Singletary, an all-pro line backer for the Chicago Bears, says it's his intensity, focus and commitment that made him a football star. These same qualities have helped him become the best father he can be. His concern is that other fathers learn to fill their role in their families with wisdom, perseverance, integrity, and love, especially because he grew up without a dad.

[Zondervan ISBN 0-310-22306-7]

This is a significant publication of Morrison's speech upon receiving the 1996 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

[Knopf ISBN 0-375-40032-X]

Watkins is remembered for his work of African American humor in On the Real Side. Now Watkins tells the story of his life in the midst of the nation's social events during the tumultuous times when Brown vs. the Board of Education and the civil rights movement took hold.

[Simon & Schuster ISBN 0-684-80864-1]

Toni Morrison edited and wrote the Preface to this posthumous collection of short stories, essays, and interviews. Bambara died in 1995 at age 56.

[Vintage ISBN 0-679-77407-6]

Robinson founded TransAfrica, the first organization to lobby for the interests of African and Caribbean peoples, was the force behind the anti-apartheid boycott of South Africa, and mobilized the fight to reinstate President Aristide and restore democracy in Haiti. This memoir tells of Robinson's rise from childhood in a segregated South to life as a political figure in Washington.

[Dutton ISBN 0-525-94402-8]

If any two things most stand as the economic phenomena of America, they are capitalism and slavery. Despite this and African Americans' nearly $500 billion annual spending power, little attention has been devoted to ways U.S. businesses have sought to attract black dollars in post-slavery America. Weems writes such an integrated history of black consumerism.

[New York Univ. Press ISBN 0-8147-9327-4]

As the subtitle says, this tells of one woman's amazing journey from Desert Nomad to Supermodel to Special Ambassador. Dirie travels the world for the United Nations speaking out against the barbaric practice of female genital mutilation, promoting women's reproductive rights, and educating people about the Africa she loves but fled.
[Reviewed by Corinne O. Nelson]

[Morrow ISBN 0-688-15823-4]

Kassindja tells the story of her flight from her African homeland via Germany to escape female genital mutilation only to be locked up in American prisons for 16 months.
[Reviewed by Corinne O. Nelson]

[Dell/Delta ISBN 0-385-31994-0]

It is no doubt that good quality education seems to elude African-American children, and Ladson-Billings examines the idea of offering culturally relevant teachings to improve achievement.

[Jossey-Bass ISBN 0-7879-0338-8]

This is Golden's fourth novel and it is set in Washington, DC.  The story is about a family whose lives are shattered by a single moment of angry carelessness.

[Doubleday ISBN 0-385-41507-9]

Notes of a Racial Caste Baby: Color Blindness and the End of Affirmative Action

[Dutton ISBN 0-525-93959-8]

On the cover: Constance Baker Motley, James Meredith and Medgar Evers in New Orleans, 1962.  Equal Justice Under Law is the autobiography of Constance Baker Motley, the brilliant and path-breaking civil rights lawyer who argued Brown vs. Board of Education with Thurgood Marshall. She writes about becoming America's first African-American female federal judge while enhancing our understanding of the modern civil rights era and its impact on America's unending racial tumult.
[Reviewed by Corinne O. Nelson]

[ISBN 0-374-14865-1]

Hankins is twenty-eight years old and owns a $40-million clothing design company.  Born in Elizabeth, NJ, Hankins tells his personal story and how he forged ahead despite obstacles.

[Dutton ISBN 0-525-94329-3]

Emmy Award-winning makeup artist Wells reveals his beauty secrets for African-American women in a practical discussion of those beauty secrets of such beautiful and popular African-American celebrities as Diahann Carroll, Whitney Houston, and Iman.
[Reviewed by Corinne O. Nelson]

[Henry Holt ISBN 0-8050-5217-8]

Set on the Dominican side of the Haitian border in 1937, this work offers a tale of  rumors, jealousies, and fears of a Haitian maid who is useful to her Dominican employer but not really welcome.
[Reviewed by Corinne O. Nelson]

[Soho ISBN 1-56947-126-6]

[Putnam ISBN 0-399-14200-2]

Dr. Woodtor shows how to begin the search for one's family and how to sidestep some of the hurdles that hinder Black genealogy. Census reports, slave schedules, courthouse records, and the Internet become very important.  A special section on Caribbean ancestry is included.

[Random House ISBN 0-375-40595-X]

Curtis addresses the question of how America could forget the first all-Black actors and production as quickly as it hapened. Her discussion surrounds the stories of actors, stage artists, critics, and others--both Black and white--involving the groundbreaking production of Three Plays for a Negro Theater by Ridgeley Torrence.
[Reviewed by Corinne O. Nelson]

[Univ. of Missouri Press ISBN 0-8262-1195-X]

Brown was born in the segregated South and was a star athlete and outstanding student. He became the first African American to fly a Navy fighter plane mostly because of his sheer determination.
[Reviewed by Corinne O. Nelson]

[Avon ISBN 0-380-97689-7]

[HarperCollins ISBN 0-06-017818-3]

With paintings by Rod Brown and text by Julius Lester, this work explores the life of their ancestors from slavery with the ships sailing from Africa along the Middle Passage to the Civil War.

[Dial ISBN 0-8037-1893-4]

In popular culture, academic research, or public consciousness, African-American women are often defined by presumed poverty or lack of education. Through the voices of these women, we are able to understand how the social systems affect our individual lives and how family legacies can help us succeed despite stumbling blocks.
[Reviewed by Corinne O. Nelson]

[New York Univ ISBN 0-8147-8100-4]