Black History Books About Historic Times And Figures

By Tamera Keith


The celebration of black history has its roots with the idea from Carver Woodson to take time to celebrate it every February. His hopes were by bringing focus on this culture, it would soon take its rightful place as a recognized piece of American history. In honor of this celebration, here are some black history books to jump start your African American knowledge.

Black history begins in this country with the dark times of slavery. Norman Yetman's book When I Was a Slave: Memoirs from the Slave Narrative Collection details the lives of slaves in a moving way. The book consists of multiple stories that actual slaves were brave enough to share with the author. Many of the stories are heartbreaking and graphic. This book paints an accurate description of this cruel era.

A very moving book about the era of slave trade is The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo by Tom Feelings. This is an adult picture book that uses powerful and graphic paintings to show the journey slaves were forced to make across the middle passage. The images depict the cruelty and suffering that slaves endured. The book does not need words because the images speak volumes.

Marilyn Nelson is also able to tell a story of African American culture in a unique way. Her book Carver: A Life in Poems is a group of poems that link together to tell the story of George Washington Carver. Carver was a black scientist that made significant contributions to science. The poems run through his entire life, childhood to death. Illustrations of historical photographs are provided.

The civil rights movement was a life changing time for America and brought about great leaders. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Was one of those leaders that stood out and made a difference. A reader can learn a lot about Dr. King and his work from the book The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Edited by Clayborne Carson. This book uses Dr. Kings own writings from various sources and groups them together to tell the story of his life, start to finish. Carson also contributes to the book to create a more complete picture for the reader.

Another huge icon of the civil rights movement was Malcolm X. The book Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary by Walter Dean Myers tells the life story of this iconic man. The book details the childhood and rise in power of this controversial historic figure. The author is able to show the stark contrast between Malcolm X and Dr. King without bias. This a fascinating read that includes great visual aids as well.

Political history and African American rights are intertwined with each other. Mildred Pitts Walter is able to show this relationship in her book titled Mississippi Challenge. The book centers around the state of Mississippi and how biased political power created strong barriers for African Americans to break through. She begins with the state's deep roots in slavery and continues on to show the unfair laws put in place to keep African Americans in some type of bondage.

Black history books are a great way to celebrate this culture. They depict stories and people who embody the definition of bravery. All of these books detail a time or person in history that made a significant contribution to racial equality and freedoms.




About the Author:



Grab The Post URL

URL:
HTML link code:
BB (forum) link code:

Leave a comment

  • Google+
  • 0Blogger
  • Facebook
  • Disqus

0 Response to "Black History Books About Historic Times And Figures"

Post a Comment

comments powered by Disqus
Powered by Blogger.