Our 90th anniversary sale now includes selected titles in Civil War, literary studies, women’s studies, religious studies, African American history, and art/architecture/craft. Continue Reading Spring sale now includes Civil War & Literary Studies
“My work completely takes all my energy,” Nina said later, “but when there are kids who come backstage afterward who want to talk, or who are moved to the point sometimes, they’re moved to tears and want to know more about it, they shake my hand and kiss me and want to talk about their problems, I find the time to do so.” Continue Reading Happy Birthday, Nina Simone
Born in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 3, 1898, Septima Earthaline Poinsette entered a world that had been shaped as African Americans gained and lost political power after the Civil War. Freedom for most black Carolinians, including her slave-born father, had arrived only three decades earlier, and the Low Country, with its majority black population, had served as the epicenter of black militancy and political activism. Continue Reading Excerpt: Freedom’s Teacher, by Katherine Mellen Charron
In celebration of our 90th birthday, we’ll feature new disciplines reduced 50% each month. Save now on books in African American History and Religious Studies. Continue Reading UNC Press celebrates 90 years, and the gifts are for you!
But for me, a medley from her July 4, 1963, appearance stands out as the quintessential Nina Simone moment. In just over six minutes, she displayed the range of her musical inspirations and a gift for improvisation that can come only from a deep appreciation of each genre and the skill—both vocal and at the keyboard—to carry it off. Continue Reading Nadine Cohodas: The Power of Nina Simone’s Musical Versatility
In this excerpt from ‘American Congo: The African American Freedom Struggle in the Delta,’ Nan Elizabeth Woodruff examines what led up to the massacre of black sharecroppers in 1919 Phillips County, Arkansas, and how the official narrative of events was fabricated and disseminated by white leaders. Continue Reading Excerpt: “American Congo” by Nan Elizabeth Woodruff
In this excerpt from “War! What is it Good For?” by Kimberly L. Phillips, the author discusses the antiwar activism of Langston Hughes and Nina Simone. Continue Reading Excerpt: War! What is it Good For?, by Kimberley L. Phillips
In this excerpt from Whiting Up: Whiteface Minstrels & Stage Europeans in African American Performance, McAllister describes some 19th-century black fashionistas in New York and Charleston. Continue Reading Book excerpt: Whiting Up, by Marvin McAllister
Comprising slave narratives, a collection of slave songs, and a call-to-arms pamphlet by a free black man, the DocSouth Books program makes accessible in book (and ebook) form several compelling and enlightening texts from the nineteenth century. Continue Reading DocSouth Books are now available!
Throughout the early decades of the twentieth century, outwardly progressive philanthropists like Villard frustrated and were frustrated by the opinions and personalities of outspoken blacks like Du Bois. Observed through the prism of John Brown, their story reveals the strategies and conflicts involved in the greater project for racial equality, the longest and most significant struggle in American history. Continue Reading Excerpt: John Brown Still Lives!, by R. Blakeslee Gilpin
Early-twentieth-century black radicals were witness to a world that they believed teetered between revolution and repression, self-determination and ever-expanding empires. In the wake of a destructive world war that itself proved the catalyst for the movement of black laborers into cities and countries around the world, the growing crisis over the European colonial presence around the globe, and the rise of socialist and communist alternatives to Western democracy, black radicals sought alternative forms of political activism and began to forge links to other African diasporic radicals. Continue Reading Excerpt: In the Cause of Freedom, by Minkah Makalani
Slave children, with almost an alabaster complexion, straight hair, and blue eyes, whose mothers were jet black, or brown, were often a great source of annoyance in the Southern household, and especially to the mistress of the mansion. Continue Reading Book Excerpt: My Southern Home, by William Wells Brown
In this excerpt from ‘Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in Antebellum Charleston,’ by Amrita Chakrabarti Myers, we meet a family of free black women who possessed an unusual amount of wealth and autonomy. Continue Reading Amrita Chakrabarti Myers: Forging Freedom – An Excerpt
This year marks two momentous and inseparable moments in the history of American race relations: the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War and the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides. That most commemorations of the former have neglected to mention the latter reveals a nagging reluctance to connect too directly the Civil War and the modern civil rights movement. But for white southerners in the mid-20th century, the link between Civil War and civil rights was crystal clear. Continue Reading Jason Morgan Ward: The Short Distance from Civil War to Civil Rights
See the features of the enhanced ebook for Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues, by William Ferris. Features include embedded video & audio. Continue Reading Watch: Demo of Enhanced Ebook of Give My Poor Heart Ease, by William Ferris
As a new documentary film about the Loving v. Virginia case appears, we look back to Fay Botham’s book for some of the religious and legal aspects of the case. Includes an excerpt from the book. Continue Reading Learn about and learn from Loving v Virginia
The black Marines who integrated the last all-white branch of the U.S. military receive Congressional honor. The book The Marines of Montford Point tells their stories. Continue Reading Montford Point Marines Receive Highest Congressional Honor
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