Black History Month: Select books 20% off, plus free gift with purchase
February 05, 2013
Browse our African American titles: General Interest | African American History | Fiction and Poetry | Black Women Writers
All month long, Beacon Press is offering 20% off and free shipping on all African American Studies titles purchased at Beacon.org. Use promo code FEB2013 at checkout. If you purchase two or more books, you'll also receive an attractive King Legacy Series tote bag.
In addition, Beacon will donate 15% of all purchases made through this promotion to the Young People's Project, an organization that uses Math Literacy Work to develop the abilities of elementary through high school students to succeed in school and in life.
Browse books in the categories above, or check out these suggested recent titles.
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
Jeanne Theoharis
$27.95 / Hardcover
$22.36 using code FEB2013 at www.beacon.org
In The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Jeanne Theoharis masterfully details the political depth of a national heroine who dedicated her life to fighting inequality and, in the process, resurrects an inspiring civil rights movement radical who has been hidden in plain sight far too long.
"In the first sweeping history of Parks's life, Theoharis shows us…[that] Parks not only sat down on the bus; she stood on the right side of justice for her entire life." —Julian Bond, chairman emeritus, NAACP
"The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks will undoubtedly be hailed as one of the most important scholarly contributions to civil rights history ever written." —Melissa Harris-Perry, Host, MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry Show
"A much-needed book on the woman who is, arguably, the most important person in the last half of the twentieth century." —Nikki Giovanni, poet
"Jeanne Theoharis brings all of her talents as a political scientist and historian of the civil rights movement to bear on this illuminating biography of the great Rosa Parks." —Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Read the introduction to The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks.
Q&A: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks revisits the life of the civil rights icon and argues that the quiet, shy seamstress is a reductive stereotype. Biographile spoke with Jeanne Theoharis about the importance of changing the image of the tired lady on the bus.
Watch author Jeanne Theoharis on the Melissa Harris-Perry Show on MSNBC
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
$15.00 / Paperback
$12.00 using code FEB2013 at www.beacon.org
Written during the 1940s and early 1950s, when Baldwin was only in his twenties, the essays collected in Notes of a Native Son capture a view of black life and black thought at the dawn of the civil rights movement and as the movement slowly gained strength through the words of one of the most captivating essayists and foremost intellectuals of that era. Writing as an artist, activist, and social critic, Baldwin probes the complex condition of being black in America. With a keen eye, he examines everything from the significance of the protest novel to the motives and circumstances of the many black expatriates of the time, from his home in "The Harlem Ghetto" to a sobering "Journey to Atlanta."
Notes of a Native Son inaugurated Baldwin as one of the leading interpreters of the dramatic social changes erupting in the United States in the twentieth century, and many of his observations have proven almost prophetic. His criticism on topics such as the paternalism of white progressives or on his own friend Richard Wright's work is pointed and unabashed. He was also one of the few writing on race at the time who addressed the issue with a powerful mixture of outrage at the gross physical and political violence against black citizens and measured understanding of their oppressors, which helped awaken a white audience to the injustices under their noses. Naturally, this combination of brazen criticism and unconventional empathy for white readers won Baldwin as much condemnation as praise.
Notes is the book that established Baldwin's voice as a social critic, and it remains one of his most admired works. The essays collected here create a cohesive sketch of black America and reveal an intimate portrait of Baldwin's own search for identity as an artist, as a black man, and as an American.
Read the new introduction by Edward P. Jones for Baldwin's classic collection that creates a cohesive sketch of black America and reveals an intimate portrait of Baldwin's own search for identity as an artist, as a black man, and as an American.
Gather at the Table: The Healing Journey of a Daughter of Slavery and a Son of the Slave Trade by Thomas Norman DeWolf and Sharon Leslie Morgan
$25.95 / Hardcover
$20.76 using code FEB2013 at www.beacon.org
"We embarked on this journey because we believe America must overcome the racial barriers that divide us, the barriers that drive us to strike out at one another out of ignorance and fear. To do nothing is unacceptable."Sharon Leslie Morgan, a black woman from Chicago's South Side avoids white people; they scare her. Despite her trepidation, Morgan, a descendent of slaves on both sides of her family, began a journey toward racial reconciliation with Thomas Norman DeWolf, a white man from rural Oregon who descends from the largest slave-trading dynasty in US history. Over a three-year period, the pair traveled thousands of miles, both overseas and through twenty-seven states, visiting ancestral towns, courthouses, cemeteries, plantations, antebellum mansions, and historic sites. They spent time with one another's families and friends and engaged in deep conversations about how the lingering trauma of slavery shaped their lives.
Gather at the Table is the chronicle of DeWolf and Morgan's journey. Arduous and at times uncomfortable, it lays bare the unhealed wounds of slavery. As DeWolf and Morgan demonstrate, before we can overcome racism we must first acknowledge and understand the damage inherited from the past-which invariably involves confronting painful truths. The result is a revelatory testament to the possibilities that open up when people commit to truth, justice, and reconciliation. DeWolf and Morgan offer readers an inspiring vision and a powerful model for healing individuals and communities.
Read the introduction to Gather at the Table, and journey with two people—a black woman and a white man—as they confront the legacy of slavery and racism head-on.
