LMU Library Staff Picks

• Black Movement: African American Urban History Since the Great Migration by Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar (Editor)

  Call Number: E-book and MAIN STACKS E185.615 .B5444 2025

  ISBN: 9781469684338

  Publication Date: 2025

  The Great Migration of African Americans from the South to northern and western cities between 1915 and 1970 fundamentally altered the political, social, and cultural landscapes of major urban centers like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, and changed the country as well. By the late twentieth century, Black people were mayors, police chiefs, and school superintendents, often at parity and sometimes over-represented in municipal jobs in these and other cities, which were also hubs for Black literature, music, film, and politics. Since the 1970s, migration patterns have significantly shifted away from the major sites of the Great Migration, where some iconic Black communities have been replaced by mostly non-Black residents. Although many books have examined Black urban experiences in America, this is the first written by historians focusing on the post-Great Migration era. It is centered on numerous facets of Black life, including popular culture, policing, suburbanization, and political organizing across multiple cities. In this landmark volume, Jeffrey O. G. Ogbar and his contributors explore the last half century of African American urban history, covering a landscape transformed since the end of the Great Migration and demonstrating how cities remain dynamic into the twenty-first century.
• Conjuring the Haint: the Haunting Poetics of Black Women by Drea Brown.

  Call Number: E-book and MAIN STACKS PS310.B53 B74 2025

  ISBN: 9781496856265

  Publication Date: 2025

  What does it mean to live as a ghost, to live with ghosts, and how might ghosts lead to a path of healing and reimagining? Through an investigation of the intimate relationship between haunting and grief, Conjuring the Haint: The Haunting Poetics of Black Women posits that for Black women, haunting is both a condition and a strategy in lived experiences and literary productions. Looking at the poetry of Phillis Wheatley, Lucille Clifton, Ntozake Shange, Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, and Claudia Rankine, Conjuring the Haint explores primary stereotypes of Black women. They are aligned with unruly incarnations of the haint, probing the eerie similarities between this specter and one-dimensional imaginings of Black womanhood, examining how this haintliness manifests in Black women's elegies, the poetry of grief. Disrupting a tradition of consolation and poetic succession, Black women's elegies rework the genre by wrestling with multiple forms of death: physical, social, and spiritual. These elegies aim both to lay to rest and to resurrect. Black women poets are then repositioned as conjurers who, through the spirit work of poetry, reckon with haints as complex figures of despair and repair. Each chapter explores the paradox of haints, as evidence of injury and loss and as a pathway to knowledge articulated by various incarnations--the hag, the banshee, and the vengeful revenant. Chapters place these against pervasive images of Mammy, Jezebel, and Sapphire. Through a pairing and dismantling of these ill-fitting myths, Conjuring the Haint refigures haints as a means of recognition and self-possession, a manifestation of the ancestral and divine.
• Discourse in Black: Voices of the Self, Let's Flip the Script, and Liberation Memories: Three Essential Works by Keith Gilyard; Melba Joyce Boyd (Series edited by)

  Call Number: MAIN STACKS PS3557.I4746 A6 2025

  ISBN: 9780814351925

  Publication Date: 2025

  Explore the influential prose of Keith Gilyard in this impressive collection, bringing together three seminal works that challenge and expand our understanding of language, education, and cultural identity. Voices of the Self - a winner of the American Book Award - explores the impact of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) on education, advocating for linguistic pluralism. Let's Flip the Script continues this dialogue with a series of provocative essays on language politics, education, and the dynamics of varied teaching methodologies. Gilyard's insights into the treatment and history of AAVE and his reflections on language as a transformative tool in life and literature are especially timely in today's diverse educational landscape. In Liberation Memories, he shifts focus to the intersection of rhetoric and poetics in African American literature, highlighting the works of John Oliver Killens and their relevance to contemporary discussions on cultural expression and social justice. Through all three of the essential works in this compendium, Gilyard has nourished American literary and rhetorical discourse with a reframing of topics and conversations spanning language, culture, and educational praxis.
• Hubert Harrison: Forbidden Genius of Black Radicalism by Brian Kwoba

  Call Number: E-book and MAIN STACKS E185.97.H367 K96 2025

  ISBN: 9781469675343

  Publication Date: 2025

  The significance of Hubert Henry Harrison (1883-1927)--as a journalist, activist, and educator--lies in his innovation of radical solutions to radical injustices. He witnessed staggering luxury for the few alongside crushing poverty for the many. White mob violence continually haunted Black communities, while imperial conquest and world wars wrought wanton destruction upon entire nations of people. These conditions sparked a global political awakening to which Harrison gave voice as a leading figure in cutting-edge struggles for socialism, internationalism, free love, freethinking, and free speech. He did far more than cultivate the rich, dark soil in which the so-called Harlem Renaissance would take root. Harrison also played a pivotal role in the rise of Marcus Garvey and the emergence of the largest international organization of African people in modern history. Because of his fearless radicalism, however, he has been erased from popular memory. Hubert Harrison presents a historical restoration of Harrison's numerous intellectual and political breakthroughs. Offering a fresh interpretation of his contributions to social movements for economic, racial, and sexual liberation, Brian Kwoba's richly textured narrative highlights the startling and continued relevance of Harrison's visionary thinking across generations.
• John Wilson: Witnessing Humanity by John Wilson (Artist); Jennifer Farrell (Editor); Leslie King Hammond (Editor); Patrick Murphy (Editor); Edward Saywell (Editor)

  Call Number: MAIN STACKS N6537.W5465 A4 2025

  ISBN: 9780878469024

  Publication Date: 2025

  Through paintings, sculptures, drawings and more, John Wilson's work foregrounds the human experience and refuses invisibility American artist John Wilson was not only a master draftsman, printmaker, painter and sculptor active for over seven decades, but he was also a keen observer and social activist. In his representations of Black Americans in particular, he sought to pay homage to the beauty and truths of ordinary Black people in such a way that all viewers, across race and culture, might see themselves reflected. His multidisciplinary works include unflinching representations of racial violence and war, tender family portraits, monumental bronze heads and landmark commissions such as the bust of Martin Luther King, Jr., which stands in the United States Capitol. The first major retrospective of the artist's work, Witnessing Humanity sheds light on Wilson's life and artistic evolution. Reproductions of artworks and photographs accompany critical essays and personal reflections, including analyses by art historians, interviews with Wilson's peers, remembrances from fellow Black creatives and a full chronology by the late artist's gallerist. The varied voices which resonate through this catalog illustrate that it is long past time to recognize Wilson's art--to celebrate his lifelong dedication to depicting what he described as the "reality of being Black in this impossible world." John Woodrow Wilson (1922-2015) was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Tufts University. He lived in Mexico for five years and became a friend and colleague of artist Elizabeth Catlett. Wilson taught fine art at Boston University from 1964 until 1986.
• The Memoirs of Robert and Mabel Williams by Robert F. Williams; Mabel R. Williams; Akinyele Omowale Umoja (Editor); Gloria Aneb House (Editor); John H. Bracey (Editor)

  Call Number: E-book

  ISBN: 9781469680125

  Publication Date: 2025

  Born in Jim Crow-era Monroe, North Carolina, Robert F. Williams and Mabel R. Williams were the state's most legendary African American freedom fighters. The Williamses' leadership in Monroe was just the beginning of a lifelong pursuit of freedom and justice for Black people in the United States and for oppressed populations throughout the world. Their activism foreshadowed major developments in the civil rights and Black Power movements, including Malcolm X's advocacy of fighting oppression by any means necessary, the emergence of the Black Panther Party, and Black solidarity with Third World liberation movements. Robert documented his experiences in Monroe in his classic 1962 book, Negroes with Guns, and completed a draft of his memoir, While God Lay Sleeping, months before his death in 1996. Mabel began a memoir of her own before her death in 2014. The family selected John Bracey Jr., Akinyele K. Umoja, and Gloria Aneb House to edit and complete the manuscripts, which are presented together in this book, offering a gripping portrait of these pioneering freedom fighters that is both deeply intimate and a fierce call to action in the ongoing fight against racial injustice.
• The Nine o'Clock Whistle: Stories of the Freedom Struggle for Civil Rights in Enfield, North Carolina by Willa Cofield; Cynthia Samuelson; Mildred Sexton; David Cecelski (Introduction by)

  Call Number: E-book and MAIN STACKS F264.E54 C65 2025

  ISBN: 9781496852380

  Publication Date: 2025

  Between the years of 1963 and 1965, civil rights protests rocked rural communities like Enfield, a small North Carolina town where segregationist and white supremacist attitudes prevailed. Whites in Enfield enforced a variety of racist norms and employed a range of racist practices, including the sounding of a siren on Saturday nights meant to order Black residents to leave the downtown streets at nine o'clock. On August 28, 1963, hundreds of people, including Willa Cofield-an English teacher in the Black, segregated high school-and two of her students, Cynthia Samuelson and Mildred Sexton, protested these conditions as masses of Black people ignored the whistle. After firemen used high-powered water hoses to drive people off the streets, the Black community continued to resist by organizing a successful three-month boycott of the white-owned downtown stores. The movement quickly spread into the surrounding county, morphing into a voter registration campaign, a school integration effort, and a legal battle over author Willa Cofield's First Amendment rights, after she was fired from her position as a public school teacher. The Nine O'Clock Whistle covers a range of historically and contextually significant stories, including details from Cofield's grandfather's early life as an enslaved person and her family's rise to prominence in the Enfield Black community, to the roles the authors played in the local protest movement during the 1960s. Ultimately, Cofield, Samuelson, and Sexton squarely repudiate the assertion that the civil rights movement bypassed communities in northeastern North Carolina, and prove instead that the movement drastically changed the lives of people in towns like Enfield forever.
• The Politics of Skin Tone: African American Experiences, Identity, and Attitudes by Nicole D. Yadon

  Call Number: MAIN STACKS E185.625 .Y34 2025

  ISBN: 9780226840338

  Publication Date: 2025

  A nuanced examination of the salience of skin tone within African American politics. Research shows that skin tone is associated with significant differences in life experiences. On average, African Americans with darker skin earn lower wages, suffer worse health outcomes, and endure more negative criminal justice experiences than lighter-skinned African Americans. Nicole D. Yadon conceptualizes skin tone as one facet of the multidimensional construct of race that powerfully influences racialized experiences which, in turn, can influence political identities and attitudes. Drawing on evidence from one hundred in-depth interviews, multiple surveys, and a survey experiment, The Politics of Skin Tone investigates the political associations of skin tone. Yadon finds that skin tone correlates with political attitudes, particularly on issues where color-based disparities are especially pronounced such as criminal justice. Moreover, a sizable number of African Americans adopt a skin tone-based identity. In an era of shifting racial boundaries and growing color-based discrimination, The Politics of Skin Tone examines the implications for both scholars and policymakers.
• Refusing to Be Made Whole: Disability in Black Women's Writing by Anna LaQuawn Hinton

  Call Number: E-book

  ISBN: 9781496855039

  Publication Date: 2025

  In Refusing to Be Made Whole: Disability in Black Women's Writing, author Anna LaQuawn Hinton examines how contemporary Black women writers present becoming disabled as a traumatic and violent experience of Black womanhood. Nevertheless, Black women embrace disabled Black womanhood by turning to Africanist spiritual understandings of wholeness, which view debilitating injury and illness as not only physical but also spiritual, not just an individual problem but a symptom of discord in the community. Black women use these belief systems to reimagine healing in ways that make space for a variety of bodymindspirits. Hinton maintains that this is not only a major theme in contemporary Black women's writing but that it also shapes the formal elements characteristic of the Black women's literary tradition. Refusing to Be Made Whole analyzes texts published after the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s, focusing particularly on the late 1970s onward when Black women's writing flourished. Through the lens of writings by authors such as Toni Cade Bambara, Gayl Jones, Gloria Naylor, Ntozake Shange, Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, Sapphire, and Sarah E. Wright, Hinton addresses prominent critical discourses within Black feminist literary studies. Hinton approaches the intersections of Africanist spirituality, race, gender, class, and disability, conversations about representation, community, motherhood, and sexuality through a Black feminist disability studies framework. Refusing to Be Made Whole embraces the complex and multifaceted nature of Black women's writing, arguing that through this collision of race, gender, and spirituality, Black women writers speak healing and wellness into their readers' lives and their own.
• Something to Do with Power: Julian Mayfield's Journey Toward a Black Radical Thought, 1948-1984 by David Tyroler Romine

  Call Number: Ebook and MAIN STACKS E185.97.M394 R66 2025

  ISBN: 9781469685120

  Publication Date: 2025

  Unlike his more well-known contemporaries such as Malcolm X and Maya Angelou, Julian Hudson Mayfield (1928-1984) has remained on the periphery of mainstream historical narratives. Yet his extensive intellectual archive has been a vital resource for historians exploring Black radicalism. By centering Mayfield's lived experiences across five decades and four continents, this book offers a unique lens into the complex intersections of Black communism, Black nationalism, and Black internationalism during the Cold War era. Something to Do with Power highlights the importance of Mayfield's story of mutual interest and solidarity in shaping literary and political activism, offering a fresh examination of the Black left's role in American culture. His legacy as a writer, propagandist, and artist committed to resisting the domination of white supremacy underscores his significant, though underappreciated, contribution to American history.

• African American Inventors: Life Changing Innovations.

  This program celebrates the incredible achievements of African American inventors whose work has transformed lives and industries. George Washington Carver revolutionized agriculture by promoting sustainable farming methods and discovering hundreds of uses for crops like peanuts and sweet potatoes. Garrett Morgan invented life-saving devices including the gas mask and the traffic signal, enhancing public safety worldwide. Lewis Latimer improved the design of the incandescent light bulb, making electric lighting more practical and accessible. Marie Van Brittan Brown co-invented the first home security system, pioneering the technology behind modern surveillance and safety systems. Granville Woods, known as the Black Edison, developed groundbreaking technologies in railway and communication systems, forever changing the way people connect and travel. This program highlights their perseverance, creativity, and enduring impact on the world, making it an inspiring resource for educators, students, and history enthusiasts.
• African American Life During the Great Depression, the New Deal and the Formation of the NAACP

  This program explores the NAACP's pivotal role in advancing civil rights and equality for African Americans, particularly during the challenging times of the Great Depression and Jim Crow segregation. It highlights the organization's strategic efforts, including legal action, lobbying, and collaboration with other groups, to combat discrimination and secure landmark victories such as the desegregation of public schools. Key figures like Thurgood Marshall and Martin Luther King Jr. are recognized for their leadership in the ongoing fight for justice and equal opportunity.
• Early Life for African Americans in America.

  This program illuminates the incredible resilience and determination of African Americans in the early 1800s as they relentlessly pursued freedom and equality. Despite enduring unimaginable hardships under slavery, they resisted through acts of defiance, escape, and organized efforts in the abolitionist movement. From the Underground Railroad to freedom petitions and the powerful voices of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, African Americans were leaders in the fight for liberty. During the Civil War, their bravery reached new heights as over 180,000 African American men enlisted in the Union Army and Navy. By serving in regiments like the renowned 54th Massachusetts Infantry, they demonstrated their courage and unwavering commitment to securing freedom for themselves and future generations.
• The Harlem Renaissance: The Artistic and Expression Era.

  The Harlem Renaissance marked the transformation of Harlem, New York City into a vibrant cultural center for the Black community in the early 20th century. This period, spanning from the 1910s to the mid-1930s, is celebrated as a golden age of African American culture. It led to a flourishing of literature, music, stage performances, and visual art. We will delve into the contributions of iconic entertainers such as Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and many more from this remarkable era.
• Making Black America (4 Episodes)

  This four-hour series, hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chronicles the vast social networks and organizations created by and for Black people-beyond the reach of the “White gaze.” Gates takes viewers into an extraordinary world that showcases Black people’s ability to collectively prosper, defy white supremacy and define Blackness in ways that transformed America itself.
• One Way Ticket Back

  The 1970s marked a turning point in American history. For the first time in 60 years, more Black people were moving to the South than leaving it. Driven by mass movements and economic change, the reverse migration shows how Black Americans' never-ending search for freedom and opportunity continues to shape the country today.
• The Riot Report

  When Black neighborhoods across America erupted in violence during the summer of 1967, President Johnson appointed a commission to determine what happened, why it happened and what could be done to keep it from happening again. The bi-partisan commission's final report offered a shockingly unvarnished assessment of American race relations that would doom its finding to political oblivion.