Category: African American Studies

Chronicling Stankonia: The Mountaintop Ain’t Flat

To celebrate Regina Bradley’s Chronicling Stankonia being featured on Blackfeminisms.com’s Academic Books by and About Black Women – 2021 Edition list, we’ve decided to share an excerpt from the book. This vibrant book pulses with the beats of a new American South, probing the ways music, literature, and film have remixed southern identities for a post–civil rights generation. For scholar… Continue Reading Chronicling Stankonia: The Mountaintop Ain’t Flat

2022 American Historical Association Annual Meeting

Due to continued concerns surrounding travel and the coronavirus, UNC Press has decided to no longer exhibit in-person at AHA 2022. While we are disappointed to miss this opportunity to see you all at our booth, we hope you’ll take the time to visit our virtual booth. And we hope to see you at AHA 2023! At our virtual booth… Continue Reading 2022 American Historical Association Annual Meeting

Arise, Africa! Roar, China! Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century

The following is a guest blog post by Yunxiang Gao, author of Arise Africa, Roar China: Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century, reposted from Fairbank Center Blog. This book explores the close relationships between three of the most famous twentieth-century African Americans, W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, and Langston Hughes, and their little-known Chinese allies during World War… Continue Reading Arise, Africa! Roar, China! Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century

Civil Rights Unionism: Those Who Were Not Afraid

The following is an excerpt from Robert R. Korstad’s Civil Rights Unionism: Tobacco Workers and the Struggle for Democracy in the Mid-Twentieth-Century South. Drawing on scores of interviews with black and white tobacco workers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Robert Korstad brings to life the forgotten heroes of Local 22 of the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural and Allied Workers of America-CIO. These… Continue Reading Civil Rights Unionism: Those Who Were Not Afraid

Senior Editor Lucas Church’s Interview with Author of White Philanthropy Maribel Morey

The following is an interview between UNC Press’ Senior Editor Lucas Church and Maribel Morey, author of White Philanthropy: Carnegie Corporation’s An American Dilemma and the Making of a White World Order. Since its publication in 1944, many Americans have described Gunnar Myrdal’s An American Dilemma as a defining text on U.S. race relations. Here, Maribel Morey confirms with historical evidence what… Continue Reading Senior Editor Lucas Church’s Interview with Author of White Philanthropy Maribel Morey

Author Fay A. Yarbrough’s Talk With the U.S. National Archives

Earlier this month, the U.S. National Archives hosted a talk with Fay A. Yarbrough, author of Choctaw Confederates: The American Civil War in Indian Country. When the Choctaw Nation was forcibly resettled in Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma in the 1830s, it was joined by enslaved Black people—the tribe had owned enslaved Blacks since the 1720s. By the eve of the Civil… Continue Reading Author Fay A. Yarbrough’s Talk With the U.S. National Archives

Universal Human Rights Month: A Recommended Reading List

Nobody’s free until everybody’s free. Fannie Lou Hamer December marks the annual celebration of Universal Human Rights Month. The observance of this month began in 1948 when the U.N. wrote a document called The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The document was created after World War II and was used to “properly define what human rights would be protected universally”.… Continue Reading Universal Human Rights Month: A Recommended Reading List

Pauli Murray: For All My Bravado, Deeply Engrained Notions of Respectability Filled Me With Distress, 1926 – 1940

Recently Pauli Murray: A Personal and Political Life by Troy R. Saxby was selected for North Carolina Reads, North Carolina Humanities’ statewide book club for 2022 that features five books that explore issues of racial, social, and gender equality and the history and culture of North Carolina. To celebrate this accomplishment, we’ve decided to share an excerpt from this book. The Rev. Dr.… Continue Reading Pauli Murray: For All My Bravado, Deeply Engrained Notions of Respectability Filled Me With Distress, 1926 – 1940

Staff Picks: 2021 UNC Press Holiday Gift Guide

We hope you’ve got your hot chocolate and eggnog ready for this winter season! Today we wanted to share some holiday gift recommendations from our staff. Don’t forget, we’re having a Holiday Sale too! Save 40% on any of these great stocking stuffers and all of our other UNC Press print books. You’ll also receive free shipping on orders of… Continue Reading Staff Picks: 2021 UNC Press Holiday Gift Guide

“Julius Chambers: Child of the Jim Crow South”

The following is an excerpt from Richard A. Rosen and Joseph Mosnier’s Julius Chambers: A Life in the Legal Struggle for Civil Rights. Born in the hamlet of Mount Gilead, North Carolina, Julius Chambers (1936–2013) escaped the fetters of the Jim Crow South to emerge in the 1960s and 1970s as the nation’s leading African American civil rights attorney. Following… Continue Reading “Julius Chambers: Child of the Jim Crow South”

New and Recently Released UNC Press Audiobooks

We are pleased to announce the availability of the following UNC Press titles in audiobook format (sample audio excerpts are available via the links below): Those Who Know Don’t Say: The Nation of Islam, the Black Freedom Movement, and the Carceral State by Garrett Felber, published by Tantor Media Felber . . . examines how the Nation of Islam, and… Continue Reading New and Recently Released UNC Press Audiobooks

“Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: Now Who Are Your People?”

The following is an excerpt from Barbara Ransby’s Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision. A gifted grassroots organizer, Baker shunned the spotlight in favor of vital behind-the-scenes work that helped power the black freedom struggle. She was a national officer and key figure in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, one of… Continue Reading “Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: Now Who Are Your People?”

Author Jonathan W. White’s Talk With the U.S. National Archives

Last month, the U.S. National Archives hosted a talk with Jonathan W. White where he discussed his latest book, To Address You As My Friend: African Americans’ Letters to Abraham Lincoln. Many African Americans of the Civil War era felt a personal connection to Abraham Lincoln. For the first time in their lives, an occupant of the White House seemed concerned about… Continue Reading Author Jonathan W. White’s Talk With the U.S. National Archives

Happy Rosa Parks Day: A Recommended Reading List

December 1st, 1955, marks the day civil rights activist Rosa Parks rejected a bus driver’s order, in Montgomery, Alabama, to give up her seat in the “colored” section of the bus to a white passenger, after the whites-only section had already been filled. She was then arrested and convicted of violating the laws of segregation. However, Rosa Parks was able… Continue Reading Happy Rosa Parks Day: A Recommended Reading List

2021 Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting

Visit our virtual booth for the Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting. You can browse our new and recent titles, connect with editor Elaine Maisner, and learn more about our Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks Series. New Titles in Middle East Studies Afropolitan Projects: Redefining Blackness, Sexualities, and Culture from Houston to Accra Anima Adjepong Planetary Specters: Race, Migration, and… Continue Reading 2021 Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting

“Philanthropy and Power”, Author Maribel Morey in Conversation with Lucy Berholz, Khalil Anthony Johnson Jr., and Rob Reich at Stanford PACS

Last Week, UNC Press author of White Philanthropy Maribel Morey had a conversation with Wesleyan University’s Khalil Anthony Johnson, Jr. and Stanford PACS’ Rob Reich and Lucy Bernholz. In this conversation hosted by Stanford’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, they discuss the many intersections of philanthropy and power in U.S. history and the Present. Since its publication in 1944,… Continue Reading “Philanthropy and Power”, Author Maribel Morey in Conversation with Lucy Berholz, Khalil Anthony Johnson Jr., and Rob Reich at Stanford PACS

Authors Adrian Miller and John Shelton Reed in Conversation at the Southern Festival of Books

Earlier this month we shared a virtual conversation held at the 33rd annual Southern Festival of Books. We’re back this week with another conversation and the topic is barbecue. Adrian Miller, author of Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue, and John Shelton Reed, co-author of Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue, break down barbecue;… Continue Reading Authors Adrian Miller and John Shelton Reed in Conversation at the Southern Festival of Books

Remaking Black Power: The Militant Negro Domestic, 1945–1965

The following is an excerpt from Ashley D. Farmer’s Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era. In this comprehensive history, Ashley D. Farmer examines black women’s political, social, and cultural engagement with Black Power ideals and organizations. Complicating the assumption that sexism relegated black women to the margins of the movement, Farmer demonstrates how female activists fought for… Continue Reading Remaking Black Power: The Militant Negro Domestic, 1945–1965

UNC Libraries’ Off The Shelf Author Talk with Warren E. Milteer Jr.

Happy tenth anniversary to University Press Week! This year’s Association of University Presses annual celebration, running from November 8-12, “welcomes all to ‘Keep UP’ with a decade of excellence and innovation.”  For UP Week’s annual blog tour, today’s specific theme, Listicle, today’s bloggers list what 10 publications best represent their Press during the past decade. We encourage you to visit these fellow UP press blogs today… Continue Reading UNC Libraries’ Off The Shelf Author Talk with Warren E. Milteer Jr.

Five Questions for Maribel Morey: Q&A with the Author of White Philanthropy

Happy tenth anniversary to University Press Week! This year’s Association of University Presses annual celebration, running from November 8-12, “welcomes all to ‘Keep UP’ with a decade of excellence and innovation.”  For UP Week’s annual blog tour, today’s specific theme, Surprise!, presses describe who or what has most surprised them in the past decade.We encourage you to visit these fellow UP press blogs today to… Continue Reading Five Questions for Maribel Morey: Q&A with the Author of White Philanthropy