a Black artist and attributed to a white influencer. And Black creators are paid less for their work, though their engagement is often higher than that of their white peers. There is also the added risk of backlash and hate that comes with publicly existing online. As an award-winning writer with a popular online presence, Underwood is no stranger to the experiences of Black digital artists. Using his own personal stories, he highlights the beauty, vulnerability, and innovation of the Black digital arts movement.

Shining a light on the curators of our culture, Forever for the Culture narratively follows the construction of a new Black art movement and how creators have defined a community when that community does not have a physical space.

A Selection from "Forever for the Culture: Notes from the New Black Digital Arts Renaissance"

WHERE TO BUY
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F6FRYWYQ
Audiobooks: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/907677
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-black-queer-history-of-the-united-states-c-riley-snorton/1147316778?ean=2940192908013
Libro.fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780807022153

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The first-ever Black history to center queer voices, this landmark study traces the lives of LGBTQ+ Black Americans from slavery to present day

Gender and sexual expression have always been part of the Black freedom struggle

In this latest book in Beacon’s award-winning ReVisioning History series, Professors C. Riley Snorton and Darius Bost unearth the often overlooked history of the Black queer community in the United States.

Arguing that both gender and sexual expression have been an intimate and intricate part of Black freedom struggle, Snorton and Bost present historical contributions of Black queer, trans, and gender non-conforming Americans from slavery to the present day to highlight how the fight against racial injustice has always been linked to that of sexual and gender justice.

Interweaving stories of queer and trans figures such as:

*Private William Cathay/Cathay Williams, born female but enlisted in the Army as a man in the mid-1860s
*Josephine Baker, internationally known dancer and entertainer of the early 20th century who was also openly bisexual
*Bayard Rustin, prominent Civil Rights activist whose well known homosexuality was viewed as a potential threat to the movement
*Amanda Milan, a Black trans woman whose murder in 2000 unified the trans people of color community,

this book includes a deep dive into the marginalization, unjust criminalization, and government legislation of Black queer and trans existence. It also shows how Black Americans have played an integral role in the modern LGBTQ rights movement, countering narratives that have predominantly focused on white Americans.

Through storytelling and other narratives, Snorton and Bost show how the Black queer community has always existed, regardless of the attempts to stamp it out, and how those in it continue to fight for their rightful place in the world.

A Selection from "A Black Queer History of the United States"

WHERE TO BUY
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FC37GFVW
Audiobooks: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/926354
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-collective-cure-monica-l-wang/1147512282?ean=2940195799977
Libro.fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780807022955

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A personable, story-driven explanation of how the systems around us—where we live, work, learn, and connect—shape our health, and how each of us can help create healthier communities

A powerful blend of deeply human stories and rigorous research, The Collective Cure reveals how social and structural factors like income, occupation, race and ethnicity, neighborhood conditions, and social connections, profoundly shape our well-being. Dr. Monica Wang, an award-winning public health researcher, educator, and working mother who came of age as an Asian American bussing student, brings a personal lens to these complex issues and shares a hopeful, action-oriented vision for building healthier communities from the ground up.

Through her own personal and professional journey and the lives of 3 extraordinary women across the US, readers are invited to see how health is shaped in everyday spaces:

*Marielis, a first-generation Latina student navigating financial insecurity in the Bronx
*Dorothy, a semi-retired Black community organizer in rural Alabama
*Rosa, an Indigenous clinical social worker preserving ancestral traditions in Texas

With clarity, urgency, and optimism, The Collective Cure bridges powerful storytelling with evidence-based solutions. More than a diagnosis, this book is a call to reimagine what’s possible when we invest in people and places.

A Selection from "The Collective Cure: The Collective Cure Upstream Solutions for Better Public Health"

WHERE TO BUY
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBHJZ9BG
Audiobooks: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/923248
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/our-diaries-ourselves-betsy-rubiner/1147476815?ean=2940195552770
Libro.fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780807022917-our-diaries-ourselves

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A spirited exploration of the diary, from pen-and-paper to TikTok, for the people who write—and read—them

Featuring iconic diary keepers like Audre Lorde, Virginia Woolf, Alison Bechdel, and Taylor Swift

We know what it was like to be an out lesbian in 19th-century England, what the inner world of a young girl in hiding looks like, and what the earliest internet users’ favorite websites were, in part, because of diaries. Our Diaries, Ourselves is a joyful deep dive into this time-honored tradition of preserving who we are.

From Marie Curie to Taylor Swift, this book illustrates how keeping a diary helps us to understand ourselves and our world. Tour Italy’s “City of the Diary,” Pieve Santo Stefano, which boasts a diary archive, museum, and annual festival. Discover how women have used diaries for centuries as canvases for self-expression and self-care and as tools of resistance in a patriarchal society. Travel through time and across cultures, from renowned figures to ordinary people, for glimpses of their lives—different yet comfortingly familiar.

Our Diaries, Ourselves is a treasure trove of social history, feminist rebellion, and personal reflection. This book celebrates the vibrant and varied ways we live our lives and the stories we choose to tell about them. And it reminds us of a uniquely human need that transcends time, language, and technology: to see and be seen, remember and be remembered.

A Selection from "Our Diaries, Ourselves: How Diarists Chronicle Their Lives and Document Our World"

WHERE TO BUY
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FGDQ4DGM
Audiobooks: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/938651
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/student-parent-nicole-lynn-lewis/1148378160?ean=2940195443139
Libro.fm:  https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780807022177

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A vital call to disrupt systemic forces that impoverish families and to reimagine accessible higher education, empowering parents to thrive in college and at home

From the former teen mom and award-winning founder of Generation Hope, a nonprofit committed to expanding education access for young parents and all caregivers

For countless American families, the promise of the “American Dream” rings hollow. They are caught in a cycle of limited opportunity, battling the sociopolitical forces that sustain generational poverty. These are parents and caregivers who yearn for a better life for their children, a reality Nicole Lynn Lewis intimately understands from her own journey as a teen mother.

Student Parent is Lewis’s unflinching yet profoundly hopeful investigation into the systemic obstacles that impede marginalized parents’ access to education, career advancement, and true economic mobility. Crucially, this book moves beyond identifying problems to present transformative, actionable solutions that break through access barriers in higher education.

Weaving insights from child and family health experts with vivid personal stories, Lewis outlines pathways for change to support families striving on the fringes. She champions practices like:

*subsidizing on-campus childcare
*accommodating students facing childcare, transportation, and other challenges
*establishing campus food pantries and destigmatizing their use

Student Parent isn’t just a book about policy; it’s a powerful testament to resilience and an advocate’s guide for dismantling inequality. Lewis has an inspiring vision of an America where education is a right and generational wealth for all is a reality. This book shows us that investing in our student parents is a critical step on the path toward that bright future.

A Selection from "Student Parent: The Fight for Families, the Cost of Poverty, and the Power of College"

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A convincing treatise on the United States’ unprecedented ascension as the world’s foremost stand-your-ground nation

In the aftermath of nearly all mass shootings of the 21st century, conservative legislators and Second Amendment advocates often push the same claims: that these tragedies could have been averted if victims and bystanders were better equipped to “take down” the often young, white gunmen who perpetuate these crimes with guns of their own. In most cases after such events, there is a sharp increase in firearm sales, and despite a 2024 Pew Research Center poll in which 54% of US adults believed an increase in the number of guns in the country is bad for society, more than 33 states have adopted stand-your-ground laws.

By exploring the development of white America’s attachment to lethal self-defense, author Caroline Light proves that contemporary DIY security activism stretches further back than the current US gun rights movement. Including wide ranging legal and social histories such as the original “castle laws” of the 1600s; the horrific lynchings of Black “criminals” during the era of Jim Crow; and the NRA’s evolution from sporting organization to one of the most radical and powerful lobbying groups in the country, Stand Your Ground exposes how violent self-defense has been legalized for the most privileged and weaponized against the most vulnerable.

With an updated introduction by Light and a new foreword by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, renowned historian and author of Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment, Stand Your Ground exposes a history hidden in plain sight and illuminates how the United States ascended to become the world’s foremost stand-your-ground nation.

A Selection from "Stand Your Ground: A History of America's Love Affair with Lethal Self-Defense"

Feel the Floor is a stunning resurrection of one of dance history’s most dynamic innovators, Buddy Bradley, whose contributions to rhythm tap and jazz dance in the 1920s and ’30s indelibly transformed the way we move to music. Mirroring today’s fight for recognition of Black contributors to transatlantic culture, Bradley’s story isn’t just one of influence. He created the movement language we still speak today. Yet, Bradley often didn’t receive the credit he deserved.
In Feel the Floor, Maureen Footer sets the record straight, showing how Bradley’s revolutionary moves electrified Broadway in the 1920s and conquered London’s West End in the 1930s, introducing new inflections to the era’s tap and jazz dance. His experiments in rhythm and staging would anticipate bebop, and his influence even permeated classical dance, cross-pollinating with ballet choreographers like Frederick Ashton and George Balanchine.
The white performers Bradley taught to move became legends: Eleanor Powell, Ruby Keeler, Adele Astaire, Jessie Matthews. Bradley was also the first to fuse movement, character, and narrative in the theater, setting the stage for the integrated book musical and the careers of Agnes de Mille, Bob Fosse, and Jerome Robbins. In post-war Great Britain, as Black American dancers and jazz musicians flocked to London (and a congenial base at Bradley’s dance school), he danced and choreographed with Baby Laurence, Pete Nugent, Frankie Manning, and Mabel Lee, among others.
Footer spent five years in prodigious research, crossing two continents, tracking ancestral history in the Deep South, and enlisting private investigators to uncover Bradley’s buried legacy. Feel the Floor corrects the false narratives that have erased Bradley’s influence, revealing how one man’s genius transformed musical theater, shaped modern ballet, and rewired the very DNA of American dance traditions.

9780807023327_DA_01_018_r1

WHERE TO BUY
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FJZNFWDC
Audiobooks: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/949277
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/body-weather-lorraine-boissoneault/1147870611?ean=2940195081072
Libro.fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9780807023266

ABOUT
“A dazzling kaleidoscope of natural and personal history crackling with intelligence . . . Lorraine Boissoneault is a force of nature.”—Sarah McColl, author of Joy Enough

Winner of the 2024 J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award

Science writer Lorraine Boissoneault has been in pain for most of her adult life. Unable to control or make sense of her chronic illness diagnoses, she began describing the ebb and flow of her symptoms as “body weather.” At first an imaginative approach to coping with flare-ups, the phrase has become a waypoint in Lorraine’s explorations of the intimate relationship between our fragile bodies and the world around us.

Visceral and poetic, these braided essays traverse science, history, and memoir to explore the interconnected relationships between the human body and Earth’s meteorology—2 chaotic systems that inform every cell of our beings. Boissoneault surveys her own “body weather,” relating her dysregulated thyroid to global temperature fluctuations; her arrhythmic heart to chaotic thunderstorms; her inflamed joints to wildfires beyond control.

Body Weather is a lyrical exploration that reimagines the cloudy stages of grief and challenges us to reexamine universal questions lodged deep within: how do we find comfort and meaning in a fevered world?

A Selection from "Body Weather: Notes on Chronic Illness in the Anthropocene"

WHERE TO BUY
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZZM66C3
iTunes: https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/id1484428077
Audiobooks: https://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/380251
Nook: https://www.nookaudiobooks.com/audiobook/293001

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From a major voice in Caribbean literature—this is a story of Gwennie Glaspole, a schoolteacher trapped in an unhappy marriage, fighting to resist Jamaican cultural expectations and for her independence

A new edition of the “remarkable first novel” from a major voice in Caribbean literature in the Celebrating Black Women Writers series. Written in modified Jamaican patois, Powell traces the life of Gwennie, a strong woman who plays the role of wife and mother while suffering through a loveless and violently abusive marriage to Walter. Faced with choice of remain a victim to her duties or flee from the cruelties of her everyday life, Gwennie decides to start anew and embrace the pressures of sudden and laudable change. Me Dying Trial ambitiously conveys what goes unspoken—issues regarding identity, homosexuality, religion, and personal afflictions, and how often that strong sense of community holds us back from growing.

Powell’s debut solidified her status as “one of the most exciting writers living and writing on the island that is the Caribbean-American hyphen.” (Edwidge Danticat)

A Selection from "Me Dying Trial"

Beacon Press Audio

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