African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage and Excellence

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Visible Ink Press/IPG

Annotation: Covering events surrounding the civil rights movement; African American literature, art, and music; religion within the black community; and, advances in science and medicine, this title connects history to the issues currently facing the African American community and provides a range of information on society and culture.

Genre: [United States history] [Reference]

Reviews: 2

Catalog Number: #5205832

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Visible Ink Press/IPG

Edition Date: 2012 Release Date: 11/04/11

Pages: xiii, 543 pages

ISBN: 1-578-59323-9

ISBN 13: 978-1-578-59323-1

Dewey: 973

LCCN: 2011038636

Dimensions: 24 cm.

Subject Heading:
African Americans. History.
African Americans. Social life and customs.
African Americans. Intellectual life.
African Americans. Biography.

Language: English

Reviews:

Starred Review ALA Booklist (Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2012)

Starred Review Bracks chronicles the African American experience from the arrival of the first Africans to North America in the early 1600s to the present day. The almanac is organized into 12 chapters: "Africans in America"; "Civil Rights"; "Politics"; "Education"; "Religion"; "Literature"; "Business Entrepreneurs/Media"; "Performing and Visual/Applied Arts"; "Music"; "Science, Technology, Inventors, and Explorers"; "Sports"; and "Military." Each chapter includes an essay and a collection of "biographies of individuals who have made progress and positive change possible." Black-and-white photographs and illustrations are found throughout. The essay portions of each chapter are excellent primers. Bracks also gives context to less documented areas of African American history. In her chapter on civil rights, for example, the author begins with the Free African Society movement of the late 1700s, thoroughly covers the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and carries readers through the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2006. The biographies are succinct and informative. They average two to three paragraphs and include dates, education received, and major milestones. Appropriate attention is given to larger-than-life personalities, like Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Martin Luther King Jr. Women are well represented throughout, including progressives, like Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and Mabel Staupers, a nurse and activist who worked to "integrate African American nurses into mainstream medicine." For simplicity's sake, it may have been better to have the biography sections organized only alphabetically and not also by subcategory, but users can easily find people by last name in the comprehensive index. This is an affordable, concise, and overall first-rate resource for high-school, public, and academic libraries.

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Starred Review ALA Booklist (Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2012)
Wilson's High School Catalog

Bibliography Index/Note: Includes bibliographical references (page 469-477) and index.

Reading Level: 7.0

Interest Level: 7-12

The most complete and affordable single-volume reference of African American culture available today, this almanac is a unique and valuable resource devoted to illustrating and demystifying the moving, difficult, and often lost history of black life in America. Celebrating centuries of achievements, the African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage, and Excellence provides insights on the influence, inspiration, and impact of African Americans on U.S. society and culture. A legacy of pride, struggle, and triumph is presented through a fascinating mix of biographies--including 750 influential figures--little-known or misunderstood historical facts, enlightening essays on significant legislation and movements, and 445 rare photographs and illustrations. Covering politics, education, religion, business, science, medicine, the military, sports, literature, music, dance, theater, art, film, and television, chapters address the important events and social and cultural changes that affected African Americans over the centuries, followed by biographical profiles of hundreds of key figures, including Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Josephine Baker, Amiri Baraka, Daisy Bates, George Washington Carver, Ray Charles, Bessie Coleman, Gary Davis, Frederick Douglass, W. E. B. Du Bois, Michael Eric Dyson, Duke Ellington, Medgar Evers, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Eric H. Holder Jr., Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, LeBron James, Mae C. Jemison, Martin Luther King Jr., Queen Latifah, Jacob Lawrence, Kevin Liles, Thurgood Marshall, Walter Mosley, Elijah Muhammad, Barack Obama, Gordon Parks, Rosa Parks, Richard Pryor, Condoleezza Rice, Smokey Robinson, Wilma Rudolph, Betty Shabazz, Tavis Smiley, Clarence Thomas, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Ross Tubman, C. Delores Tucker, Usher, Denmark Vesey, Alice Walker, Booker T. Washington, Kanye West, Reggie White, Serena Williams, Oprah Winfrey, and Malcolm X . Explore a wealth of milestones, inspiration, challenges met, and lasting respect! The African American Almanac 's helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.

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