Reconstructing the Landscapes of Slavery

Guest post by Dale W. Tomich, co-author of Reconstructing the Landscapes of Slavery: A Visual History of the Plantation in the Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World, on sale April 19, 2021 The terms “plantation” and “plantation landscape” commonly conjure up the image of the Big House of the great planters of the Americas. The Big House is how the plantation was meant… Continue Reading Reconstructing the Landscapes of Slavery

Pelé as Avatar of Afro-Brazilian Soccer History

Guest blog post by Jack A. Draper III, translator of the new English language edition of The Black Man in Brazilian Soccer by Mario Filho Recently another film about Brazilian soccer legend Pelé was released. The word “another” is necessary because, not surprisingly considering the worldwide popularity of the subject, there have been a number of documentaries and at least one… Continue Reading Pelé as Avatar of Afro-Brazilian Soccer History

Our Sisters in China Are Free: Mabel Ping-Hua Lee

Bringing our celebration of Women’s History Month on the UNC Press Blog to a close, the following excerpt is taken from Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement by Cathleen D. Cahill The shadows were just starting to slide across New York’s Washington Square Park on the evening of May 5, 1912, when a company of fifty… Continue Reading Our Sisters in China Are Free: Mabel Ping-Hua Lee

The Vote Collectors, a Ferris & Ferris Book coming Fall 2021

The following guest post by Nick Ochsner, co-author with Michael Graff of the forthcoming Ferris & Ferris Book The Vote Collectors: The True Story of the Scamsters, Politicians, and Preachers behind the Nation’s Greatest Electoral Fraud, has been adapted and unthreadded from a post that originally appeared on Twitter. I’m excited to listen to the new Serial podcast from Zoe… Continue Reading The Vote Collectors, a Ferris & Ferris Book coming Fall 2021

The Struggle over Race and Voting Rights in North Carolina

Relative to the recent voting rights suppression and rulings that have taken place in Georgia, the following is an excerpt from the introduction to Fragile Democracy: The Struggle over Race and Voting Rights in North Carolina (published September 2020) by James L. Leloudis and Robert R. Korstad America is at war with itself over the right to vote, or, more… Continue Reading The Struggle over Race and Voting Rights in North Carolina

UNC Press stands in solidarity with workers fighting for dignity and workplace democracy

The University of North Carolina Press stands in solidarity with workers fighting for dignity and workplace democracy in the book industry—especially the more than 5,000 Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, who are in the midst of the historic first attempt to unionize one of the e-commerce giant’s warehouses. This is of particular interest to us both as publishing workers and… Continue Reading UNC Press stands in solidarity with workers fighting for dignity and workplace democracy

Historian Comes Clean, Stay Dirty

Follow the UNC Press Blog for a celebration of women’s histories and women historians throughout March. This year we are celebrating the significant contributions of notable women, renown and lesser known, throughout history, as well as women historians past and present that have been published by UNC Press. The following excerpt is taken from Writing Kit Carson: Fallen Heroes in a… Continue Reading Historian Comes Clean, Stay Dirty

Revolutionary Latin American Women

Follow the UNC Press Blog for a celebration of women’s histories and women historians throughout March. This year we are celebrating the significant contributions of notable women, renown and lesser known, throughout history, as well as women historians past and present that have been published by UNC Press. Two recently published biographies, Celia Sánchez Manduley: The Life and Legacy of… Continue Reading Revolutionary Latin American Women

Embracing Contradictions: Grace Lee Boggs’s Philosophic Journey and Political Emergence

UNC Press denounces racial terrorism and stands in solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. #StopAsianHate The following excerpt is taken from In Love and Struggle: The Revolutionary Lives of James and Grace Lee Boggs by Stephen M. Ward Grace Lee Boggs was both product and producer of an improbable history. “I grew up in New York as… Continue Reading Embracing Contradictions: Grace Lee Boggs’s Philosophic Journey and Political Emergence

The Untold History of Anti-Asian Racism in the United States

UNC Press denounces racial terrorism and stands in solidarity with the Asian American community. #StopAsianHate The following excerpt is taken from Two Faces of Exclusion: The Untold History of Anti-Asian Racism in the United States by Lon Kurashige The 1882 act excluding Chinese laborers from the United States for ten years did more than displace the egalitarian spirit of the Burlingame… Continue Reading The Untold History of Anti-Asian Racism in the United States

Black and White and the Blues: Who profits from a cultural tradition?

Excerpt from Princeton Alumni Weekly‘s March 2021 issue is reblogged below with permission. By Adam Gussow, author of Whose Blues? Facing Up to Race and the Future of the Music Speaking very broadly, people who have emotional investments in the blues — people who like, play, think about, talk about, and identify themselves with the blues — have two diametrically… Continue Reading Black and White and the Blues: Who profits from a cultural tradition?

Women’s History Month: a Class, Religion, Sex, and Family Reading List

Follow the UNC Press Blog for a celebration of women’s histories and women historians throughout March. This year we are celebrating the significant contributions of notable women, renown and lesser known, throughout history, as well as women historians past and present that have been published by UNC Press. During Women’s History Month, save 40% on all UNC Press books with discount code… Continue Reading Women’s History Month: a Class, Religion, Sex, and Family Reading List

Elizabeth Oakes Smith’s Lyrical Activism

Follow the UNC Press Blog for a celebration of women’s histories and women historians throughout March. The following excerpt is taken from Lyrical Strains: Liberalism and Women’s Poetry in Nineteenth-Century America by Elissa Zellinger In the opening chapter of Elizabeth Oakes Smith’s unpublished autobiography, “A Human Life,” written while she was in her eighties, the poet describes visiting her childhood home… Continue Reading Elizabeth Oakes Smith’s Lyrical Activism

Marietta Webb, Christian Science, and Race in America

Follow the UNC Press Blog for a celebration of women’s histories and women historians throughout March. Guest post by Amy B. Voorhees, author of A New Christian Identity: Christian Science Origins and Experience in American Culture Marietta Webb was a founding member of a Christian Science congregation attended almost entirely by African Americans on the east side of Los Angeles. Local… Continue Reading Marietta Webb, Christian Science, and Race in America

Upcoming Tour Dates for Anthea Butler, author of “White Evangelical Racism”

“Show[s] how evangelicals’ contemporary embrace of right-wing politics is rooted in its centuries-long problem with race. This scathing takedown of evangelicalism’s ‘racism problem’ will challenge evangelicals to confront and reject racism within church communities.”—Publishers Weekly Leading historian and public commentator Anthea Butler will be touring (virtually) to present her new book, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America,… Continue Reading Upcoming Tour Dates for Anthea Butler, author of “White Evangelical Racism”

Culinary Justice: Acknowledging Our Past and Shaping our Future Through Food featuring Michael Twitty—March 11, 2021

March 11th 2021, 7pm EST / 4pm PST; hosted by Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill Register now! Join Michael W. Twitty, author of newly released Rice: A Savor the South Cookbook, the 25th and final volume in the series, along with his fellow Savor the South cookbook authors Bill Smith, Bridgette A. Lacy, and Nancie McDermott as they discuss the complicated ancestries of some of our most… Continue Reading Culinary Justice: Acknowledging Our Past and Shaping our Future Through Food featuring Michael Twitty—March 11, 2021

Breath and Contemporary Black Women Writers

Follow the UNC Press Blog for a celebration of women’s histories and women historians throughout March. Guest post by Aneeka Ayanna Henderson, author of Veil and Vow: Marriage Matters in Contemporary African American Culture The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of “Women’s History Week,” which preceded the establishment of March as Women’s History Month. It is an exciting time,… Continue Reading Breath and Contemporary Black Women Writers

An International Women’s Day Reading List

Happy International Women’s Day 2021! This year’s theme for IWD2021 is “Choose to Challenge:” A challenged world is an alert world. Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day. We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively,… Continue Reading An International Women’s Day Reading List

The Private Life and Public Work of Nellie Y. McKay

Follow the UNC Press Blog for a celebration of women’s histories and women historians throughout March. The following preview excerpt is taken from the introduction to Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay by Shanna G. Benjamin, available April 2021 Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay traces twentieth-century Black literary history… Continue Reading The Private Life and Public Work of Nellie Y. McKay

The Book that Invented Modern Spirituality Celebrates its 75th Anniversary

Guest post by David J. Neumann, author of Finding God through Yoga: Paramahansa Yogananda and Modern American Religion in a Global Age Autobiography of a Yogi turns seventy-five this year. Paramahansa Yogananda’s famous life story was hailed by HarperSanFrancisco as one of the “100 Best Spiritual Books of the Twentieth Century” more than two decades ago. Published in 1946, Autobiography… Continue Reading The Book that Invented Modern Spirituality Celebrates its 75th Anniversary