The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights

When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson

Pam Munoz Ryan · 40 pages

An introduction to the life of Marian Anderson, extraordinary singer and civil rights activist, who was the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera, whose life and career encouraged social change.

W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963

David Levering Lewis · 752 pages

Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin

John D'Emilio · 568 pages

Bayard Rustin is one of the most important figures in the history of the American civil rights movement. Before Martin Luther King, before Malcolm X, Bayard Rustin was working to bring the cause to the forefront of America's consciousness. A teacher to King, an international apostle of peace, and the organizer of the famous 1963 March on Washington, he brought Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence to

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer

Carole Boston Weatherford · 45 pages

Presents a collage-illustrated treasury of poems and spirituals inspired by the life and work of civil rights advocate Fannie Lou Hamer.

Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King Jr.

Stephen B. Oates · 562 pages

The first major biography of King, based on extensive research in manuscript collections, traces King's personal development as well as the development of his ideas on protest and nonviolent resistance, from the influence of Thoreau and Gandhi through the details of his participation in the Civil Rights Movement.

I am Rosa Parks

Brad Meltzer · 40 pages

Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention

Manning Marable · 601 pages

Of the great figures in twentieth-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age thirty-nine. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better

Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America

Wil Haygood · 410 pages

"The author of The Butler presents a revelatory biography of the first African-American Supreme Court justice--one of the giants of the civil rights movement, and one of the most transforming Supreme Court justices of the 20th century,"--Novelist.

True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson

Kostya Kennedy

True is a probing, richly-detailed, unique biography of Jackie Robinson, one of baseball's—and America's—most significant figures. For players, fans, managers, and executives, Jackie Robinson remains baseball’s singular figure, the person who most profoundly extended, and continues to extend, the reach of the game. Beyond Ruth. Beyond Clemente. Beyond Aaron. Beyond the heroes of today. Now, a half

My Song: A Memoir

Harry Belafonte, Michael Shnayerson · 480 pages

The popular singer and former UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador shares the story of his life and career, from his impoverished childhood in Harlem and Jamaica and his racial barrier-breaking career to his commitment to numerous civil causes.

Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Bonnie Bader · 112 pages

Nelson Mandela

Kadir Nelson · 40 pages

Presents a biography of the former South African president best known for his political activism and fight to end apartheid.

A Picture Book of Martin Luther King, Jr.

David A. Adler

Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography

Andrew Helfer · 112 pages

The age of multitasking needs better narrative history. It must be absolutely factual, immediately accessible, smart, and brilliantly fun. Enter Andrew Helfer, the award-winning graphic-novel editor behind Road to Perdition and The History of Violence, and welcome the launch of a unique line of graphic biographies. If a picture is worth a thousand words, these graphic biographies qualify as tomes.

King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero

David Remnick · 326 pages

There were mythic sports figures before him - Jack Johnson, Babe Ruth, Joe Louis, Joe DiMaggio - but when Cassius Clay burst onto the sports scene from his native Louisville in the 1950s, he broke the mold. He changed the world of sports and went on to change the world itself. As Muhammad Ali, he would become the most recognized face on the planet. This unforgettable story of his rise and self-cre

Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson

Tourmaline · 306 pages

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Doreen Rappaport · 40 pages

A brief biographical sketch of Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the greatest figures in the American civil rights movement.

The Story of Ruby Bridges

Robert Coles · 32 pages

For months six-year-old Ruby Bridges must confront the hostility of white parents when she becomes the first African American girl to integrate Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960.

The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage

Selina Alko

The story of interracial couple Mildred and Richard Perry, who got married in Washington, D.C., and were arrested after they returned to Virginia, and took their legal case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. This tribute to the Loving family describes how they were arrested in mid-twentieth-century Virginia for violating laws against interracial marriage and argued their case all the way to t

Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Williams and the Roots of Black Power

Timothy B. Tyson · 416 pages

Robert F. Williams was suspended and made a pariah by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the organization that had been at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement, because he dared speak clear pixel of the day-to-day, street-level struggle faced by Southern blacks, and encourage that violence upon African American homes and families be met in kind. Afraid of offe

Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Life

Marshall Frady · 224 pages

Ida: A Sword Among Lions

Paula J. Giddings · 824 pages

Traces the life and legacy of the nineteenth-century activist and pioneer, documenting her birth into slavery, her career as a journalist and a pioneer for civil rights and suffrage, and her determination to counter lynching.

The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist

Cynthia Levinson · 40 pages

Presents the life of nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks who became the youngest known child to be arrested for picketing against Birmingham segregation practices in 1963.

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

Isabel Wilkerson · 635 pages

In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities, in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. She interviewed more than a t