Sharon Washington

A powerful work of Afro-magic realism that interrogates the legacy of slavery and roots of poverty, witnesses the beauty and power in survival, and asks whether belief, magic, and intention can forge new realities Blue's daughter, Tsitra, is dying a horrific death. Thousands of miles away, Blue feels time slowing and hears voices, followed by an 18-month stillness. More than a century before, Blue's grandparents, Amanda and Palmer, attend a salon...

This illuminating documentary explores the life of a unique American artist, a man with a remarkable and unlikely biography. Bill Traylor was born into slavery in 1853 on a cotton plantation in rural Alabama. After the Civil War, Traylor continued to farm the land as a sharecropper until the late 1920s. Aging and alone, he moved to Montgomery and worked odd jobs in the thriving segregated black neighborhood. A decade later, in his late 80s, Traylor...

2005 Sibert Medal Winner A 2005 Newbery Honor Book "A voice like yours," celebrated conductor Arturo Toscanini told contralto Marian Anderson, "is heard once in a hundred years." This insightful account of the great African American vocalist considers her life and musical career in the context of the history of civil rights in this country. Drawing on Anderson's own writings and other contemporary accounts, Russell Freedman shows readers a singer...

Award-winning Civil Rights advocate Mary Frances Berry sheds new light on the fight for reparations. Callie House, an ex-slave who led the fight, founded the Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty, and Pension Association in 1899. Defying conventions of race, class, and gender, Callie led the organization in an attempt to petition the government for the pension promised them as freedmen.

Lessons of a Lowcountry Summer, another shining example of her exciting work, is a testament to her reputation as one of the most popular authors of romantic literature. Disturbing circumstances bring together three people to sultry, secluded McKinnon Island where each gives the others the courage to make life altering decisions. Modern women will find inspiration in the independent characters and realistic social challenges.

Singer and songwriter, Laura Love, is known for her “folk-funk” style of music. In this, her first written work, she focuses her talents on a poignant memoir of growing up in an extremely dysfunctional family during the 1960s. Shuffled from a mentally unstable mother to foster homes and orphanages and back again, Laura finds escape through her music. Heart-wrenching and shocking, her story is also inspiring.

Sonnie Beverly draws on her experiences with African- American church groups to create realistic characters. In this debut novel, three black women from one neighborhood take different paths to better themselves. It's in her small Virginia hometown where Zakia experiences the success she's always wanted-and the change that threatens it. For her friend Nikki, this close-knit village inspires a new life where a younger man and unexpected conflicts test...

In Video Cowboys, the Chicago TV reporter is thrust into a very perilous spotlight. A bomber has taken hostages at a local bank. If Georgia can't get his videotape of demands on the major networks, people will die. Georgia needs the help of the Video Cowboys-a fearless camera crew willing to do anything to get coverage.

Shawne Johnson's emotionally stirring debut novel has been called “a rawer Waiting to Exhale.” Three African-American sisters, living in late 1960s Philadelphia, face issues such as drug addiction, racial tension, the Vietnam War, and the death of their father from lung cancer. Together they strive to avoid the dangers that surround them.

A columnist who regularly contributes to The Nation and The Village Voice, Patricia J. Williams is also a professor of law at Columbia University and the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" award. In Open House, she shares her unique views on modern American culture and tells stories of her remarkable life. Her voice is powerful, provocative, and utterly charming.