Collection: Shop Black

These sonnets were inspired by the Preludes of Chopin.

Do keys matter? Do they speak to different parts of us? Inspired by the Preludes of Chopin and the piano solos of Art Tatum, these experimental sonnets seek to question timbre and tone. That's bullshit. They are just sonnets.

The world would come to know him as Muhammad Ali, but on 25 February 1964, a twenty-two-year-old Cassius Clay celebrated his world heavyweight title not by hitting the town, but in a hotel room with his three closest friends: activist Malcolm X, singer Sam Cooke and American football star Jim Brown. To the outside world, they were American icons. But in that hotel room, here were four men who understood each other and their moment in history in a way that no one else could. With the Civil Rights movement stirring outside, and the melody of A Change is Gonna Come hanging in the air, these men would emerge from that room ready to define a new world.

Ripped from the pages of the New York Times bestselling series The Family Business, Carl Weber and Eric Pete bring you To Paris with Love, a solo story about their two most popular characters to date--the bright, sexy, and deadly Paris Duncan and her flamboyant and cunning twin brother, Rio.

It's Spring Break and Paris Duncan is on the verge of graduating at the top of her class from Chi's Finishing School, one of Europe's most exclusive private academies. At Chi's students not only learn the three Rs, but they also learn the deadly art of assassination.

Like most of her classmates, Paris is looking forward to going back home. She can't wait to get back to the bright lights of New York City, where she plans on clubbing with her twin brother, Rio, scarfing down her mom's cooking, and wearing out her father's credit cards. A family crisis puts an end to her trip home in favor of a solo trip to the French Riviera.

Rio Duncan has been accepted into one of the most prestigious law schools in the country and his father, LC Duncan, couldn't be more proud of him. Unfortunately for LC, Rio has plans of his own, and they don't include law school. If that weren't surprise enough, Rio's got a few more things to tell his dear old dad, one of which is that he is gay.

Now that he's come out of the closet, Rio is in the wind. He's headed to Europe to live life by his own rules and hook up with his sister for some fun in the European sun. Together Rio and Paris will do what they do best--have fun, find trouble, and break men's hearts.

Travel with Weber and Pete to Europe, to see how Paris and Rio became the dynamic duo of the Duncan clan.

My 21 Years in the White House, first published in 1960, is the fascinating account by Alonzo Fields of his service as head butler under 4 presidents: Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower. Fields (1900-1994) began his employment at the White House in 1931, and kept a journal of his meetings with the presidents and their families; he would also meet important people like Winston Churchill, Princess Elizabeth of England, Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, presidential cabinet members, senators, representatives, and Supreme Court Justices. He would also witness presidential decision-making at critical times in American history-the attack on Pearl Harbor, the death of Franklin Roosevelt, the desegregation of the military, and the outbreak of hostilities in Korea. As Fields often told his staff, "...remember that we are helping to make history. We have a small part ... but they can't do much here without us. They've got to eat, you know." Included are sample menus prepared for visiting heads-of-state and foreign dignitaries.

Finalist, 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

"The finest work yet from this gifted writer."--The New York Times

Offered his freedom if he joins his master in the ranks of the Confederacy, Hero, a slave, must choose whether to leave the woman and people he loves for what may be another empty promise. As his decision brings him face to face with a nation at war with itself, the ones Hero left behind debate whether to escape or wait for his return, only to discover that for Hero, freedom may have come at a great spiritual cost. A devastatingly beautiful dramatic work, Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3) is the opening trilogy of a projected nine-play cycle that will ultimately take us into the present.

Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play Topdog/Underdog in 2002. Her other plays include The Book of Grace, In the Blood, Venus, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, Fucking A, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom and The America Play. In 2007 her 365 Days/365 Plays was produced at more than seven hundred theaters worldwide. Parks is a MacArthur Fellow and the Master Writer Chair at the Public Theater.

Recent scholarship on slavery has explored the lives of enslaved people beyond the watchful eye of their masters. Building on this work and the study of space, social relations, gender, and power in the Old South, Stephanie Camp examines the everyday containment and movement of enslaved men and, especially, enslaved women. In her investigation of the movement of bodies, objects, and information, Camp extends our recognition of slave resistance into new arenas and reveals an important and hidden culture of opposition.

Camp discusses the multiple dimensions to acts of resistance that might otherwise appear to be little more than fits of temper. She brings new depth to our understanding of the lives of enslaved women, whose bodies and homes were inevitably political arenas. Through Camp's insight, truancy becomes an act of pursuing personal privacy. Illegal parties ("frolics") become an expression of bodily freedom. And bondwomen who acquired printed abolitionist materials and posted them on the walls of their slave cabins (even if they could not read them) become the subtle agitators who inspire more overt acts.

The culture of opposition created by enslaved women's acts of everyday resistance helped foment and sustain the more visible resistance of men in their individual acts of running away and in the collective action of slave revolts. Ultimately, Camp argues, the Civil War years saw revolutionary change that had been in the making for decades.

Host of PBS's Finding Your Roots and famed Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. examines African-American immigration and ancestry through the lineage of famous Black Americans.

Unlike most white Americans who can search their ancestral records, identifying who among their forebears was the first to step foot on this country's shores, most African Americans encounter a series of daunting obstacles when trying to trace their family's past. Slavery brutally negated identity, denying black men and women even their names. But from that legacy of slavery have sprung generations who've struggled, thrived, and lived extraordinary lives.

For too long, African Americans' family trees have been barren of branches, but advanced genetic testing techniques, combined with archival research, have begun to fill in the gaps. Here, scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., backed by an elite team of geneticists and researchers, takes nineteen extraordinary African Americans on a once unimaginable journey, tracing family sagas through U.S. history and back to Africa.

Dr. Gates brings to life the recovered pasts of:

• Oprah Winfrey
• Whoopi Goldberg
• Chris Rock
• Tina Turner
• Maya Angelou
• Peter Gomes
• Mae Jemison
• Quincy Jones
• Morgan Freeman
• Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot
• Tom Joyner
• Benjamin Carson
• T.D. Jakes
• Linda Johnson Rice
• Kathleen Henderson
• Jackie Joyner-Kersee
• Don Cheadle
• Bliss Broyard
• Chris Tucker

More than a work of history, In Search of Our Roots is an important book that, for the first time, brings to light the lives of ordinary men and women who, by courageous example, blazed a path for their famous descendants. In accompanying the nineteen contemporary achievers on their journey into the past and meeting their remarkable forebears, we come to know ourselves.

A gentle celebration of the bond between mother and son, and a beautifully illustrated portrait of a lively urban neighborhood​.

As a mother and son explore their area, they try various ways of walking--from giant steps and reggae steps to crisscross steps and backward steps. Whether they're racing down the street or moving as slow as molasses, Jonathan and Mommy go at their own pace and move to the beat of their love for each other.

New York Times bestselling author Wahida Clark has always had her finger on the pounding pulse of the streets. In this novel from her iconic Thug series on sisters trying to rise above, she delivers a true-to-life world where love can be just as dangerous as the men who ignite it...

Angel, Jaz, Tasha, and Kyra are living proof that hope is more than a word. These girlfriends are pulling themselves out of the ghetto--and trying to bring their hearts up to higher ground with them. But sometimes the past ain't in no mood to let go...

Angel has met the brother of her dreams--after living through a nightmare with Snake. Believing the pimp is dead, Angel has moved on. She's starting her own law practice and a new life with Kaylin, a drug dealer who's stepped outta the game and runs two promising businesses. Things are looking up--until an unwanted guest crashes their wedding and all the rage and bloodlust from the hood comes out. Now Angel's gonna need every prayer in heaven to make it to the altar alive...

Toussaint L'Ouverture was the leader of the Haitian Revolution in the late eighteenth century, in which slaves rebelled against their masters and established the first black republic. In this collection of his writings and speeches, former Haitian politician Jean-Bertrand Aristide demonstrates L'Ouverture's profound contribution to the struggle for equality.

Written by Robert Athlyi Rogers during a time of sweeping racial change in the United States, The Holy Piby, or 'The Black Man's Bible, ' speaks directly to the Pan-African community at large. Capturing hearts and minds with its message of self-reliance and self-determination, it is a theology that sees all Africans as the chosen people of God and Ethiopia (i.e. Africa) as the promised land. It also recognises His Excellency, The Right Honorable Marcus Mosia Garvey, as an apostle. The Holy Piby is the most important proto-Rastafari text and a predominant source of influence for the birth of the religion. On November 2, 1930, Prince Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned emperor of Ethiopia. Upon his coronation, he took the name Haile Selassie, meaning "Might of the Trinity" and the title "Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God and King of the Kings of Ethiopia." For the Rastafari, the coronation of Ras Tafari is seen as the fulfilment of one of the key prophecies contained within The Holy Piby. They regarded the emperor as the physical presence of God (Jah) on Earth and as the second coming of Christ the messiah. Banned in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean during the 1920's for its controversial proclamations, original editions of the work are extremely rare. Copies are not listed in either the Library of Congress or the University of California catalogs. This book is a beautifully re-typeset edition of that most important work, and stands as the definitive version to own and cherish.

The Mis-Education of the Negro is a book originally published in 1933 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson. The thesis of Dr. Woodson's book is that blacks of his day were being culturally indoctrinated, rather than taught, in American schools. This conditioning, he claims, causes blacks to become dependent and to seek out inferior places in the greater society of which they are a part. He challenges his readers to become autodidacts and to "do for themselves", regardless of what they were taught:

History shows that it does not matter who is in power... those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they did in the beginning.

Here is a quote from the book:

"When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his 'proper place' and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary."

Source: Wikipedi

It's tough being the new kid.

Gavin had lots of friends at his old school, but the kids at Carver Elementary don't even know that he's pretty good at skateboarding, or how awesome he is at soccer.

And when his classmate Richard comes over and the boys end up in trouble, not only does Gavin risk losing his one new friend, he has to take care of his great-aunt Myrtle's horrible little dog as punishment.

To make matters worse, Gavin seems to have attracted the attention of the school bully. Will he be able to avoid getting pounded at the skate park? And how is he ever going to prove he's cool with a yappy little Pomeranian wearing a pink bow at his side?

"English returns to Carver Elementary, the setting of her Nikka and Deja books, in this strong kickoff to her Carver Chronicles series. Freeman's upbeat spot illustrations and English's accessible storytelling target the book to emerging independent readers." (Publishers Weekly)

Precious Cummings is back but this time her own daughter is causing mayhem. Aaliyah Mills Carter was born into street royalty. Her mother, Precious, hustled her way from a project chick to a hood legend. Then she has two fathers, Xavier Mills, who is a rap superstar turned industry mogul and Nico Carter who heads up a lucrative drug empire with his partner Genesis. Finally, she has a grandfather Quentin, who spoils her the way he was never able to do for his daughter Precious. You would think being anointed the Princess would be enough for Aaliyah but it s not she wants more. Instead of simply relishing in the luxury she was born into, Aaliyah schemes and manipulates, determined to carve out her own lane. She brings her best friends Amir and Justina along for the ride. Does Aaliyah have the same street savvy as her mother to lead them to the top or will it end in disaster? There is only one Precious Cummings but has her daughter Aaliyah been groomed to take over the reign or will her mother have to step in and save her from herself? Find out in Bitch A New Beginning.

The distinguished American civil rights leader, W. E. B. Du Bois first published these fiery essays, sketches, and poems individually nearly 80 years ago in the Atlantic, the Journal of Race Development, and other periodicals. Reflecting the author's ideas as a politician, historian, and artist, this volume has long moved and inspired readers with its militant cry for social, political, and economic reforms for black Americans. Essential reading for students of African-American history

"Policies change, and programs change, according to time.
But objective never changes. You might change your method of achieving the
objective, but the objective never changes. Our objective is complete freedom, complete
justice, complete equality, by any means necessary."--Malcolm X, December 20,
1964Malcolm X Speaks collects the major late speeches of one of the most important leaders of our time, a man who was not only a champion of Black liberation and empowerment but also one of the greatest orators of the twentieth century. This long-celebrated book of Malcolm X's speeches from 1963 to 1965 is a testament to the enduring power of his extraordinary words. These speeches show his changing attitudes to the Nation of Islam, questions of segregation and integration, and the development of productive alliances with other groups in the battle for liberation. Now reissued with an introduction by the National Book Award-winning author of How to Be an Antiracist and Stamped from the Beginning Ibram X. Kendi, this edition of Malcolm X Speaks is a more-essential-than-ever volume in the literature of Black power.