In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month, we’re featuring titles that focus on the African American community.
Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison
By Shaka Senghor
In 1991, Shaka Senghor was sent to prison for second-degree murder. Today, he is a lecturer at universities, a leading voice on criminal justice reform, and an inspiration to thousands.
United: Thoughts on Finding Common Ground and Advancing the Common Good
By Cory Booker
A passionate new voice in American politics, Senator Cory Booker makes the case that the virtues of empathy, responsibility, and action must guide our nation toward a brighter future.
Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich: Vote Buying and the Corruption of Democracy
By Dr. Mary Frances Berry
“As the former chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the author has seen expansion of voting rights lead to more voter suppression and actually cause vote counts to decline…Berry helpfully exposes disturbing facts from across the country.”—Kirkus Reviews
Homegoing: A Novel
By Yaa Gyasi
A riveting, kaleidoscopic debut novel and the beginning of a major career: a novel about race, history, ancestry, love, and time that traces the descendants of two sisters torn apart in eighteenth-century Africa across three hundred years in Ghana and America.
The Bridge to Brilliance: How One Principal in a Tough Community Is Inspiring the World
by Nadia Lopez
The inspirational account of the creation of a pathbreaking inner-city middle school in Brooklyn, New York, by the magnetic young principal who rocketed to national fame via Humans of New York. The Bridge to Brilliance is a book filled with common sense and caring that will carry her message to classrooms far from Brooklyn. As she says, modestly, “There are hundreds of Ms. Lopezes around this country doing good work for kids. This honors all of them.”