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A.K. Smiley Public Library Blog

Serving the City of Redlands, California since 1894

Archives for January 2022

ASALH’s 2022 Black History Month theme, virtual events, and the Library’s newest offerings

January 31, 2022 By Library Staff

The Association for the Study of African American Life and History, founded in 1915, assigns a theme each February for the observance of Black History Month. In 2022 the theme on which the Association is focusing is Black Health and Wellness. The intention, as ASALH writes, is not to “limit the exploration of the Black experience, but to bring to the public’s attention important developments that merit emphasis.” We encourage you to visit the Association’s website and learn more about this year’s theme and previous ones. You may also wish to participate in its month-long 2022 Black History Month Virtual Festival.

Events and programming are also available at these sites, the Library of Congress at https://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov, and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) at https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/pbs-showcases-rich-collection-of-stories-to-celebrate-black-history-month/.

In recognition of Black History Month 2022 here at Smiley Library, our staff has created an addendum, directly below, to our lists of 2020-21. Peruse our most recent acquisitions featuring Black history and cultural themes, and Black authors, with which to continue to remember, honor, celebrate, and inspire. These books are on display in the Library near the Circulation Desk. As always, ask a librarian for help finding anything.

New Books – Fiction

On Girlhood : 15 Stories from the Well-Read Black Girl Library / Edim, Glory
Harlem Shuffle / Whitehead, Colson
Skye Falling : a Novel  / McKenzie, Mia
Palmares / Jones, Gayl
Black Girls Must Die Exhausted : a Novel / Allen, Jayne
In Every Mirror She’s Black / Akinmade-Akerström, Lola
The Sweetness of Water / Harris, Nathan, Sgt.
The Year We Learned to Fly / Woodson, Jacqueline (Young Readers) – coming soon
Filthy Animals / Taylor, Brandon (Brandon L. G.)
While We Were Dating / Guillory, Jasmine

New Books – Nonfiction

Recitatif : a Story / Morrison, Toni
Lorraine Hansberry : the Life Behind A Raisin in the Sun / Shields, Charles J
Call Us What We Carry : Poems / Gorman, Amanda
The Disordered Cosmos : a Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred / Prescod-Weinstein, Chanda
The Essential June Jordan / Jordan, June
Letters to My White Male Friends / Ross, Dax-Devlon
Dear Black Girl : Letters from Your Sisters on Stepping into Your Power / Winfrey Harris, Tamara
Hip Hop (and Other Things) : a Collection of Questions Asked, Answered, Illustrated / Serrano, Shea
Colorization : One Hundred Years of Black Films in a White World / Haygood, Wil
The Black History Book / Blyden, Nemata Amelia
Such Color : New and Selected Poems / Smith, Tracy K.
The Matter of Black Lives : Writing from The New Yorker / Cobb, Jelani
Changes : an Oral History of Tupac Shakur / Pearce, Sheldon
King of the Blues : the Rise and Reign of B.B. King / De Visé, Daniel
Dear Senthuran : a Black Spirit Memoir / Emezi, Akwaeke
Toni Morrison’s Spiritual Vision : Faith, Folktales, and Feminism in her Life and Literature / Nittle, Nadra
Ghost in a Black Girl’s Throat : Poems / Rae, Khalisa
Unprotected : a Memoir / Porter, Billy
On Juneteenth / Gordon-Reed, Annette
The 1619 Project : a New Origin Story / Hannah-Jones, Nikole
My Remarkable Journey : a Memoir / Johnson, Katherine G.
Black Food : Stories, Art & Recipes from across the African Diaspora / Terry, Bryant
Pilot Imposter / Hannaham, James
Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black Women in Popular Culture / Blay, Zeba
Stones : Poems / Young, Kevin

2020 – 2021

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a son of formerly enslaved parents, embarked on the establishment of February as Black History Month. He was a teacher and school administrator who in 1912 became the second African American, after W.E.B. Du Bois, to earn a PhD from Harvard University. In February 1926 he launched the precursor of the celebration with “Negro History Week,” designated for the second week in February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Dr. Woodson also founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Each year the Association, which continues to support Dr. Woodson’s cause, assigns a theme to the celebration. The theme for 2021 is “The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity” — ideas to ponder as we read.

Please refer to previous blog post Celebrating Black Authors and Black Lives for additional titles. Take a look too at our extensive Catalog for older items on the subject, as well as those for children and young adults. Check them out through our Books to Go program or in person during our new public hours.

Also, don’t forget our eLibrary which includes, besides e-items for download, the new Black Life in America database. This primary source collection provides materials in which you may research the experience and impact of African Americans as recorded by the news media, from 1704 to today. It is an expansive window into centuries of African American history, culture, and daily life — as well as the ways the dominant culture has portrayed and perceived people of African descent.

Streaming video service Kanopy, also located in our eLibrary, features films about racial and social injustice. Inspiring documentaries, like “The Talk: Race in America,” “P.S. I Can’t Breathe,” and many others, can help contribute to a more open dialogue about race relations in modern America.

And finally, for even more ways in which to learn about Black history, view the Heritage Room’s Black History Month webinar series. available for viewing at the AKSPL Special Collections YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx1V0OiVDDpGORavA_W6icQ,  or on Facebook under the Video tab.

The offerings include:

  • “African American Literature” by Professor Charles Williams of Chaffey College
  • “Lincoln’s Greatest Decision: Emancipation and the Use of Black Troops” with Smiley Library Director Don McCue
  • “Black Voice News and the History of the Black Press” by Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds
  • (Link here to local newspaper Black Voice News)
  • “Hidden in Plain Sight: African Americans in the Library’s Historic Collections” with Archivist Dr. Nathan Gonzales

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Centennial Anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

The Tulsa race massacre took place on May 31 and June 1, 1921, when mobs of White residents, many of them deputized and given weapons by city officials, attacked Black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is alternatively known as the “Tulsa race riot” or the “Black Wall Street massacre.”

See also, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission website, https://www.tulsa2021.org/, and find our books on the subject here:

  • The Burning : Massacre, Destruction, and the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, by Tim Madigan
  • Riot and Remembrance : the Tulsa Race War and its Legacy, by James S. Hirsch

Juneteenth, on June 19

Juneteenth (a combination of June and nineteenth) is also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day. It is a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Originating in Galveston, Texas, it is now celebrated annually throughout the United States, with increasing official recognition resulting in its declaration as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021. It is commemorated on the anniversary date of the June 19, 1865 announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union Army general Gordon Granger, proclaiming freedom from slavery in Texas.

For more information check out our Blog post, Juneteenth, the celebration of emancipation from slavery, now recognized as a federal holiday, and find our books on the subject here:

  • On Juneteenth / Gordon-Reed, Annette, 2021
  • African-American Holidays / Winchester, Faith (YRR)
Visit the University of Redlands website to learn about its Inaugural Juneteenth Celebration, which took place virtually from June 15 through June 17, 2021.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

2020 – 2021

Autobiographies, Biographies, and Memoirs

  • Triumph : the Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics / Schaap, Jeremy
  • The Black Civil War Soldier : a Visual History of Conflict and Citizenship / Willis, Deborah
  • 42 Today : Jackie Robinson and his Legacy / Long, Michael G., editor
  • Courage to Soar : A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance / Biles, Simone
  • The Fierce 44 : Black Americans Who Shook Up the World / Reiss, Stephen
  • Just As I Am : a Memoir / Tyson, Cicely
  • The Truths We Hold : an American Journey / Harris, Kamala
  • Finding My Voice : My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward / Jarrett, Valerie
  • His Truth is Marching On : John Lewis and the Power of Hope / Meacham, Jon
  • A Promised Land / Obama, Barack
  • Becoming / Obama, Michelle
  • Tough Love : My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For / Rice, Susan E.
  • I Will Not Fear : My Story of a Lifetime of Building Faith under Fire / Beals, Melba
  • Black Radical : the Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter / Greenidge, Kerri K.
  • Fannie Lou Hamer : America’s Freedom Fighting Woman / Brooks, Maegan Parker
  • Greyboy : Finding Blackness in a White World / Brown, Cole / Reyburn, Susan
  • The Dead Are Arising : the Life of Malcolm X / Payne, Les
  • Frederick Douglass : Prophet of Freedom / Blight, David W. *Pulitzer Prize winner, History, 2019
  • Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass : an American Slave / Douglass, Frederick
  • The Chiffon Trenches : a Memoir / Talley, Andre Leon
  • Officer Clemmons / Clemmons, Francois S.
  • Black Is the Body : Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine / Bernard, Emily
  • George Washington Carver : a Life / Vella, Christina
  • Alex Haley and the Books that Changed a Nation / Norrell, Robert J.
  • I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings / Angelou, Maya
  • My Journey with Maya / Smiley, Tavis
  • My Grandfather’s Son : a Memoir / Thomas, Clarence
  • Thurgood Marshall : a Twentieth-Century Life / Crowe, Chris
  • Black Klansman : Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime / Stallworth, Ron
  • Zora and Langston : a Story of Friendship and Betrayal / Yuval, Taylor
  • Mighty Justice : My Life in Civil Rights / Roundtree, Dovey Johnson

Cookbooks

  • The Full Plate / Curry, Ayesha
  • The Rise : Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food / Samuelsson, Marcus
  • Jubilee : Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking / Tipton-Martin, Toni
  • Sweet Home Cafe Cookbook : A Celebration of African American Cooking / Lukas, Albert

DVDs

  • Harriet [videorecording (DVD and Blu-ray disc)] / Erivo, Cynthia
  • Marshall [videorecording (Blu-ray disc and DVD)] / Hudlin, Reginald
  • Hidden Figures [videorecording (DVD)] / Melfi, Theodore
  • Blackkklansman [videorecording (DVD)] / Lee, Spike
  • Jackie Robinson [videorecording (DVD)] / Burns, Ken
  • 42 : [videorecording (DVD)] the Jackie Robinson Story / Helgeland, Brian
  • The Hate U Give [videorecording (DVD and Blu-ray disc)] / Tillman, George
  • Beloved [videorecording (DVD)] / Winfrey, Oprah
  • If Beale Street Could Talk [videorecording (DVD and Blu-ray disc)] / Jenkins, Barry
  • Green Book [videorecording (DVD and Blu-ray disc)] / Farrelly, Peter
  • Us [videorecording (DVD and Blu-ray disc)] / Peele, Jordan
  • Black Panther [videorecording (Blu-ray disc)] / Coogler, Ryan
  • Get Out [videorecording (DVD)] / Peele, Jordan
  • Moonlight [videorecording (DVD)] / Jenkins, Barry
  • 12 Years a Slave [videorecording (DVD)] / McQueen, Steve
  • Django Unchained [videorecording (DVD)] / Tarantino, Quentin
  • Lincoln [videorecording (DVD)] / Spielberg, Steven
  • The Help [videorecording (DVD)] / Stockett, Kathryn
  • Precious (based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire) [videorecording (DVD)] / Daniels, Lee
  • The Secret Life of Bees [videorecording (DVD)] / Prince-Bythewood, Gina
  • The Great Debaters [videorecording (DVD)] / Washington, Denzel
  • The Tuskegee Airmen [videorecording (DVD)] / Markowitz, Robert
  • Glory [videorecording (DVD)] / Fields, Freddie
  • Roots [videorecording (DVD)] / Margulies, Stan
  • To Kill a Mockingbird [videorecording (DVD)] / Mulligan, Robert

DVD Documentaries

  • John Lewis [videorecording (DVD) : Good Trouble / Porter, Dawn
  • Been to the Mountaintop [videorecording (DVD)] documentary / King, Martin Luther, Jr.
  • Up from Slavery [videorecording (DVD)] documentary / Hershberger, Kevin R.
  • Alice’s Ordinary People [videorecording (DVD)] documentary / Dudnick, Craig
  • A.k.a. Cassius Clay [videorecording (DVD)] / Ali, Muhammad

Fiction

  • How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? / Jemisin, N. K.
  • The Tubman Command : a Novel / Cobbs, Elizabeth
  • Confessions in B-flat / Hill, Donna (Donna O.)
  • Yellow Wife / Johnson, Sadeqa
  • Deacon King Kong / McBride, James
  • Trouble the Saints / Johnson, Alaya Dawn
  • His Only Wife : a Novel / Medie, Peace A.
  • Take a Hint, Dani Brown : Novel / Hibbert, Talia
  • The Secret Lives of Church Ladies / Philyaw, Deesha
  • At Night All Blood is Black / Diop, David
  • Black Buck / Askaripour, Mateo
  • Ring Shout, or, Hunting Ku Kluxes in the End Times / Clark, P. DjèlÍ
  • Lakewood : a Novel / Giddings, Megan
  • The Boyfriend Project / Rochon, Farrah
  • Memorial : a Novel / Washington, Bryan
  • Black Bottom Saints : a Novel / Randall, Alice
  • The Vanishing Half / Bennett, Brit
  • Luster / Leilani, Raven
  • The Prophets : a Novel / Jones, Robert Jr.
  • Dirty Music / Sinclair, Shaun
  • How the One-Armed Sister Sweeps Her House / Jones, Cherie
  • Transcendent Kingdom / Gyasi, Yaa
  • The Girl with the Louding Voice / Dare, Abi
  • Red at the Bone / Woodson, Jacqueline
  • Careful What You Click For / Morrison, Mary B.
  • Influence : Death on the Beach / Weber, Carl
  • The Color Purple : a Novel / Walker, Alice
  • Beloved : a Novel / Morrison, Toni *Pulitzer Prize winner, Literature, 1988
  • The Bluest Eye / Morrison, Toni
  • A Mercy / Morrison, Toni
  • Song of Solomon / Morrison, Toni
  • Later Novels / Baldwin, James
  • The Help / Stockett, Kathryn
  • Push / Sapphire
  • The Secret Life of Bees / Kidd, Sue Monk
  • Uncle Tom’s Cabin / Stowe, Harriet Beecher
  • To Kill a Mockingbird / Lee, Harper

Graphic Novels

  • Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred : A Graphic Novel Adaptation / Duffy, Damian
  • Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower : A Graphic Novel Adaptation / Duffy, Damian
  • I Am Alfonso Jones [text (graphic)] / Medina, Tony
  • Black Panther [text (graphic)] / Coates, Ta-Nehisi
  • To Kill a Mockingbird [text (graphic)] : A Graphic Novel / Fordham, Fred

History

  • The 1619 Project : a New Origin Story / Hannah-Jones, Nikole
  • River of Blood : American Slavery from the People Who Lived It : Interviews & Photographs of Formerly Enslaved African Americans / Cahan, Richard, editor
  • The Crooked Path to Abolition : Abraham Lincoln and the Antislavery Constitution / Oakes, James
  • The Other Madisons : the Lost History of a President’s Black Family / Kearse, Bettye
  • The Kidnapping Club : Wall Street, Slavery, and Resistance on the Eve of the Civil War / Wells, Jonathan Daniel
    Stony the Road : Reconstruction, White supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow / Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.
  • Black Origins in the Inland Empire / Skinner, Byron Richard
  • Guest of Honor : Booker T. Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and the White House Dinner That Shocked a Nation / Davis, Deborah
  • The Broken Heart of America : St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States / Johnson, Walter
  • Stakes is High : Life after the American Dream / Smith, Mychal DenzelWhen It Was Grand : the Radical Republican History of the Civil War / Keith, LeeAnna
  • We Were Eight Years in Power : an American Tragedy / Coates, Ta-Nehisi
  • The Kidnapping Club : Wall Street, Slavery, and Resistance on the Eve of the Civil War / Wells, Jonathan Daniel
  • Overground Railroad : the Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America / Taylor, Candacy A.
  • 50 Events That Shaped African American History : An Encyclopedia of the American Mosaic / Wilson, Jamie Jaywann
  • Team of Rivals : the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln / Goodwin, Doris Kearns
  • Keeping Hope Alive : Sermons and Speeches of Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr. / Jackson, Jesse
  • The Black Calhouns : from Civil War to Civil Rights with One African American Family / Buckley, Gail Lumet
  • Daisy Turner’s Kin : an African American Family Sage / Beck, Jane C.

Humor

  • Surrender, White People! : Our Unconditional Terms for Peace / Hughley, D.L.
  • You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey : Crazy Stories About Racism / Ruffin, Amber
  • The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell : Tales of a 6′ 4″, African American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-leaning, Asthmatic, Black and proud Blerd, Mama’s Boy, Dad, and Stand-up Comedian / Bell, W. Kamau

Literature

  • Letters to the Future : Black Women, Radical Writing / Hunt, Erica
  • The Toni Morrison Book Club / Bennett, Juda
  • In Search of The Color Purple : the Story of an American Masterpiece / Tillet, Salamishah
  • The Awkward Black Man : Stories / Mosley, Walter
  • Being Property Once Myself : Blackness and the End of Man / Bennett, Joshua
  • A Measure of Belonging : Twenty-One Writers of Color on the New American South / Barnes, Cinelle
  • Black Ink : Literary Legends on the Peril, Power, and Pleasure of Reading and Writing / Oliver, Stephanie Stokes
  • Rainbow in the Cloud : the Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou / Angelou, Maya
  • The Measure of Our Lives : A Gathering of Wisdom / Morrison, Toni
  • The Source of Self-Regard : Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations / Morrison, Toni
  • Goodness and the Literary Imagination : Harvard Divinity School’s 95th Ingersoll Lecture : With Essays on Morrison’s Moral and Religious Vision / Morrison, Toni
  • The Selected Letters of Langston Hughes / Hughes, Langston
  • Well-read Black Girl : Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves : an Anthology / Edim, Glory
  • Feel Free : Essays / Smith, Zadie

Music

  • Wild Thing : The Short, Spellbinding Life of Jimi Hendrix / Norman, Philip
  • The Butterfly Effect: How Kendrick Lamar Ignited the Soul of Black America/Moore, Marcus J
  • Queen Bey : a Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter / Chambers, Veronica
  • Odetta : A Life in Music and Protest / Zack, Ian
  • Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter / Jackson, Curtis “50 Cent”
  • Let Love Rule / Kravitz, Lenny
  • More Myself : A Journey / Keys, Alicia
  • I Am Restored : How I Lost My Religion But Found My Faith / Lecrae
  • Straighten Up and Fly Right : The Life & Music of Nat King Cole / Friedwald, Will
  • The Meaning of Mariah Carey / Carey, Mariah
  • The Beautiful Ones / Prince
  • Black Diamond Queens : African American Women and Rock and Roll / Mahon, Maureen
  • Billie Holiday : the Musician and the Myth / Szwed, John F.

Poetry

  • African American Poetry : 250 years of Struggle & Song / Young, Kevin
  • We Inherit What the Fires Left : Poems / Evans, William, III (William H.)
  • White Blood : A Lyric of Virginia / Petrosino, Kiki
  • Finna : Poems / Marshall, Nate
  • Living Weapon / Phillips, Rowan Ricardo
  • The Malevolent Volume : Poems / Reed, Justin Phillip
  • Owed / Bennett, Joshua
  • Make Me Rain : Poems & Prose / Giovanni, Nikki
  • How to Carry Water : Selected Poems of Lucille Clifton / Clifton, Lucille
  • Magical Negro : Poems / Parker, Morgan
  • The Tradition / Brown, Jericho
  • / Clark, Tiana
  • Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart : Poems / Walker, Alice
  • Semiautomatic / Shockley, Evie

Politics, Civil Rights, Law

  • Let the People See : the Story of Emmett Till / Gorn, Elliott J.
  • Unsung : Unheralded Narratives of American Slavery & Abolition / Young, Kevin
  • Rise Up : Confronting a Country at the Crossroads / Sharpton, Al
  • Fight of the Century : Writers Reflect on 100 Years of Landmark ACLU Cases / Chabon, Michael
  • The Sword and the Shield : the Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. / Joseph, Peniel E.
  • When They Call You a Terrorist : a Story of Black Lives Matter and the Power to Change the World / Khan-Cullors, Patrisse
  • On the Other Side of Freedom : the Case for Hope / Mckesson, DeRay
  • Driving While Black : African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights / Sorin, Gretchen Sullivan
  • The Black Cabinet : the Untold Story of African Americans and Politics During the Age of Roosevelt / Watts, Jill
  • Vanguard : How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All / Jones, Martha S.
  • Blackout : How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation / Owens, Candace
  • Our Time is Now : Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America / Abrams, Stacey
  • Say It Louder! : Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy / Cross, Tiffany D.
  • The Zealot and the Emancipator : John Brown, Abraham Lincoln and the Struggle for American Freedom / Brands, H. W.
  • For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics / Brazile, Donna
  • Franchise : the Golden Arches in Black America / Chatelain, Marcia
  • On Account of Race : the Supreme Court, White Supremacy, and the Ravaging of African American Voting Rights / Goldstone, Lawrence
  • Deep Delta Justice : a Black Teen, his Lawyer, and their Groundbreaking Battle for Civil Rights in the South / Van Meter, Matthew
  • The Names of All the Flowers / Valentine, Melissa
  • Make Change : How to Fight Injustice, Dismantle Systemic Oppression, and Own Our Future / King, Shaun
  • The Annotated African American Folktales / Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.

Sciences, Philosophy, Journalism, Language, Mathematics, Technology, Performing Arts

  • A Fool’s Errand : Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump / Bunch, Lonnie G.
  • Trailblazer : a Pioneering Journalist’s Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America / Gilliam, Dorothy Butler
  • The Path Made Clear : Discovering Your Life’s Direction and Purpose / Winfrey, Oprah
  • Talking Back, Talking Black : Truths About America’s Lingua Franca / McWhorter, John H.
  • Beyond Ebonics : the Linguistic Legacy of American Slavery / Baugh, John
  • Spoken Soul : the Story of Black English / Rickford, John R.
  • Black Talk : Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner / Smitherman, Geneva
  • Talkin That Talk : Language, Culture, and Education in African America / Smitherman, Geneva
  • Hidden Figures : the American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race / Shetterly, Margot Lee
  • Letters from an Astrophysicist / Tyson, Neil deGrasse
  • We Could Not Fail : the First African Americans in the Space Program / Paul, Richard
  • Black Broadway : African Americans on the Great White Way / Lane, Stewart F.
  • The Compton Cowboys : the New Generation of Cowboys in America’s Urban Heartland / Thompson-Hernandez, Walter

Social Sciences

  • The Souls of Black Folk / Du Bois, W.E.B.
  • Distributed Blackness : African American Cybercultures / Brock, André L., Jr.
  • Hood Feminism : Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot / Kendall, Mikki
  • A Black Women’s History of the United States / Berry, Daina Ramey
  • A Bound Woman is a Dangerous Thing : the Incarceration of African American Women from Harriet Tubman to Sandra Bland / Hill, DaMaris B.
  • Girl Gurl Grrrl : on Womanhood and Belonging in the Age of Black Girl Magic / Hunt, Kenya
  • The Purpose of Power : How We Come Together When We Fall Apart / Garza, Alicia
  • Caste : the Origins of our Discontents / Wilkerson, Isabel
  • Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man / Acho, Emmanuel
  • Race Man : Selected Works, 1960-2015 / Bond, Julian
  • A Peculiar Indifference : the Neglected Toll of Violence on Black America / Currie, Elliott
  • Long Time Coming : Reckoning with Race in America / Dyson, Michael Eric
  • White Tears/Brown Scars : How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color / Hamad, Ruby
  • Daughter of the Boycott : Carrying On a Montgomery Family’s Civil Rights Legacy / Houston, Karen Gray
  • Culture Warlords : My Journey into the Dark Web of White Supremacy / Lavin, Talia
  • Dispatches from the Race War / Wise, Tim
  • Wilmington’s Lie : the Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy / Zucchino, David
  • Black Futures / Drew, Kimberly
  • Conversations in Black on Power, Politics, and Leadership / Gordon, Ed
  • Wandering in Strange Lands : a Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots / Jerkins, Morgan
  • Just Us : an American Conversation / Rankine, Claudia
  • How to Make a Slave and Other Essays / Walker, Jerald
  • Black Fatigue : How Racism Erodes the Mind, Body, and Spirit / Winters, Mary-Frances
  • South to Freedom : Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War / Baumgartner, Alice
  • A Question of Freedom : The Families Who Challenged Slavery from the Nation’s Founding to the Civil War / Thomas, William G.

Sports

  • 42 Today : Jackie Robinson and his Legacy / Long, Michael G., editor
  • 24 : Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid / Mays, Willie
  • The Last Hero : a Life of Henry Aaron / Bryant, Howard
  • Hank Aaron and the Home Run That Changed America / Stanton, Tom
  • Courage to Soar : A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance / Biles, Simone
  • The Mamba Mentality : How I Play / Bryant, Kobe
  • Mentalidad Mamba : Los Secretos de mi Exito / Bryant, Kobe
  • Olympic Pride, American Prejudice : the Untold Story of 18 African Americans Who Defied Jim Crow and Adolf Hitler to Compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics / Draper, Deborah Riley
  • A Most Beautiful Thing : the True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team / Cooper, Arshay
  • The Second Life of Tiger Woods / Bamberger, Michael
  • Serena Williams : Tennis Champion, Sports Legend, and Cultural Heroine / Corbett, Merlisa Lawrence.
  • Jackie & Campy : the Untold Story of their Rocky Relationship and the Breaking of Baseball’s Color Line / Kashatus, William C.
  • Rickey & Robinson : the True, Untold Story of the Integration of Baseball / Kahn, Roger

Filed Under: News + Events

Adventure awaits! Scout out our new non-fiction arrivals

January 28, 2022 By Nancy McGee

Attention armchair adventurers, history buffs, and geography enthusiasts—the New Book Section at A.K. Smiley Public Library is calling out to you! Here are just a few selections from our bookshelves.

Brian Castner’s “Stampede: Gold Fever and Disaster in the Klondike” brings the Klondike gold rush of 1897-1898 into detailed focus. More than 100,000 people headed north in search of gold and wealth during an intense economic depression. Very few of them succeeded in their quest and many of them tragically perished due to being completely unprepared for the harsh realities they encountered. Individual experiences and tragedies are intimately chronicled, along with photographs, through the author’s meticulous research of memoirs, oral histories, and other historical sources. Stories of familiar names like Jack London, Skookum Jim, and the nefarious Soapy Smith are included, along with many others.

Another optimistic adventure in 1897 that also turned ill-fated is detailed in Julian Sancton’s “Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night.” This narrative of Belgium’s first polar expedition details the journey south that eventually became a story of survival as the ship became engulfed in ice for an entire year. The author shares the relationships of the scientists and sailors as they endured the long polar night, illness, isolation, and madness. The inclusion of photographs brings more vividness to the saga. A young Roald Amundsen and Dr. Frederick Cook, unknown to history at that time, were part of the crew.

Jack London and Dr. Frederick Cook also appear in Patrick Dean’s “A Window to Heaven: The Daring First Ascent of Denali, America’s Wildest Peak.” In 1913 Episcopal priest Hudson Stuck, wilderness guide Harry Karstens, Alaskan native Walter Harper, and divinity student Robert Tatum all kept journals of their trek on the first successful ascent of Denali. While this narrative chronicles their arduous journey, it also delves into the life of Englishman Hudson Stuck and his experiences before the historic climb. He advocated for ending child labor in Texas, was an Archdeacon of the Yukon and Arctic where he established hospitals, libraries, schools and missions, and was an advocate for the environment and indigenous Alaskans.

Here are a few more selections for your consideration: “Every Day the River Changes: Four Weeks Down the Magdalena,” by Jordan Salama; “To the Greatest Heights: Facing Danger, Finding Humility, and Climbing a Mountain of Truth,” by Vanessa O’Brien; “In Search of a Kingdom: Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the British Empire,” by Laurence Bergreen; and “Tunnel 29: The True Story of an Extraordinary Escape Beneath the Berlin Wall,” by Helena Merriman.

Just in case you decide to pursue your own adventure, you might want to first read the tenth anniversary edition of “The Natural Navigator: The Rediscovered Art of Letting Nature Be Your Guide: Find Your Way with Trees, Looming Clouds, Hidden Spiderwebs, and More Clues,” by Tristan Gooley.

 

 

Filed Under: What's New

New year, new books, new authors!

January 23, 2022 By Shannon Harris

The beginning of the New Year is usually filled with resolutions of diets and exercise, but here at A.K. Smiley Public Library the only resolution we made is to make sure that our shelves are filled with the latest and greatest titles. Here are some buzz-worthy new titles whose authors are making their fictional debut.

Fiona and Jane is Jean Chen Ho’s debut novel, and it has already been named one of the most anticipated books for 2022. Fiona and Jane is about the experiences of two young Taiwanese American women and the power of their friendship that transcends distance and time. This novel is a reminder of what it feels like to be young and alive.

Frida Liu thought she was a good mother to her only daughter, Harriet, until one day, she wasn’t. The School for Good Mothers is Jessamine Chan’s unsettling debut novel where Frida is at risk of having her daughter taken away from her. She now has to prove to the government that she is indeed a good mother by attending a government-run school where mothers like her will learn to be ‘good.’

How High We Go in the Dark is Sequoia Nagamatsu’s breathtaking debut novel about an ancient deadly virus that has swept Earth and the survivors left behind in its wake. The chapters are told from the perspective of characters that are trying to find beauty, hope, and love even when the world seems like it is at its bleakest.

A.K. Smiley Public Library is closed for in-person services until January 31, so make sure to use our Books-to-Go program to check out these titles and more.

Filed Under: What's New

Laugh lines

January 16, 2022 By Jill Martinson

Laughter has been shown to have health benefits such as releasing serotonin and endorphins, decreasing stress and boosting the immune system. A hearty laugh can make us feel more positive and resilient. The act of laughing can even burn a few calories, although personally, I would have to be in a constant state of hysterics in order to attain the desired results.

Importantly, humor helps us cope during tough times. With that in mind, take a look at the following books and DVDs. I hope they offer a bright spot in your day.

Comedian, actress, and best-selling author Phoebe Robinson is back with her third book “Please Don’t Sit On My Bed in Your Outside Clothes.” Her personal essays encompass a wide array of subjects including race, her decision to be child-free, and her seriously comedic interactions with her British boyfriend. Written in a conversational style, her book covers important topics with a comic wit.

Known for her popular Instagram series, “The Girl Who’s Never Been on a Nice Date,” Quinta Brunson has gone on to produce and act in BuzzFeed videos and work on “A Black Lady Sketch Show.” In her first book, “She Memes Well,” she shares her early years in Philadelphia, her love of comedy, and her move to Los Angeles. Enjoy her personal stories, the role social media plays in her life, and her rise to celebrity in the comedy world.

Many people became acquainted with the accomplished playwright and actor, Leslie Jordan, from his recurring role on the sitcom, “Will and Grace.” In his new book, “How Y’all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived,” he reflects on life growing up in a southern Baptist family in Tennessee, shares encounters with celebrities like Lady Gaga and Debbie Reynolds, and expresses his surprise at going viral on Instagram at 64. A fun, sweet, and short collection of stories.

Other book titles to consider:

“All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business” by Mel Brooks; “Broken (in the best possible way)” by Jenny Lawson; “Mixed Plate: Chronicles of an All-American Combo” by Jo Koy; “Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside” by Nick Offerman; “The Wreckage of My Presence: Essays” by Casey Wilson, and “Yearbook” by Seth Rogen.

We also have an extensive collection of funny movies on DVD available for checkout like “Forrest Gump,” “Young Frankenstein,” “My Cousin Vinny,” “Shaun of the Dead,” “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “Office Space,” “Duck Soup,” and “Airplane.” I’m certain you’ll find more than one that will put a smile on your face.

Editor’s note: The Library has temporarily suspended in-person services beginning January 18th. All of these great books–and more–can be checked out through our Books-to-Go program by calling, emailing, or using your on-line account. There is no cost to place a book hold.

Filed Under: What's New

Start the year enjoying novels from the 2021 Booker Prize short list

January 9, 2022 By Jennifer Downey

Welcome to 2022! New Year’s is a time for appreciating the past and looking forward to the future. This year, my resolution is to begin the year by reading the six novels on the 2021 Booker Prize short list. Every year, the Booker Prize selects six contenders for the best novel of the year, with the winning author taking a place in history alongside such greats as Margaret Atwood, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. 2021’s list features tales that take the reader across the world, back in time, into the tangled web of the internet, and even to other planets.

A Passage North by Anuk Arudpragasam takes on the topic of Sri Lanka’s 30-year Civil War. Protagonist Krishan, having heard of the mysterious death of a beloved family caretaker, leaves the safety of Colombo for the dangerous, war-torn Northern Province to pay his respects while absorbing the violence and devastation of war. This novel is unique in that it contains no dialogue. It takes place entirely in Krishan’s mind as he sifts through his memories, regrets, and grief. It’s a risky concept, but Arudpragasam pulls it off with the skill of a master storyteller.

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead tells the epic story of Marian Graves, a fearless aviator who attempts to circle the earth from pole to pole. Orphaned in a shipwreck along with her twin brother, Marian becomes fascinated by airplanes while being raised by her uncle in Montana. Marian lives life on her own terms, consistently challenging gender norms and pushing her limits. Marian becomes a legend after she disappears in 1950. One hundred years after her birth, in 2014, Hadley Baxter, an unhappy actress, prepares to play the role of Marian in a Hollywood movie. This is a sweeping adventure story in every sense, and it will have you turning the 600+ pages in anticipation of what will come next for both Marian and Hadley in their seemingly polar-opposite lives.

Patricia Lockwood’s No One is Talking About This introduces the reader to a nameless woman who lives her entire life online, existing in what she deems “The Portal.” Failing to see the absurdity of her reality, she receives two urgent texts from her mother and is suddenly jolted her out of the endless scroll of The Portal and into the real world. Unable to discern between being disconnected from The Portal and being disconnected from reality, she must learn to live a completely different life – one that, as the title suggests, nobody talks about online.

The Fortune Men by Nadia Mohamed centers around Mahmood, a Somalian man in 1950s Cardiff, Wales. Mahmood is a gambler and small-time thief whose antics land him in and out of debt, while his charm endears him to his neighbors. When a Jewish shopkeeper is found murdered, the townspeople begin to whisper about Mahmood, and soon a witch hunt is underway. Mahmood is admittedly a criminal, but he’s no murderer, and he’s confident that his neighbors will help him prove his innocence. Based on a true story about the last man to be hanged in Cardiff, this book explores prejudice, false assumptions, and mob mentality.

Richard Powers’ Bewilderment is a difficult book to categorize. Elements of science fiction, philosophy, and neuroscience converge in this tale of a father/son relationship. Set in a dystopian future, widowed astrobiologist Theo is raising his loving yet volatile nine-year-old son, Robin, while exploring the possibility – or perhaps the reality – of life on other planets. Determined not to put Robin on psychotropic medication, Theo explores otherworldly options. No spoilers – you’ll have to read this one yourself to find out how far Theo will go to save both his son and the planet.

And the winner is…South African writer Damon Galgut’s The Promise. This novel examines a family slowly falling apart outside Pretoria over the course of four funerals. The titular promise of a house of her own is made by the family’s white matriarch on her deathbed to her Black maid, Salome. What follows is a reflection of the social issues facing post-apartheid South Africa – broken promises, devastating decisions, intergenerational confusion, and post-colonial culpability. Readers of J.M. Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer will appreciate Galgut’s powerful writing.

Did the judges make the right choice? Come on down and check out these and other noteworthy books and reach your own conclusion.

From Smiley Library to your home, we wish you a happy new year of reading!

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